LESSON LEARNED
Errors can be good for us, insists Warburton
MARK Warburton probably did not need to experience his f i rst defeat as Ranger s manager to appreciate he is now a long way from Brentford in more ways than one. Rest assured, though, the Englishman is now fully appreciative of the unforgiving nature of his new environment.
After being on the wrong end of a comprehensive home defeat to St Johnstone in the League Cup, Warburton could have been forgiven for thinking his 11 previous victories had existed only in his feverish imagination.
If the aftermath of the loss made the Chilcot Inquiry seem like a trifling matter, accusations of underestimating the opposition and tactical naivety clearly stuck in the throat of a man who had previously known nothing but success in his new post.
Since being appointed in June, Warburton has delivered on his pledge to improve the side. For him, bad nights at the office — as Tuesday unquestionably was — simply remain part of the fabric of being a football manager.
‘We made three mistakes,’ he said. ‘We all do it. I can pick the wrong team or have the wrong training session.
‘We have an open forum here and if the training session is poor they can say: “That was awful”. I have no problem with that.
‘The only way you learn is through making mistakes and we’ve learned from Tuesday. We were angry and frustrated that we’ve lost a game of football, but we move forward.’
Asked if he would change a single thing about his team selection or his tactical approach, Warburton was unrepentant.
‘All credit to Tommy Wright and St Johnstone,’ he added. ’ We suspected they would sit in and counter and we expected Michael O’Halloran to play wider rather than more central but, other than that, they did pretty much what we thought they’d do.
‘It should have been a case of us taking more care and looking after the football. When we’ve done that well this season, we’ve had good results but it didn’t quite work for us on Tuesday.’
If Warburton’s record to date entitles him to a fair degree of understanding, then the reason why the loss resulted in such widespread hand-wringing was because it was against Premiership opposition.
Ninety-minute judgments on any side are harsh. Yet, for the wider Rangers support, their team’s progress will be measured against top-flight outfits like Saints as opposed to Alloa or Livingston.
Perhaps chairman Dave King’s belief that up to five new recruits would be required to mount a serious challenge to Celtic next season was not so wide of the mark after all.
‘You can say: “You are miles away f rom them,” said Warburton. ‘I don’t think so. I still think that the gap from Championship to Premiership is tighter up north than down the road.
‘We probably need three to five players. I’ve read the articles with Mr King’s comments and we’re in close communication.
‘You can lose players. There are different scenarios — you can have players taken from you if bids come in, you can have injured players and others whose contracts are up.
‘There are so many scenarios involved in football. We might be looking for three next year or looking for seven. With the squad right now, we have a number of players who can step up but we’d like to add two or three definitely for more depth.’
Despite failing to yet convince Warburton of his fitness, John Eustace still has every chance of filling one of those berths.
The veteran midfielder has been training with the squad for the past couple of months but, despite the matter dragging on, Warburton remains hopeful it will end with the player signing a deal.
‘I can’t say 100 per cent,’ added Warburton. ‘John is an honest pro and, if he thought there were any doubts, we would have a talk.
‘At the end of the day, it’s not a gentleman’s club, it is a business and we have to do what’s right.’
Tomorrow’s trip to Cappielow offers no guarantee the disappointment of exiting the League Cup will easily be shrugged off.
Jim Duffy’s newly- promoted Morton have adjusted well to life i n the second tier and their elimination of Motherwell on Tuesday will have further fuelled their belief they can become the first side to take league points from the Ibrox club this term.
Warburton, though, feels the repair work his squad have needed this week has been minimal.
‘I’ve been asked whether I can restore our confidence and belief. We’d won 11 out of 11 before Tuesday and we’re now top of the league, so I don’t think confidence needs to be restored.
‘Individual errors cost us, but we’ll be better for it in the long run. I don’t think anyone in their right mind could look at our squad and say they lack belief.’
The belief that Tuesday was just a bump on the road is certainly shared by Warburton’s players.
For Dean Shiels, the defeat was disappointing but the evidence of the campaign to date suggests the team is going in the right direction.
‘I don’t think it was down to the tactics,’ said Shiels. ‘I don’t think we will change.
‘We looked at the game in detail and we can see where we went wrong. We’ve won games playing that way and will continue to do so.
‘It’s disappointing to be out the cup because you want to win every competition you enter at this club. The only way to make that right is by winning the next game and the next tournament.
‘We hadn’t lost a game so you learn a lot about a team when they do. I’m sure we’ll have the character to bounce back on Sunday.’
DEAN SHIELS was promoting the Rangers Charity Foundation’s annual Charity Ball at Glasgow’s Hilton Hotel on Saturday, November 21.