Ianis Hagi addresses his Rangers redemption after Beale and Clement blows as he admits 'it won’t always be perfect'
He was told he wasn’t wanted. Bumped out on loan by Michael Beale in summer 2023 to make way for the likes of Sam Lammers.
Then left out in the cold by Philippe Clement into the bargain after Beale’s big rebuild collapsed into a pile of dust. Then, as if it was not quite insulting enough already, he was publicly humiliated when the Belgian boss went on record as saying he would never be good enough to hold down a regular place in a Rangers shirt. But, throughout it all, Ianis Hagi refused to give up on the dream he’s had since growing up as the son of Romania’s greatest ever player.
How fitting it was then that superstar dad Gheorghe was in the posh seats at Ibrox on Thursday as his boy capped a stunning, improbable Rangers reincarnation with the opening goal in a 3-0 rout of rivals Celtic. The hugely talented playmaker grinned afterwards: “It’s definitely special. It just shows – and not just in my case but just in general, for football players around the world, young kids coming out from academies – football is not always just all fun.
“It won’t always be perfect. It’s part of a player’s career and as long as they respect football – they love what they do and they train 100 per cent no matter the situation – things will sort themselves out, somehow or other. I’m an example of that recently – but I’ve been through tough situations before.
“Even though I’m still only 26, it’s probably my 10th or 11th season at a senior level. I’ve been captain of the team when I was 16 or 17 and I’m one of the captains of the national team.
“So I’ve been through a lot and thankfully I’m mature enough to understand certain situations in football and how the business part of it works.
“So it’s just purely about people understanding that this is football ... You have to respect it and love it – if you do, football will definitely give you that back.”
Hagi’s uncontained joy was evident as he raced towards the sidelines to celebrate his stunning opener against Celtic – pointing to his father’s seat in the directors’ box on his way. And it was even more remarkable given that just three days earlier Hagi was flat on his back in his sick bed after being floored by a dose of winter flu.
That illness ruled him out of the festive double header against St Mirren and Motherwell which has punched a huge hole in Rangers’ title ambitions. But Hagi’s return to action coincided with the win that might breathe new life into the second half of the campaign.
And he grinned: “Three days ago I wasn’t able to get out of bed. I was really sick, couldn’t help the team, then just football kind of sorts things out. It helped having my whole family over –not just my dad – with me for the past few days.
“It was the right afternoon for myself and for the team. Everything clicked and we’re happy that we got the win. Obviously I’m personally happy but I think as a team, we’re happy we had a consistent game because that’s what we’re working on the most right now.”
And Hagi believes Thursday’s win will also help Rangers get over the Premier Sports Cup final heartache they suffered at Celtic’s hands just last month. He said: “We knew we deserved to win that game.
“We were probably the better team but we didn’t manage to do that, so that was a little bit hard to swallow. We went into Thursday’s game thinking of just winning. We had the plan obviously but it was about winning the game and we’re happy with it.”
Hagi has certainly come a long way in a short space of time. It wasn’t all that long ago he was jettisoned to the B team by Clement and told to play with the kids going to places such as Stenhousemuir.
Asked if, even then, he still believed he could turn his career back around to this place he said: “Did I think on the 2nd of January? No. Did I think I’m going to be able to perform at the highest level again soon? Yes.
“That’s what I was working and training for. I knew my moment would come one way or the other and I had to be ready when the chance came.”
For now, Hagi’s resurgence looks like making him a mainstay in Clement’s first XI. But where his future lies in the longer term remains subject to some doubt. He said: “Do I look happy? Yes.
“I’m happy but there are things you can’t control. I understand what I need to do to perform and what environment I need to be. I’m really happy here and you can probably see it on the pitch compared to last season. For me it’s about that. In football you can’t control things but one thing is for sure – that I’m really happy here.”
