TITLE ISN’T WON YET
Wounded Wallace tells Gers it’s too early to give up the fight
Lee Wallace has endured a few dark days as a Rangers player.
He has seen it al l. From administration to liquidation to plying his trade in the bottom tier of Scottish football.
But rarely has the Ibrox captain looked as dejected as he did in the aftermath of yesterday’s mauling at Celtic Park.
When Wal lace emerged from the away dressing-room after his side had suffered a humiliating defeat, he was struggling to convey his sheer deflation.
Mark Warburton’s side were beaten emphatically by their Old Firm rivals thanks to Moussa Dembele’s hattrick and strikes from Scott Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong. Not only did Brendan Rodgers’ side widen the gap at the top of the Premiership table.
Celtic also sent out a message to Rangers that they are going to take some catching.
Wallace fronted up afterwards and revealed that Warburton’s players had their usual post-match analysis session.
As much as the pain was etched all over the defender’s face, he was adamant the Ibrox men have to stand up and be counted in the face of fierce criticism.
Wallace said: “We made it tougher than we’d have expected it to be. There’s obviously disappointment and hurt in the dressing-room.
“When you sit in there for as long as we have speaking about what we must do better – we’re all feeling it.
“We’ll always have the de-briefs after games and this time we’re dissecting a really bad defeat.
“But it’s never heated. It’s difficult because it’s a tough one to take.
“But what we have to do as players is realise we’re only five games into a season.
“The worst thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves. I’ve said it after many bad situations we’ve found ourselves in.
“We have to stay together. There’s no way we can let it affect the preparations for our next game.
“We’ll ref lect on it quickly and see where we need to improve. So while there’s heartache in that dressing-room we’re going to have to put it right quickly.
“We know what will be said in the aftermath of a result like this.
“You’re always going to be on the end of criticism and this time it will be heavier because of the scoreline.
“But we have to be ready for it. We have to be brave and thick-skinned as individuals and as a team.
“We realise the gap will be bigger if Celtic’s game in hand is won. But it’s early in the season and there’s a long way to go.
“I listen to guys who have experienced these bad memories before, this bad feeling.
“Guys like Davie Weir, Jim Stewart,
Kenny Miller – they know how quickly things can turn around.
“There’s too much football to be played for anyone to be talking about who is winning league titles.”
Rangers’ cause wasn’t helped by debutant Philippe Senderos’ red card in the second half, his dismissal killing off any chance of a comeback.
Wallace refused to have a pop at the big Swiss centre-half.
Instead, he conceded Celtic had exposed Gers’ defensive deficiencies.
The full-back insisted: “I’m not disappointed in Philippe, no chance. He was rightly sent off but I spoke to him and told him not to be too down. “He’s a professional, he’s done more in the game than me, so he knows the situation. “It was tough for us because Celtic were playing well and feeling good about themselves. “We were behind and a bit down at that point. Celtic punished us because they have good players. “They’re a refreshed group and
exposed our vulnerabilities.” Wallace also pointed to Rangers’ failure in attack, saying: “We know we’ve not been as penetrative enough in the first five games of the season. We’ve not had that cutting edge.
“We need to get that back and take the risks we were taking last season.
“At 2-1 our goal had given us a boost. We felt confident we could go on and win the game at that point.
“Even for the first 15 minutes of the second- half, we still felt that. We needed a goal in that period.”
But he had to admit: “At 4-1 down and with 10 men it was always going to be very difficult.”
Wallace has fought harder than any Rangers player to get them back to