Diomande makes Rangers form admission and addresses failed title bid

It is clear where Rangers have gone wrong over the course of the campaign. This is a squad that could record a third successive Old Firm win against Celtic on Sunday but still sit on the wrong side of a double-digit gap in the Premiership. The big games have not been an issue. What many of these players have failed to understand, though, is that every game is a big game at Ibrox.

Philippe Clement paid the price for a series of failures against teams that a boss with his resources should be beating on a regular basis. The fortunes have not - with some notable exceptions - improved enough under Barry Ferguson’s guidance and another summer rebuild is now on the horizon.

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A win in the derby can never be classed as meaningless. This is perhaps as close as you could come in Old Firm terms, however. For Diomande, three points would still be a notable achievement. Yet he is aware of the bigger picture and the wider issues.

"Yeah, I think it would help with belief,” Diomande said. "But we've won two games against them. It's the other games that we have lost.

"I know we are going to be ready for this game. I know that's something that happens every time we play against Celtic. I don't want to look back at the season already with four games still to go, but looking back I know there's going to be a lot of regret from a lot of us.

"We thought we could push in the other games. We know we'll be ready for this game. Our fans want us to beat them and we'll be trying to do that.

"Speaking for myself personally, I know I'm going to be hard on myself. And I've been hard on myself a lot of times. That's what I feel. I don't know what other players are feeling."

The draw with St Mirren last weekend encapsulated so many of the failings of this side over the season. Chances were squandered, cheap goals were conceded, and the mentality and application could be questioned once again.

Barry Ferguson has helped Mohamed Diomande this term (Image: SNS Group)

Ferguson has tried his best to cajole this group and to raise standards but his efforts have proved to be in vain. Ultimately, it will only be a revamp of the squad that will give Rangers a chance of addressing the Old Firm balance of power. Too many of these players have shown that they are not up to the task but Diomande is one of those who should be given another opportunity to bring the silverware back to Ibrox.

“I think when we play other teams, they are more defensive-minded,” Diomande said. "I think we've struggled to create a lot of chances. That's been the biggest problem and the biggest challenge for us.

"I really hope we can find a way to break teams down. We've got four games left and I'm already looking forward to next season and to be ready for every team we are going to face.

"Personally, this is my first time playing 50-plus games in one season. I think that is an achievement for me. But I know this club already and I know you have to win.

"Personally I am glad to have had as many games as I have. I've grown as a player and become stronger. I want to push myself. I'm focused on these last four games, but also looking ahead to next season and I want to come back stronger."

The visit of Celtic is not the final match of this largely dreadful campaign but it is the last one which has any sense of meaning attached to it. Aberdeen and Dundee United also travel to Glasgow before the season concludes at Easter Road. The final whistle cannot come soon enough.

That moment will end Ferguson’s time in charge. The new regime will appoint a new manager to take Rangers in a new direction. Diomande will be grateful for the time that he has spent with a man who knows where Rangers are and where they must get to.

“Like I always say, he has been good with me and also good with the other guys,” Diomande said. “I know it is a difficult moment now for everybody, but I know he wants to push me and I am trying to get better every game now. 

🎙️ “Rangers have brought their Thursday night stuff to a Sunday lunchtime!”

Mohamed Diomande makes it 2-0 at Celtic Park ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/pWA4nDyqKC

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 16, 2025

"So I keep my ears open and listen to what he has to say. He wants us to grow as people too and to push each other. He also listens to me. I have some knowledge of the game as well, so we speak to each other a lot.

“When he came he had his ideas also but I am sure he has been watching the games because he is a legend for Rangers. I'm sure when he stopped playing, he was still following the team when the old manager was here.

"I think he knew the kind of player I was. He just gave me some of his ideas too and I think I've picked them up quickly. I think he gave me trust and I showed I'm ready to play under him."

The previous Old Firm encounter stands as one of the highlights of the short Ferguson era as Rangers earned a long-awaited win across the city. Diomande and midfield partner Nicolas Raskin were instrumental in the victory with first half goals and accomplished showings.

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Bragging rights are all that are at stake once again. To say the Ibrox crowd – who haven’t witnessed a victory since February – are due a performance and a result is an understatement.

“It's always nice to score against your direct rivals,” Diomande said. "I was happy to score against them. Yes [the confidence is] important. We always want to beat them. We know the rivalry is from a long time ago.

"We know what it means to the fans who will come to support us. For a long time they couldn't come to support us at Parkhead. It was good to get that win for them.

"It's going to mean something to our fans. I know they have already won the league. But we still want to win our games, and we want to win at Ibrox again."

Ferguson insisted on Friday that he was more interested in the ends rather than the means. For him, the final outcome is all that matters, regardless of how it is achieved.

Rangers were comfortable, commanding winners in the last derby at Ibrox. The blueprint for success in these fixtures is now clear and the challenge is to replicate it once again.

“The key factor is the middle of the pitch because they have good midfielders, and they have good strikers also,” Diomande said. “So we need to be strong in midfield, take our chances and defend as a team.

“Yes [the midfield is important], because a lot of their game comes through the middle. A lot of their attacks start from the middle. If we can match them there, as we did in the other games against them and also be strong up front, then we will have an opportunity to win.

“This will be my first time also playing with the Celtic fans at Ibrox. I don't know what it's going to be like. But we play for ourselves and for our fans. We want to make the people in blue happy and we will try to do that."