Ross McCausland can handle Rangers scrutiny as Ibrox star reveals he dished it out as a young fan
Ross McCausland doesn’t mind the searing heat of Rangers criticism as he was once a kid dishing out the fire himself.
The Ibrox star is hoping to extend his 100 per cent Hampden winning record in Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final showpiece against Celtic. McCausland’s outing will bring an end to a tumultuous first full season as a top-team star and it’s been a contrast of emotions. First dipped into the side this term by interim Steven Davis, the appointment of Philippe Clement to the hotseat fully opened a door which the kid surged through and his initial period was both magical and, in his words, mad.
A Viaplay Cup winners medal after starting against Aberdeen, a Euro goal against Aris Limassol and sparkling display against Real Betis in Spain and a full debut for Northern Ireland crammed in before Christmas. However, it’s not been just as shiny for McCausland since the turn of the year with the Premiership trophy slipping out of Rangers’ grasp and criticism coming the way of the squad from both pundits and fans as dreams of the title were crushed. The attacker has been within a squad lauded and then lambasted, but he’s big enough to handle it. McCausland understands the flak can fly and smiles as he admits he might well have been doing it himself as a young fan.
He admits maturely: “With football, criticism is going to come. When I was a young fan myself, I was probably giving some of the players criticism as well! I think it’s normal. If you can’t take it in this day and age, it’s probably not for you.
“It’s only normal. Sometimes you won’t have the greatest of games. You just need to pick yourself up and go again. You try not to dwell on it. It’s all to do with your mindset and how you approach things.
“I don’t really think a lot of the boys look at it. For me personally, it’s not something I bat an eyelid at. I know what I’m capable of, so it’s just about keeping myself on the straight and narrow.”
Clement, of course, is crucial to McCausland staying on the right path. The 21-year-old has shown the Belgian his worth from the get-go and he said: “The manager has given me loads of confidence and has put his trust in me. He’s played me in a lot of big games.
“When you’re lasting the full 90 minutes in a lot of games, that’s an eye opener. It’s different coming off after maybe 60 or 70 minutes. But getting full games and a full 90 minutes under your belt is different. You want to please every manager you work under.
“This is obviously the first time I’ve been in a first-team environment, so I can’t really answer on what it was like before. But he’s come in and really stamped his authority. He’s got the boys doing what he wants.”
McCausland opened up on Clement’s style when giving an insight into the manager’s messaging with the team 2-1 down to Dundee at half-time last midweek. He said: “He didn’t raise his voice or anything, it was all fairly normal.
“He’s good that way. He knows how to get under the boys’ skin and get the best out of us. In the game against Dundee last week, we knew at half-time it was nowhere near good enough. At 2-0 down, we knew we had to go out and change it by starting strongly in the second half.”
It was McCausland who sparked the revival with that crucial first strike against Dundee and he followed it up with another against Hearts at the weekend to make it two-in-two ahead of Hampden. It’s been reminiscent of his golden period back in December and said: “I was still young at that stage. To be playing in those standard of games at that age was amazing.
“It’s probably quite mad that I’ve played in those stature of games at such a young age. I didn’t really have many games under my belt at that stage. But I ended up playing in those two games, which were two of the biggest games of the season. That was a really big period for my confidence.”
McCausland is now looking to extend his unblemished start to life in the National Stadium by helping Rangers to the Scottish Cup. He said: “I was on the bench in the semi-final against Hearts but didn’t get on.
“My only experience of playing at Hampden was in the League Cup Final earlier this season. I didn’t play in a Youth Cup Final or anything like that.”
As well as winning the silverware, it’s an opportunity for Rangers to prove they can defeat Celtic under Clement’s stewardship at the fourth attempt. It might be a Rangers farewell for some, but McCausland doesn’t know about individuals leaving.
Instead, he’s out to prove himself again. Just as he is every time he gets the nod from Clement. He explained: “Yeah definitely. You treat every game like that. Especially as a young player, you want to prove yourself.
“I want to play every single game. There’s a lot of good players at this club. A lot of boys have missed out at times this season due to injuries. That’s probably where I’ve been able to step in at times. But, even with those boys coming back, I still want to prove myself and show that I deserve to play.”