PEDRO LIFTS BLUES
Ten-man Rangers fight to ease pressure on boss
TEN-MAN Rangers last night eased the pressure on beleaguered boss Pedro Caixinha with a dramatic comeback victory against Hamilton Accies.
Caixinha, who dropped veteran striker Kenny Miller from his squad after a tumultuous few days for the club, was crestfallen to see his team fall behind to a first-minute goal from Danny Redmond.
But two goals from loan signing Declan John turned the game on its head before Daniel Candeias gave Rangers a 3-1 lead at the interval.
Ryan Jack was sent off after picking up a second yellow card for a scything challenge on Hamilton’s Greg Docherty in the 53rd minute but the Ibrox men breathed easier when captain Graham Dorrans completed the scoring with a penalty kick after Jason Holt was brought down by Alex Gogic.
WITH a gafferhugging, badgekissing, wild celebration that ran half the length of Hamilton’s plastic pitch, Daniel Candeias delivered precisely the public pay-off Pedro Caixinha had been banking on.
The Rangers manager has gambled in a big way this week, axing striker Kenny Miller and taking a punt on his underperforming favourites to hit the jackpot — even a small one — on a cold night in Lanarkshire.
At the end of a week in which Caixinha had battered a Las Vegas analogy halfway to death, his flutter at least produced a return. In frantically spectacular style.
Will it be enough to save the high rollers at Ibrox from inviting the head coach to take a long drive in the desert, perhaps as early as next week? Only a fool would ascribe such importance to any win over Premiership small fry playing in the penny slots of Scottish football.
But a loss here would have left Caixinha bereft of all hope. At least he avoided that ignominy.
Behind to a Danny Redmond strike inside the opening minute, Rangers hit back with a hat-trick of goals in the space of six minutes — a Declan John double followed by that Candeias killer third — to put themselves within touching distance of a required victory.
They suffered a minor scare when Ryan Jack was sent off for two bookings in the space of five minutes early in the second half.
But the ten men moved out of sight when Graham Dorrans converted a penalty — in cheeky fashion — to make it 4-1, while Wes Foderingham saving a Rakish Bingham penalty ensured it would be a good night for the Rangers manager.
And a difficult occasion for one absent old warrior who appears certain to have played his last game for the club.
The internal exile of Miller was evident by his absence from an away bench boasting such proven attacking talents as Eduardo Herrera and Euciodálcio Gomes; with such riches as these at his disposal, it was obviously easy for Caixinha to make this call.
Carlos Pena would have been the first name on the visitors’ team sheet, of course, the Mexican with the allegedly impressive fitness numbers having come to represent a kind of totem for the manager.
Pena is seen by many as a representation, if not cause, of the reported split within the squad.
And Miller? Well, whether or not he would be viewed as a heroic martyr to some greater cause — the Barry Ferguson to Caixinha’s Paul Le Guen, perhaps — might well have been decided here.
Caixinha’s pre-match comments about the former Scotland striker, his refusal to spare so much as a word of praise for a guy described by every previous manager of club and country as a model pro, made the situation clear.
Now, how would the remaining players respond? Against a Hamilton team who should be expected to pose only a minor inconvenience, we would soon find out whether this Rangers side really was united, divided or merely muddling along.
Fifty-seven seconds was all it took for the worst fears of travelling fans, the gnawing doubt that Miller — no longer the force of old, certainly — may have a point, to take root.
What Fabio Cardoso was trying to do when Bingham latched on to a hopeful bouncing ball from Dougie Imrie wasn’t exactly clear. He allowed the ball to land, let his man roll him with ease, then couldn’t recover to prevent the lanky striker from shooting on target.
Although Foderingham parried his effort, Redmond was first to the rebound — and put it away neatly.
Rangers genuinely looked rattled by falling behind so early in a contest that had taken on serious significance; the sight of Pena taking a heavy first touch and then getting booked for his attempt to regain possession hardly calmed nerves.
For all of the side issues and personnel problems undermining a club apparently forever in crisis, it was worth remembering one thing. They were still Rangers. A club capable of spending millions of pounds to strengthen their squad over the summer.
And they were still up against an Accies side who, just to pick out
one example, had former Bo’ness goalkeeper Darren Jamieson in their starting XI.
At some point, this gulf in class simply had to tell. Did it have to happen all at once? The flurry of Rangers scoring began after 21 minutes with full-back John, the Welshman driving down the left and cutting in to score with a swipe of his right boot, beating the goalie at his near post.
The on-loan Cardiff City defender added a second just four minutes later, combining well with Josh Windass on the flank and this time hitting a low left-footed shot, looping into the net off the foot of Jamieson.
So far, so bonkers. And we weren’t done with the entertainment yet. Not by a long shot.
The visitors’ third goal was a thing of beauty, the pass from Dorrans over the top inviting a thumping finish from Candeias.
What the winger did next was just as eye-catching, as he ran to the Rangers technical area, pointedly demanded a hug from Caixinha, kissed the badge, roared to the heavens… and generally delivered a message in the most public manner imaginable.
Even at 3-1 up, there was an element of risk in the Rangers defence every time Hamilton got the ball in the final third. Redmond nearly had a second with a well-struck shot ten minutes before half-time.
All Rangers had to do to see this out was to maintain discipline. Don’t do anything daft.
Nobody told Jack, who picked up his first booking for a lunge on Ali Crawford two minutes into the second half — and his second just six minutes later, losing the ball and his composure by diving in on Greg Docherty.
Rangers might already have been down to ten men by then, in truth, with Pena having deliberately punched the ball into the Accies net moments earlier.
The much-debated attacker made way for Jason Holt soon after the red card. And that proved a turning point.
Holt’s high-energy hassling of Alex Gogic forced the defender into a pitiful pass-back, the centrehalf then pulling the midfielder back to concede a penalty.
With 59 minutes gone, knowing that this would ultimately decide the game, up stepped Dorrans to beat Jamieson with a semi-Panenka. Cool as you like, the boyhood Rangers fan had steadied the ship.
Accies still had the man advantage and had sub Botti Biabi been on the pitch a little longer, he might not have snatched at the chance that fell to him within moments of his introduction.
If Hamilton fans want to nit-pick, however, they would be more likely to look at Bingham’s tame penalty — easily saved by Foderingham — after Biabi had been felled by Ross McCrorie on 72 minutes.
At 4-2, Hamilton might have entertained hopes of a comeback. But a three-goal deficit made time the enemy.
Sub Steven Boyd had a header brilliantly parried by Foderingham as the home team threw numbers at the problem.
The odds were always against them. And with a Rangers team who might, at least, have provided their boss with some breathing space. For a week or two.