LE GUEN ONLY TOOK 12 POINTS OUT OF FIRST 27 AT LYON BUT STILL LIFTED THREE IN A ROW

FRENCH star Stephane Adam has two words for the critics of the slowburn start to Paul Le Guen's Rangers revolution - deja vu.

Paul Le Guen

Le Guen proved himself at Lyon, says Stephane Adam.

It might be Celtic fans who sing about knowing the history but the former Hearts star has also urged the Light Blues legions to consult the record books.

Le Guen has made a far from convincing beginning to his new Ibrox career with a win against Motherwell and two draws against Dundee United and Dunfermline, who finished in the bottom six last season.

The former Lyon boss criticised his new team for the first time after their 1-1 draw at East End Park on Sunday afternoon, claiming they have already been far too wasteful in front of goal.

But fans tempted to start fretting have been advised to calm down by Adam, now youth coach at Lille, because Le Guen has been through it all before.

He said: "This is a very similar start to the one he made in his first season with Lyon when the results were up and down and Le Guen and his team were beginning to draw criticism.

"But the president stuck by him and gave him confidence because he knew he was a good manager for the long term. He was proved correct as they went on win the title by a point from Monaco."

True enough, Le Guen inherited Jacques Santini's championship-winning side in the summer of 2002, but failed to impress early on in his career at the Stade Gerland.

Lyon picked up only 12 points from their opening nine league games, which included three wins, three draws and three defeats.

They were held 3-3 by Guingamp on the opening day of the season and 1-1 by Troyes and lost to the likes of Sochaux and Nantes.

Amazingly, Lyon won the league that season with victories in only half the 38 league games played and while eight defeats and 11 draws would surely mean curtains for his SPL title ambitions this season, Adam reckons Rangers fans shouldn't be too concerned.

He added: "For Lyon, draws against the likes of Troyes and Guingamp are the equivalent to Rangers only picking up points against Dundee United and Dunfermline.

"They are both sides who traditionally finish in the bottom half of the French league and Guingamp have since been relegated to the Second Division.

"The criticism aimed at Le Guen early in his career at Lyon wasn't so much personal as focused on the inconsistency of the team, the way they played and the lack of fluency and bad results. But quickly they improved and became a very pleasant side to watch, although it took a full season for the Lyon players to settle in and adjust to their new coach's ways.

"Rangers fans must remember their team is emerging from a very bad season domestically and they need to build for the future again. If they're patient and give their confidence to Le Guen I'm sure he'll have them back playing at their best level very soon.

"He built a fantastic Lyon side that went on to win three titles with him in charge and enjoy massive results in the Champions League.

"He'll soon bring determination and stability to the Rangers team and in a short time they will be able to compete at the highest level.

"I'm not at all worried about Le Guen because he's still learning about Scottish football and he's also a clever man.

"I remember it took me a couple of months to feel settled in the Scottish game after making the switch from France and he needs time to adjust as well.

"The game is much more physical in Scotland, teams are always looking to get the ball forward quickly and the passion and pressure on the field and off is greater than we're used to in France, even though ours is a bigger country.

"There is greater expectation, especially at Rangers and Celtic, the most popular clubs. It must be difficult for Le Guen but he'll soon absorb all the aspects to life at his new team and in Scottish football generally.

"He'll have learned lesson from the first few games, not only about the way teams play against Rangers and how to counter that, but also about his own squad.

"He's a tremendous professional and he's very strict in the way he drives his teams tactically and physically and it's understandable players also take time to learn these methods.

"Things might not go fantastically well for the first few weeks but after this they'll be better. Wait and see - it's just a question of time."

Nevertheless, the challenge Le Guen faces at Rangers is greater than Lyon, where he inherited a title-winning side that needed bolstered by only a couple of new signings in his first summer.

But he's had to re-structure much of the first-team squad at Ibrox on a shoestring budget in comparison with France, where he was allowed to fork out £7million to snap up Michael Essien from Bastia.

But if there are any ripples of unease coming from fans in Scotland, they have not worked their way down the North Sea and across the English channel.

Adam added: "Rangers and Scottish football are big news here in France these days and we all know how Le Guen is getting on.

"The top sports channel Canal Plus dedicates a programme to European football every Sunday evening and there is always a report on Le Guen and how he is getting on in Glasgow.

"Everyone over here is very confident about the job ahead of him because we know he's a great manager and the right person for the job.

"I know it's difficult because Rangers are a big club and there is a weight of expectation from their fans, but give it time.

"It's impossible to build a great team in only a few weeks but I'm sure things will soon change for the better-including results."

Taken from the Daily Record