Jacko was mightily impressed by Nico Raskin’s display at Falkirk but especially by a less obvious second half flashpoint
06:00, 13 Apr 2026Updated 06:24, 13 Apr 2026
FALKIRK, SCOTLAND – APRIL 11: Rangers’ Nico Raskin (L) remonstrates with Falkirk’s Dylan Tait (R)
Something of great significance may have occurred yesterday amid the utter, unrelenting madness of what went on at Falkirk Stadium.
Because, on a day when Rangers toyed with the notion of throwing in the towel on their title ambitions, a diminutive Belgian stepped forward to pick his team mates up off the floor and to show them what a title fight really looks like.
Nico Raskin might fancy himself as a bit too flashy for the dirty, hurly burly of the Scottish game but when this little man gets his sleeves rolled up there are few other midfielders in this country who can live with him.
So the little man’s huge contribution to the six goal salvage mission which was mounted after Danny Rohl ’s side had capitulated in the face of an early Falkirk onslaught, could signal that the Ibrox side do have the stomach for this battle after all.
And it was more than just what he did with the ball at his feet, even though he scored one and played a crucial part in four of the others during a quite extraordinary 90 minutes of utterly unhinged mayhem.
Because late in the second half, when Dylan Tait went in heavy with a foul on Djiedi Gassama, Raskin raced across to confront the culprit and spark a rammy at the side of the pitch.
And in that moment, Raskin became the embodiment of the kind of the spirit and togetherness which is a basic requirement for any would be championship winners.
Look, who knows how it all plays out from this point on. Yesterday’s breathless drama merely confirmed that we are living through a season like no other.
Rangers’ Nico Raskin celebrates with a fan after scoring to make it 3-2
With Hearts and Celtic taking care of their own business on Saturday afternoon at home to Motherewell and St Mirren this was only the second weekend when all three of the main protagonists have all taken full points. Which is an incredible statistic in itself.
It’s got to the stage where you might as well pin the tail on the donkey where the eventual outcome of this three way slogathon is concerned.
But if this is the manner in which Raskin intends to go about his work between now and May 16 – when Rangers return to Falkirk for one last dance – then Rohl and his team may have a great deal more than just a puncher’s chance when it comes to determining the flight path of the helicopter.
Of course, Raskin prefers to concentrate on doing the finer things in football. He regards himself as a natural No.6 – a classy, composed, coordinator responsible for knitting things together from his base at the middle of the pitch.
But the truth is the 25-year-old is at his very best when he feels the need to take off his own handbrake and that’s precisely what he was forced to do by Falkirk yesterday in order to prevent Rangers from suffering the kind of defeat which would have punctured their entire campaign.
It was Barry Ferguson who first challenged Raskin to add more strings to his bow when the former midfield linchpin was brought in to hold the fort for the final three months of last season.
Up until Ferguson’s arrival, Raskin had netted just once in 34 games. By contrast, he notched four in 14 games under the interim boss and broke into the Belgian national team largely as a consequence of this hot streak.
And that probably complicated matters because Raskin is deployed by his national team in the role that he enjoys playing most of all.
Ironically, it may have convinced him to revert back to type for his club side too and yet when Raskin operates a little further up the pitch, as he felt obliged to do yesterday, he makes himself a far more valuable commodity in Rohl’s engine room.
He started what looked like a most unlikely comeback and in dire circumstances with a hanging cross to the back post which was headed back across goal and onto the base of Scott Bain’s right hand post by Manny Fernandez.
Falkirk’s players froze for a split second in the belief that Raskin’s lofty probe had been blown behind the byline in mid flight by a gusting breeze but Toxchi Chukwuani pounced to slam home into the roof of Bain’s net and from that moment Rangers discovered an unlikely second wind.
It was Raskin who drove them upfield to level the scores at the start of the second half when Gassama picked out Youseff Chermit for the equaliser.
And it was Raskin, of course, who fired home a quick-fire third goal to turn another compelling Premiership contest on its head entirely.
He then created the fourth for Bojan Miovski and was involved in the scuffle at the edge of Falkirk’s box which led to Chermiti bagging his second of the day and making the scoreline 3-5.
In other words, Raskin was running all over the top of this match from the moment it looked like Rangers might be dead and buried and on the verge of running up the white flag on their title ambitions.
They added a sixth goal before full time when sub Miovski poked one over the line from close range and the Macedonian’s two goal contribution may also bode well for Rohl as the German heads into the post split fixtures.
He’s been crying out for a striker who can be relied upon to get Rangers through this run-in and with Chermit and Miovski both pulling on their shooting boots at the same time, maybe Rangers do have enough firepower left to blast their way across the finishing line in first place.
They’ve now banged in a total of 23 from their last seven league games and that’s certainly helped fatten up the goal difference column at a potentially critical stage in the campaign.
But, first and foremost, Rangers will have to have the stomach for a good old fashioned tear up if they want to make any of those numbers count.
And if this is the manner in which Raskin intends to continue to carry the fight on behalf of his team mates then they might end up throwing the knock out punches after all.