GERRARD HOPS OVER THE HOOPS
Blades boss silences boo boys, but the pressure’s mounting on pointless Steve
FAIR to say Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was pretty hacked off last week.
Actually, that is probably a bit of an understatement given his rather angry, defiant reaction to the Blades snatching victory at Loftus Road.
Was the Blades’ positive result a two-fingered rebuke to doubters giving Wilder a tough time after back-to-back defeats had left his side rock bottom before the weekend?
You bet. Wilder declared: “Yes, something like that.
“But we never show any fight, never show any spirit, never show any desire... do we?
“We wanted to prove people wrong who were saying all sorts of things after two games.
“We’ve set the bar so high in my two seasons here.
“But those celebrations at the final whistle between the players and fans show how much we care and want to win.” New face David Mcgoldrick, a free transfer, came off the bench to kill off unlucky Rangers. The former Ipswich forward (bottom) fired in a penalty – seconds after replacing United’s other scorer, Billy Sharp.
Mcgoldrick was also involved in the controversial incident that led to the spot-kick.
And to complete a crazy 19 minutes, he was then subbed with a dead leg.
“I was a bit surprised to be awarded the penalty but happy to score the goal that gets us an important win,” said the Irishman before cutting short the interview as he felt ill.
At the final whistle, Richard Stearman and John Egan (above) showed the Blades’ relief as they celebrated the victory wildly. While United are up to 12th, Mcclaren’s Rangers remain pointless and only spared bottom spot from Reading alphabetically. The ex-england boss was bitterly upset over the “costly” refereeing decisions that ruined his chances of a first win in the Hoops hotseat. He reckoned Sharp was also offside for the equaliser.
But there were no complaints about his team’s display – and especially that of Ebere Eze.
The quicksilver forward, 20, capped a sizzling afternoon with a brilliant first-half goal – his third in 11 games for QPR.
Mcclaren beamed: “He’s an exciting talent. I don’t know how he got away from Millwall, but we’re glad to have him.”
Eze, who qualifies for England and Nigeria, is thrilled to have recently signed a new three-year deal at a club where he is loved.
The rising star said: “It’s a great feeling to know you have the trust of the manager, fans and players. Everyone believes in me and that’s such a boost to my confidence.” RANGERS picked up their first victory in the Premiership for Steven Gerrard and leapfrogged bitter rivals Celtic.
The Gers were always in control as they defeated ST MIRREN 2-0 thanks to Alfredo Morelos’ third goal of the season 14 minutes in and then a header by Connor Goldson (above) 10 minutes later.
Rangers had Ross Mccrorie sent off just past the half-hour mark for a foul on Nicolai Brockmadsen but the outcome was never in doubt.
Gerrard said: “I’m delighted we got the clean sheet. We have to make sure we’re not complacent in these games.
“It looked like it would be a very enjoyable afternoon with our two goals before the sending off. But they never caused us major problems which is a bonus.
“It was unfortunate for Ross but I think it was the right decision.”
St Mirren boss Alan Stubbs said: “I thought the goals we conceded, we’ve basically gifted Rangers two goals.”
CELTIC lost 1-0 at HEARTS on Saturday thanks to Kyle Lafferty’s second-half goal.
Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops now look to bounce back in the Champions League third qualifying round second leg at AEK Athens on Tuesday having drawn
1-1 with the Greeks at home.
Keeper Craig Gordon said: “It’s a massive opportunity for us to go and put in a good performance and try to get into the next round.
“We are slightly behind in the tie, so we have to go there and be very positive, and we definitely have the players who are capable and a team capable of going there and winning.”
HIBS came from behind away at ST JOHNSTONE. Tony Watt’s deflected shot gave Saints a first-half lead but Oli Shaw levelled for the Edinburgh side early in the second half.