Numan left ‘astonished’ by Goldson’s hunger claim

ARTHUR NUMAN admits he was astonished by Connor Goldson’s postmatch comments after Rangers crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.

The Ibrox outfit were defeated 3-1 by Hibernian after Martin Boyle notched a first-half hat-trick.

After the match, Goldson claimed that the Rangers squad had lost some of their hunger before revealing that he felt the game was over at the interval despite Scott Arfield grabbing a lifeline before the half was out.

Numan was shocked on hearing the comments and he responded to Goldson’s interview in his 5Stars column this week. He said: “To lose a semi-final in that way was unacceptable. I can’t believe the manner of the defeat. I was then even more surprised by Connor Goldson’s comments in his interview on television at full time.

“For a Rangers player to say the game was over at half time when the team are 3-1 down was an astonishing admission.

“To also say that the team has lost a bit of hunger was equally alarming. How can you have lost a bit of hunger when you have won one trophy in three seasons?

“Yes, I get that the trophy was one of the most important in the club’s history and Steven Gerrard and the players will always be remembered for it.

“But you need to go and win again. And again. And again. And again. Rangers is about winning silverware on a regular basis. If you don’t have the hunger and desire to do that then you should be asked to leave or be sold on.

“All it needed from our players was to get a goal at any stage during the second half and then we would have had Hibs on the ropes.

“Remember, we were playing against a Hibs team who hadn’t played since last month and last won a game on September 26th.

“It wasn’t Bayern Munich or Chelsea we were playing. What happened to the never-say-die attitude?

“Earlier this season in the Scottish Championship, Hamilton were 4-0 down to Raith Rovers with 25 minutes to go and got back to 4-4.

“In 2011, Newcastle were 4-0 down to Arsenal and staged a memorable comeback to get a draw. That’s what it’s all about. You must never give up and throw in the towel.”