Philippe Clement has as good as confirmed Ryan Jack, Danilo and Oscar Cortes’ seasons are over. Jack’s Rangers career is hurtling painfully towards being over after the Scotland international’s current injury issues suffered a recent setback and came close to ruling him out for the season, with us now deep in April.
And Cortes and Danilo are extremely unlikely now to return before the end of the season and are being earmarked effectively as new signings next season, should Rangers take up the option on the Colombian especially.
Speaking pre-Dundee, the manager said on Jack:
“[Jack] is a difficult one. He was on a good way back last week but then he felt again a bit so we are looking now at other solutions.”
And then on Cortes and Danilo:
“I think there is a big chance the season is finished for them but you never know if they’re ready the last week, and it’s necessary that we do that, if they are fit. So for them they are gonna be ready for the really last part of the season. It depends also if you play a cup final or not, that’s already one week more and we will make an evaluation [at] that moment. But it’s around that period they will be fit again so it’s difficult to speak about one week or two weeks.”
So Jack is 99% out for the season and Cortes and Danilo are both mega long shots to be available, literally, in the final 7-10 (our old favourite) days of the campaign.
Jack’s situation is unfortunate. Clement confirmed it’s his historic calf issues giving him jip, something Scotland boss Steve Clarke exacerbated by abusing Jack’s fitness on an international break and ignoring Rangers’ requests for careful treatment of the ex-Aberdeen man.
This has led to long-term problems for the midfielder.
As for Cortes and Danilo, it’s optimism that doesn’t rule out that they might might might be fit for the final week to 10 days of the season, IF there’s a cup final to play for.
That is the area the club is aiming for with them, but it’s much safer to rule them out and operate on the assumption they won’t be fit, and get the bonus if they are.
None of this is what we didn’t already know, but it does show that all three are absolutely minimal chance for being fit this season.
We should write them all off for the campaign.