On a night when none of the Rangers’ new guard truly seized their moment, it was the performance of a familiar face which provided the main consolation for the visiting supporters.
Thelo Aasgaard signed for the club a year ago from Luton Town for £3.5million. It’s fair to say that, to date, he’s singularly failed to justify that substantial investment.
The Norwegian’s main attributes — technique and physicality — seemed to be tailor-made for the Scottish Premiership, yet he often looked lost and off the pace throughout a difficult debut season.
Yet, you always felt there was a player with pedigree in there. Stale Solbakken, the Norwegian manager, knows it and took the midfielder to the World Cup.
Derek McInnes is also convinced of it and handed Aasgaard the main creative role against Dundee United on Friday.
For all Rangers were collectively unconvincing in their first competitive outing, Aasgaard excelled. The sweetest of strikes in the second half ensured his side left Tayside with at least something tangible to show for their efforts.
Thelo Aasgaard has an effort on goal in Rangers’ league opening 1-1 draw at Dundee United
The Norwegian thumps home the equaliser for Rangers at Tannadice
Aasgaard attempts an overhead kick while in confident mood in the second half
His overall performance, classy and courageous, suggested that he may have belatedly arrived as a Rangers player.
Asked if and why he felt he could now be the main man under the new regime, the 24-year-old succinctly replied: ‘Evidence. Good games for Rangers, for Luton, for Wigan back in the day. Even then I believed I could step up for a big team.
‘Playing amongst the best players in the world with Norway and feeling really confident, feeling good in training. Obviously, a good performance in the World Cup as well did wonders for my confidence, so I tried to bring that into Rangers.
‘Just feeling confident, but we need to bring that into the team more so we can win.’
For all there’s always a price for club managers to pay when their players are selected in their nation’s squads, the benefit for McInnes of Aasgaard’s involvement for Norway this summer are clear. How could any player not feel 10-feet tall from training and playing with superstars of the ilk of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard?
Aasgaard spent the entire summer in such company. He played and scored in the final group game against France and was a part of the squad which eliminated Brazil before coming up just short against England in the quarter-finals.
‘I’m just trying to take that quality that I was taking in from the six weeks out in America,’ he added. ‘I trained with some really good players day in, day out and that raises your standards.
‘So, I’ve tried to bring that in in pre-season and I felt like I’ve done that. I want to take some responsibility this year to be the man, and hopefully I can do that.’
His attitude is another thing which has been to McInnes’ liking. After such a gruelling summer, Aasgaard would have been well within his rights to take a couple of weeks off — even if that meant he’d be unavailable for Rangers’ curtain-raiser. But when he phoned McInnes to discuss the plan, he made it clear that he’d be satisfied with five or six days holiday. There was work to be done.
‘It was just to prove a point that I should be in the team and that you should trust me to come in and make a difference,’ he explained.
‘Last season was a lot of ups and downs and I’m just trying to find that consistency. If it’s not a goal or assist, then it’s a really strong performance. I’m just trying to show the manager that I should be in and around the team.
Thelo Aasgaard shares a joke with Norway team-mate Erling Haaland in the World Cup
‘I was happy with a lot of moments last year. I had some really good periods, but a few too many periods where I was out of the team and not having the impact on the pitch that I wanted.
‘So, yes, obviously there’s things to learn from last year that I’ve had time to reflect on. And being back, it’s just about learning, not just over the season but every game as well. It’s another chance to get better.’
He already feels a connection with his new manager, one that clearly didn’t exist under Russell Martin and Danny Rohl.
‘The manager’s been great ever since I’ve come in,’ he said. ‘I’ve had that full belief straight from when I’ve walked in. He wants me to play with freedom and take that responsibility on my shoulders, which is great. Hopefully, he can just carry on doing that.’
McInnes has made no secret of the fact that he wants more signings on top of the eight he’s already made. Indeed, after Friday’s draw, he stressed that they had to come in sooner rather than later.
Aasgaard is fully on board with this — even if it’s an obvious threat to his position in the side.
‘Competition is crucial in a team, it keeps you going,’ he said. ‘If you’re in a team and you’ve got no one behind you pushing you, sometimes you can relax a little bit and performances aren’t the best.
‘You need people pushing you and there are a lot of people pushing me and the lads who started on Friday. Training’s been really good, high intensity, the manager demands it every day. I’ll continue and I’m sure more will come in.’
McInnes had spoken about the need for further recruits before the campaign got underway. He could certainly have lived without his side’s disjointed display underscoring his point.
He felt his team threw away the first half, improved thereafter to deservedly equalise but lacked urgency and the necessary cohesion to find the winner as the clock ticked down and two points were spilled.
Notwithstanding the fact that six of the eight new signings played at some point, Aasgaard believes the display was way below the standard the team had set out to deliver.
‘It was frustrating,’ he said. ‘It’s too many years now we haven’t won that first game, but I think there were some positives.
‘We obviously showed some character to get back, but we should have more than enough quality to go and win the game, so disappointed in the end.
‘I know it might take some time to build connections on the pitch, but even so, we’ve had a good pre-season together. We’ve signed some players that are right at the top of the league, and they’ve helped come in and make a really good squad, we feel, together.
‘With that being said, we still should have what we need to win the game.’
