By Saturday, November 22, Rangers were 24 matches into their season. Emmanuel Fernandez had featured in just three of them. Now, he is the first name on the team sheet most weeks.
The club had been through three men in the dugout and Danny Rohl was just getting his feet under the manager’s desk. With the season floundering and threatening to be over before it had even begun, the 24-year-old was thrust into the fray against Livingston at Ibrox – his first appearance in almost a month and his first start in three.
Nine minutes in, he utilised all of his colossal frame to meet a corner and give his side the lead. It was his second goal in four appearances and an indication of how useful he would go on to become in both boxes.
Since then, ‘Manny’ hasn’t looked back, racking up 24 appearances and four further goals. Few would have believed it given the start to his campaign at Ibrox, but the former Peterborough man has become integral to Rohl's plans. The £3.5 million that the club shelled out in the summer (much to the derision of some factions of his former club’s support) now looks meagre in comparison to what Andrew Cavenagh will be demanding to let one of his prized assets head for pastures new when this season comes to a close.
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It is perhaps more indicative of the issues amongst the attacking players that Rangers have that Fernandez find himself joint fourth in the standings of league goalscorers (five) with just six games left of the season. However, finding the net is not a novelty for the centre-half. He has found himself popping up with big goals at big moments for the Light Blues and showing a level of composure that many wished some of the centre forwards at Auchenhowie were blessed with.
His domestic and European performances earned international recognition for Nigeria, where he netted in his second game, and left with a strike rate of 1 in 2 in his bow on that particular stage. Typically, he found himself in space following a set piece and with the ball at his feet nonchalantly slipped it beyond the Jordanian goalkeeper.
It is that calmness, often when playing on the head of a pin, that has come to punctuate Fernandez’s time in a Rangers jersey and, diametrically, has been conspicuously absent when he is not in the side.
If the latest Super Eagle has a remarkable redemption story this season, the only man who may be able to match him in the best screenplay department this awards season is Nasser Djiga. The Burkina Faso international was written off by many after a series of high-profile displays where he looked devoid of confidence, despite a promising start to life in Scotland.
On his return from duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, it is not hyperbole to say that most would have happily seen Djiga shipped back to Wolves and his signing chalked up to a regrettable episode for all parties. In 2026, however, he has seemed a player reborn, in no small part due to his relationship with Fernandez. In the four league games that the pair have started together since the turn of the year they can count just one goal conceded – a negligible blemish on a 4-1 score line against Aberdeen.
His remarkable ascent into the hearts of the Govan faithful could be summed up entirely in one moment in that aforementioned win. During a four-vs-two against his side, he went through the gears and opened up his imperious stride to burn the Dons forward for pace before turning and taking the ball up the park.
It was a moment met with rapturous roars from the stands, a moment that one could only speculate would mean the world to a player who had been no stranger to the weight of expectation from a support that are not shy in letting their opinions be known. Assuredness is, of course, an intangible that clean sheets are a symptom of, but Djiga seems to have embraced the calming influence exuded by Fernandez and it has improved his game almost exponentially.
There is, however, a third party in this marriage in John Souttar. The Scotland international is, perhaps paradoxically, one of the first men to deputise with the captain’s armband but due to the burgeoning nature of the Djiga/Fernandez axis, finds himself having to play a bit part in recent weeks. It is not without just cause that the 29-year-old finds himself in that particular predicament.
In his last five starts the side have conceded nine times. Indeed, when he was introduced during the recent Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic, although Rangers didn’t concede, the tension was palpable around the stadium as he looked visibly uncomfortable with the pace of the game.
While Fernandez and Djiga appear to be on a season arc with a positive trajectory, Souttar looks to be dipping out of form at the entirely wrong time. Moreover, although it is not entirely fair to judge central defenders by their attacking output, the former Hearts man has zero strikes to his name this campaign and an xG metric of 0.97, compared to Fernandez at 3.67.
Again, it is important to stress that it’s not in front of the goal where defenders’ careers are made, but given the profligacy of the forwards at Ibrox and the success found at set-pieces, a centre-back with a knack for knowing where the net is can be a handy tool in the arsenal.
It was not a surprise, then, that when the team lines came through on Saturday afternoon for Rangers’ clash with Dundee United, there was an impending sense of unease when Rohl named a back four sans the increasingly impressive Tuur Rommens through injury, and notably Fernandez, who only made the bench. The partnership of Souttar and Djiga was an instant reminder of the early days in the season, when the side looked like conceding at will.
The on-loan Wolves man, who shifted across from right to left to accommodate the stand-in skipper, was evidently not as comfortable as with his usual defensive partner. Souttar made questionable decisions for both United goals, first allowing Amar Fatah the freedom of the Copland Road to cut in on his right foot and bend the ball beyond Jack Butland, before then selling himself with a rash tackle in the build-up to Zac Sapsford second half strike.
Would Rangers have conceded these goals with Fernandez in the team? It is impossible to say for certain either way, but the numbers suggest that they would’ve been less likely.
Souttar is a seasoned campaigner in the dressing room and will have his part to play before the season is out, but Rangers have stumbled across a true gem in Fernandez. The comparisons with fellow Nigerian star Calvin Bassey are glaring, both suffering stuttering starts to their career before becoming formidable players at the back with an ability to contribute further up the park.
Bassey landed Rangers and a massive cash windfall when he made the switch to Ajax and it’s hard to see history not repeating itself when it comes to the latest incumbent at the heart of defence. While he is here, though, Fernandez is paramount to Rangers title chances, not just for what he brings as an individual, but the qualities that he brings out in others. That is perhaps the true barometer of his potential to reach the top.
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