Nico Raskin is Rangers biggest loser as Belgian banishes extra pounds and injuries with help of Ibrox chef
Rangers went from famine to feast on Wednesday night as the shot-shy Ibrox line-up finally dined out on a gluttony of goals.
The Light Blues legions gorged themselves on a free-scoring performance in the 6-0 win over Kilmarnock as Philippe Clement’s men at long last satisfied their hunger in the final third. But one man you won’t find overindulging now at Ibrox is midfielder Nico Raskin. The little Belgian has learned his lesson on that front after admitting his choice of diet had played a part in the injury frustrations that have dogged his time in Glasgow.
But having hired one of the club’s chefs to take a look at his scran habits, Raskin reckons he is now living proof that you are what you eat. With a carefully-chosen menu serving up only the most appropriate grub, mixed in with a switch back to his preferred slot in front of Clement’s back four, Raskin is again looking like the lean, mean midfield dominator Gers thought they were getting when Michael Beale splashed out £1.3million to sign the 23-year-old in January 2023.
READ MORE: Rangers can't afford Vaclav Cerny as Philippe Clement prays he's not latest loan star that got away
“I'm playing where I’ve wanted to play now,” said the former Standard Liege ace. “Since I came, this is the first time I’ve had a run in the No.6 position, where I enjoy playing the most. If I can stay fit, I can continue trying to build on those performances.
“I was asking myself questions at the time (I was sidelined) because I've never really been injured before. But since coming here, I’ve had four injuries in one and a half years.
“I thought I’d done something wrong to have so many, maybe I’d gained a bit too much weight, become too powerful. It was only about two or three (kilos), so not a big amount.
“But it's small details that make the difference on the pitch to being first on the ball or to being just too late. So I’ve worked on my weight and tried to be lighter and to avoid these small injuries. It’s working good for me, so I’ll just continue with that.
"I have a chef to prepare my meals at home so I can eat well in the evening and I can follow my weight every day. When you’re young, it's difficult to eat well in the evening.
“So yeah, I came back here and asked the people that take care of the food - Craig Flannigan, our sports scientist, and the chef upstairs - if somebody can help me. Now I have an agreement with one of the chefs, Alex. He's making me the food for the evening.
"It's better for me, so I don't have to think too much about what I'm going to prepare for myself. He can tell me if it's a good day to eat this or not. He knows everything. So yeah, I'm trying to work extra hard to get back to my best form. It’s working well for me now, so I’ll continue.”
Clement is hardly flavour of the month round Ibrox these days with his team still a massive 11 points off Premiership leaders Celtic. But Raskin was excited about working with his fellow countrymen having seen him serve up title-winning sides with Genk and Club Brugge.
Unfortunately, an ankle injury sustained last October just three games into the new boss’ reign saw him ruled out for two months. A similar knock suffered in pre-season ruled him out again and it was early October before he was able to start cooking with gas.
Looking back on Clement’s arrival, he said: "We've faced each other a few times, but we've not worked together before. But the way the manager works, I know it because it's like a Belgian way.
"When he first came, I recognised all the things that I’d been doing with my old club. So it's like something I know, it's good for me.
“He came in with new ideas compared to what we were doing. So it was like a fresh air when he first came.
“Obviously, football is always up and down, but you need to be focused on what you want to do and then focus to the plan. I was excited because I know the story about the manager in Belgium.
“I've seen him work, I've play against him, so I know how hard his team’s were to play against. So I was really excited. But the I got injured in the third game, so it was not so good for me.”
Things certainly took a turn for the better for everybody at Ibrox with Wednesday’s roasting of the ragged Rugby Park men. Having looked lethargic and stale in attack for most of the season, suddenly there was a zip and a verve about Gers, largely thanks to the reintroduction of Ianis Hagi, Hamza Igamane and Danilo to the Ibrox attack.
Clement reckons there’s more of that to come - and so does Raskin. He said: “I’ve seen a lot of people saying we were not good lately.
“Yeah, we were maybe not the best team, but we were good enough to win games. The only thing we missed to create a good atmosphere was scoring more goals.
“If you look at the Dundee United game when we drew 1-1, we had 29 shots. So it's just something we were missing, scoring more goals, to even get a better atmosphere around the team and the stadium.
“We did that against Kilmarnock and you directly feel the difference even after the game. Now we just need to continue focusing on creating good chances, on finishing them.”
Raskin registered an assist for Vaclav Cerny’s strike against Killie - and he’s also been lending a helping hand to striker Igamane after acting as his interpreter. “Obviously, we speak French, so I can help him a lot,” he explained. “I think Hamza’s going to be a big part of the club. So I'm really excited to see him continue his run."
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