TIME has been of the essence for Rangers this summer. Now, it is the commodity that Pedro Caixinha needs most.
The Portuguese has his first game, and importantly his first win, under his belt this season and he will head to Luxembourg confident of making it two from two.
The performance against Progres Niederkorn was far from sparkling, but it earned pass marks from Caixinha and the Light Blue legions that packed Ibrox as Rangers returned to European action.
This was the date that Caixinha has been working towards since his arrival in Glasgow and now his side are off and running this term.
Three of the eight players that he has signed – Fabio Cardoso, Ryan Jack and Dalcio - were given starts on Thursday evening, while Daniel Candeias and Alfredo Morelos made their debuts from the bench.
A short summer break and condensed pre-season is hardly the ideal preparation for Rangers and Jack knows it will take days, weeks even to settle into a rhythm on and off the park.
He said: "Yeah I think obviously there are a lot of new faces who have come to the club and I'm one of them.
“Even for me I've only moved two and a half hours down the road but some of the guys have moved to a different country.
“It does take them maybe more time than you would think because moving away from home, moving to a different country, maybe living on your own over here, it's tough.
“But that's what the team is here for, that's what the club is here for. We will all get together and make sure we win next week."
The move from Pittodrie to Ibrox was a significant one for Jack to make and it will provide challenges that his other new arrivals won’t have to face. The language barrier isn’t one of them, though.
Mexican pair Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera have also been added to the squad alongside the Portuguese contingent of Bruno Alves, Cardoso, Dalcio and Candeias and Colombian forward Morelos.
But Jack is confident the Gers’ foreign legion will quickly adjust to life in Glasgow and in Light Blue.
He said: "It hasn't been too bad. The English for the lads is actually coming along quite well, I believe they are doing some English classes to help in the changing room and on the pitch and at half time and stuff.
“There is no real issue there. It's more that even for myself I'm coming to a new club and a new team and it's about getting used to how everyone players and everyone works.
“That just takes time. We'll work hard at that in training and hopefully we can put it right on the pitch."
The likes of Alves, Pena and Herrera will have to wait to get their first taste of Ibrox but it was a night to remember for the rest of the new recruits on Thursday.
A Kenny Miller strike was all that separated the sides on the scoreboard but Rangers were comfortable for large spells of the first round qualifier.
Chances were hard to come by as Caixinha’s side dropped off after the break but Jack was satisfied with a solid start to proceedings this season.
"I don't think there's a fitness issue or a sharpness issue, it's more getting to know each other and getting used to how everyone plays,” he said.
“In training it's different from a competitive match, there is nothing like being out there in front of 50,000 and having to put it right.
“As I say, there is still a lot more to come from us, it's still early days, there are a lot of new faces in the squad and you saw a lot [on Thursday night].
“It's about getting it right. We'll work hard in training and I'm sure we will."
A lack of cutting edge cost Rangers dear on several occasions last term as they finished third in the Premiership and ended the campaign empty handed.
The introductions of Alves, Pena and Herrera, and the arrival of another handful of signings, will add another dimension to the Gers’ play.
A second goal would have been welcome for Caixinha but the Portuguese certainly had plenty of points to consider after the first outing of the season.
"I wouldn't say it's just the forward players,” Jack said. “They are obviously the ones that win you the game, there's no doubt, but there can be goals from all over the pitch.
“There can be goals from set plays from defenders or goals from midfield from the likes of myself and Jason (Holt)
“So it's not just the midfield I think it's as a team, working on how to break down the opposition when they obviously want to sit in and make it difficult for you.
“There is no doubt we will work hard in the next few days and we will be more than ready for Tuesday."
The turnaround ahead of the trip to the Stade Josy Barthel may be tight but the time on the training ground and in the analysis suites at Auchenhowie will prove beneficial for Caixinha.
The performance of Jack was one pleasing factor for the Gers boss to take from the first leg and the former Dons skipper was satisfied with his maiden showing in Light Blue.
Jack said: "I think on your debut it's always tough because there is that bit of nerves and you want to do really well. But I was more than happy with my own performance.
“I thought the team's performance, we did play really well, we passed the ball really well, we maybe just never created as many chances as we would have liked considering our possession.
“But we won the match and we will work hard in the next few days and we look forward to next week."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel