Gerrard rant helps Rangers rescue point
STEVEN GERRARD last night admitted he read the riot act to his misfiring players at half-time before they stormed back to salvage a point at Motherwell. The Ibrox boss was left frustrated by his team’s performance in a first half that saw Devante Cole put the hosts 1-0 ahead. In an improved showing after the break, substitute Cedric Itten scored an equaliser but Rangers were unable to find a winner to equal a club post-war record of 16 consecutive league victories. Gerrard’s side are 21 clear at the summit with 14 Premiership matches remaining, but the Rangers boss has ordered his players to turn up for the
entire 90 minutes of matches. He said: ‘I had to get into the players at half-time. We were too passive in key areas of the pitch. Everything was too safe in front of Motherwell. ‘When we managed to string some passes together and get some territory, our quality wasn’t there. ‘Our normally reliable players, the front three and coming in from the sides, the quality wasn’t good enough. ‘Motherwell were comfortable and Liam Kelly did not have much to do. ‘That’s on us, that’s on me. So we had to get into them at half-time and demand more from them in and out of possession. ‘We got a reaction from them. We were really good in the second half and we were unlucky not to get another goal or two. ‘The way the game panned out, it’s arguably a fair result. ‘If you look at possession, chances created and our secondhalf performance, we maybe should have shaded it. ‘But we have ourselves to blame for the outcome because we never really came to this game until half-time.’ Gerrard also revealed that Motherwell had contacted Rangers before the match to warn them about the poor state of the Fir Park pitch and that the game may be in danger of postponement. However, the Ibrox boss insists no blame should be placed on the Steelmen for the condition of their turf amid a frozen Scottish January. ‘We had an email from Motherwell a few days ago talking about the standard of the pitch,’ he said. ‘It was just to give us an early indication about the pitch and that if the weather turned, we could have an issue — and also to say Motherwell had to use it (for training) and it was not in the usual condition. ‘It’s normally a fantastic pitch here. ‘It was just a heads-up that if we had a period of weather that was bad, the game could be 50-50. ‘Thankfully the game went ahead and it’s nothing for Motherwell to be ashamed of because you see Hibs’ pitch on Sportscene, Celtic Park, Ibrox — a lot of people are having issues with pitches. ‘And I don’t think the pitch was to blame for our first 45 minutes because you can’t blame a pitch for being passive and having no quality. ‘There’s no fingers pointed at Motherwell because given the weather and the conditions and the country that we play in, it is what it is.’