Back in February, Danny Rohl’s decision to tell the Rangers supporters that his latest signing Ryan Naderi reminded him of a certain Thomas Muller was met with widespread derision.

Quite right too. In truth, those comments still sound every bit as silly as they did nine months ago.

However, while that will surely be the first and last time Naderi is likened to the German World Cup winner, Rohl at least appears to have been proven right in his assertion that the frontman had the tools to ultimately be a success at Ibrox.

Clearly, he saw something the rest of us couldn’t.

You would have got long odds on the newly-capped Czech international still being at the club by the time the summer transfer window shut in early September, such was the general feeling towards the big man after a thoroughly underwhelming start to life in Glasgow.

That Rangers were so keen to pay Hansa Rostock the best part of £5million to bring him over from the German third tier appeared somewhat foolish given that Naderi would go on to find the net just three times across all competitions, with two of those coming in an 8-0 rout of Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup.

Simply put, he played more like a headless chicken than a reliable Rangers striker.

The summer departure of the man who convinced the club to push the boat out to get him, followed by the arrival of Derek McInnes — not to mention new club skipper Lawrence Shankland — suggested his days may have already been numbered.

You’d have done well to find any Rangers fan who would have objected either.

But, in a very short time, Naderi has put the hard yards in to establish himself as an integral part of this Rangers team. In fact, he’s almost undroppable these days.

His late goal against Aberdeen last weekend to book Rangers’ place in the Premier Sports Cup final against Hibs next month was his eighth in 16 appearances this season.

Let’s not pretend that those numbers would be quite as impressive had the likes of Shankland and Youssef Chermiti been on the pitch rather than on the treatment table. Naderi probably knows that himself.

But all he can do in their absence is take advantage of the opportunity offered to him, and it’s so far so good in that sense.

It’s evident that he is a man playing with confidence, and his displays are night-and-day from what we saw last season.

McInnes has to take a fair share of the credit for the role he has played in Naderi turning his Ibrox career around. The manager’s style suits him to a tee. 

Of course, there are all sorts of nuances and intricate details that go into his tactical ideology, but the general idea is pretty simple: Get the ball forward as quickly as possible.

There is very little faffing around in midfield under McInnes’ Rangers. None of this tippy-tappy nonsense. It was the same when he was in charge at Kilmarnock, and certainly a huge reason behind Hearts’ success last season too.

And Naderi — alongside Kevin Kelsy — is benefiting from a more direct approach which aims to turn the opposition around at every opportunity. It’s proven fairly effective until this point.

You would suspect the chances will keep coming with players such as Kim Min-su and Badredine Bouanani providing the ammunition, with the latter in particular really coming on to a game in recent weeks after taking some time to find his feet since making the loan switch from VfB Stuttgart.

Part of Naderi’s problem last season was that he was spending too much time outside the box in an effort to get involved in the build-up. Too eager to impress, perhaps.

In this team, he doesn’t need to do that anywhere near as often. 

There’s no reason why he can’t hit double figures this year. In fact, it would now be considered a major disappointment if he failed to do so.

He’ll have a chance to boost his numbers on Saturday evening when he lines up against St Mirren. And he will no doubt fancy doing exactly that, having registered a goal and two assists against Craig McLeish’s men earlier this season.

With Celtic failing to extend their lead at the top of the table last weekend after falling to defeat in Falkirk, Rangers can move to within a point ahead of the defending champions’ meeting with Kilmarnock on Sunday.

They will need to be a damn sight better than they have been on their travels of late to do so, however. Back-to-back 2-2 draws on the road at Dundee and Hearts could prove costly further down the line in what’s shaping up to be a tight title race. They could have easily lost both.

They simply can’t afford to drop any more points, especially with Celtic continuing to look so vulnerable.

You would assume Martin O’Neill’s men will find their groove eventually, so it is imperative that Rangers stay within striking distance until they face off again in the new year.

It should be an intriguing tussle in Paisley. The Buddies have earned plaudits for the way in which they have attempted to move away from the style employed under former boss Stephen Robinson. 

And they have demonstrated on multiple occasions this season that they can be hard to stop when in full flow. They certainly gave Celtic a scare back in September before succumbing to a narrow 2-1 loss.

But they have undoubtedly taken a step back of late, winning just once in their last eight league fixtures.

Keeping Naderi quiet will be key to stopping the rot. There’s a statement you couldn’t possibly have envisaged reading not too long ago.