Further to Ibrox Noise’s previous piece about Rangers conceding so few goals and having a settled defence, there is the paradox that is Emmanuel Fernandez. Rangers fans have been absolutely gnashing their teeth over the Nigerian international this season and indeed were considerably overrating him last time around. And yet Emmanuel Fernandez selection continues.
Let us not forget the fans voted Emmanuel Fernandez Rangers Player of the Season. Ibrox Noise found this extremely amusing and to this day still cannot quite fathom why.
Emmanuel Fernandez and the Rangers hype machine
The reason is simple, in truth. Emmanuel Fernandez selection and the media hype machine around him perpetuated him as something he wasn’t. The big value numbers in the media and the Barry Fry propaganda all served to inflate his value and claim Bayer Leverkusen were about to sign him for £30 million or more.
Consequently, Fernandez got a hype machine around him that Rangers fans bought into, despite the fact that last season’s defensive attributes were not strong for him. His one saving grace is his aerial domination when it comes to clearances and we will get to that in a moment or two.
But if there was one thing Rangers fans have been consistent on, it has been frustration over the former Peterborough man. Let us not forget Rangers paid well over ten times the £300,000 valuation of this defender.
Barry Fry was laughing all the way to the bank and ensured that he got a huge sell on clause added to the contract as well, in the event that Rangers were able to push him on for more than he was worth.
However, all the hype around him from last season, including that fan voted Player of the Year award, which we still find bizarre to this day, has faded. Regardless of all of that, the true Fernandez has appeared this season.
That is to say, a clumsy, incompetent, lazy and extremely inefficient defender.
Why Derek McInnes keeps picking Fernandez
Now, after this entire appraisal of his qualities, one might be wondering what on earth Derek McInnes is doing playing this guy. We have already been more impressed by his South African colleague Olwethu Makhanya. So why does the Rangers manager insist on the Nigerian defender?
Well, it is fairly simple, really. As we have mentioned before, he is nearly top of the table when it comes to aerial clearances.
When it comes to aerial domination, Fernandez is strong. He is indeed the tallest guy in the team. Manny is big and he is strong. He soaks almost everything up and clears the ball really well.
This is very much Connor Goldson territory, who was also very strong when it came to aerial power. When it came to challenging in the air and getting that ball away, he was close to peerless.
The rest of his game could have done with a lot of improvement, but that one strength was definitely up there among the Scottish Premiership’s best.
Rangers benefit from Fernandez’s aerial strength
Fernandez is similar. This season, he is in the top ten for aerial clearances. He is extremely notable in the air and the only players stronger than him in that area are generally those soaking up pressure constantly, whose defenders have to do that throughout the match.
The lower teams, or lower mid table teams, often have pressure on top of them. Therefore, their defenders have to be constantly clearing the ball in the air and on the ground.
The pressure is not the same on Rangers as it is on those teams, but Fernandez is still the top rated player in the Premiership of all four of the theoretically strongest teams, Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen, at doing this.
He is extremely proficient at clearing the ball with his head.
The other big feather he has, of course, is that he is left footed. He is the only Rangers player in defence who is left footed, at least the only central defender who is.
Rangers have a bunch of righties, although we are about to lose one in John Souttar. We also have right footed options including Ben Godfrey and Makhanya.
Consequently, having a lefty is priceless. Why Rangers did not bring more in, we are not entirely sure, but Fernandez is worth his own weight in gold due to the balance he is able to offer the defence through having that orientation in his peg.
The Emmanuel Fernandez Rangers paradox
McInnes ironically seems to prefer him on the right of defence with right footed Makhanya on the left. We are not quite sure why, but the results speak for themselves.
In the last few matches, as we have mentioned before, Rangers have won six of seven. Something is clearly working back there with Emmanuel Fernandez selection.
But yes, this is the whole paradox surrounding the English born Nigerian international. The simple fact is that outside of the clearances, his game is frustrating. His game is clumsy. It is error ridden and it can cost either big chances or big goals.
And yet, as we said before, consequently, none of it is counting against Rangers in terms of the results.
The reason he stays in is his balance on his left peg. And the fact that he is strong in the air. It seems to be working.
So whether Rangers fans like it or not, he will not be leaving that first team unless the results start to go downhill.
Time will tell on that one.