I picked the team I thought could get a stranglehold on the game but far too many of them didn’t turn up
We had praise and credit and we are rightly going to have criticism now
STEVEN GERRARD last night accepted his share of the blame for a limp Old Firm defeat — but also insisted that too many Rangers players simply failed to turn up.
The Ibrox manager, who surprised supporters with aspects of his team selection, claimed only Jon Flanagan merited praise as Celtic eased to a 2-0 win that opened up a three-point lead at the top of the Premiership.
Rangers entered the game as bookmaker’s favourites, yet saw that optimism deflated by what Gerrard admitted was a deserved first defeat of the season.
Connor Goldson’s error led to Odsonne Edouard claiming a first-half opener, before substitute Jonny Hayes sealed a vital victory for Neil Lennon’s men late on.
Rangers barely tested Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster in front of a deeply frustrated Ibrox crowd, with a bleak day completed by the stoppage-time dismissal of substitute Jordan Jones for a wild lunge on debutant Moritz Bauer, with the winger appearing to injure himself in the process.
Gerrard promised to undertake a thorough look at what went wrong throughout the 90 minutes, but doesn’t believe the painful blow will derail their hopes of success this term.
His starting line-up didn’t include an orthodox winger as Joe Aribo struggled in a more advanced role. Top scorer Alfredo Morelos also started on the bench, before replacing Jermain Defoe after an hour.
‘I would say it’s a poor performance all round,’ said Gerrard. ‘Look, I’m part of that.
‘We will all analyse ourselves, we will take a bit of criticism for it, which is okay, we are man enough to accept it.
‘When we analyse where we are big picture, we are four points better off than we were last year, we have qualified for Europe, we are still in the League Cup. There was a lot of positives up until a ball was kicked today.
‘We had a lot of praise and a lot of credit. So now we are going to have to take a bit of criticism and rightly so because our display across the board wasn’t good enough to win an Old Firm game or against any good team that comes on to this pitch.
‘In derby games, it is about onev-ones more often than not and we didn’t win enough of those.
‘I expected a lot more. To win against any good team, you’ve got to have the majority of players at it. Unfortunately, across the board, we weren’t good enough.
‘There was really only Jon Flanagan who can be proud of his performance.
‘Obviously we will do a steward’s inquiry into why we had so many players — normally trusted players — off it and not at it. We’ll look at our game plan to see where we went right and wrong. But we got what we deserved.
‘The disappointing thing is that I don’t think we’ve been played off the park. Celtic deserve credit for the win, of course they do.
‘But I don’t think we were outplayed or were passed off the pitch. We’ve gifted them a goal and then we’ve chased it and then you are open to the second one.
‘Their game plan has worked and ours hasn’t, but a game plan will never work at Ibrox if you have so many of your trusted players who are not at it.’
Morelos fired Rangers into the Europa League group stage last Thursday evening, but Gerrard opted for Defoe yesterday. The veteran Englishman was part of the team that had won 2-0 against Celtic in May. ‘I went with freshness,’ explained Gerrard. ‘I went with Jermain Defoe. I picked the same team, besides Joe Aribo, that did the job so effectively a couple of months ago. I understand and get it and accept it if people want to point fingers my way.
‘Of course I’m part of it. But I picked the team I thought could get a stranglehold on the game.
‘I picked good players. The system has worked before. And I expected more from my players but it didn’t come.’
Celtic arrived at Ibrox with question marks over their full-backs — but Rangers struggled to apply any significant pressure to either Hatem Abd Elhamed or Boli Bolingoli.
Asked if Rangers were too narrow in the first half, Gerrard replied: ‘You could say that. I’ll accept that. But that game plan has worked before. We were narrow twice here and won.
‘Even when we made the changes to get more width with Jordan and Sheyi (Ojo) on the pitch, we didn’t create or have enough quality.
‘Anything that comes my way, then I will totally accept it.’
Gerrard also offered no excuses for Jones, who left the stadium on crutches, after his wild action resulted in Bobby Madden producing the first red card Rangers have had this season.
‘He totally deserved it,’ said the former England captain. ‘I think it has come from frustration but if you are Jordan Jones and you want fans on your side, you create and score goals.
‘You don’t kick people when the ball is already gone. And get a silly red card and get yourself injured.
‘I can’t defend Jordan on that. It is the one moment where we have lost control since coming back this season.
‘I’m disappointed in that and I’m sure the player is as well.’ Gerrard — who dismissed suggestions of a loan approach for Manchester City’s Phil Foden — said it was unlikely Rangers would see any incomings on transfer deadline day. However, the Ibrox club will closely monitor any possibility of Liverpool having a late change of heart on their £7m asking price for Ryan Kent. The winger is also attracting interest from clubs in Holland and Germany. In the meantime, Gerrard is confident his existing squad can bounce back from this blow after the international break. ‘I’m not worried about the mentality in the dressing room,’ he added. ‘I think more often than not in the questions and challenges that have faced us, the players have done fantastically well with what we have got. ‘Of course, right now I am disappointed in our performance and certain individuals within that. But I still back them. ‘I’m still confident and I’ve still got belief that we can put a good challenge up and have a very successful season.’