The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Rangers are looking like basket cases once again
The record books will show that Celtic comfortably won their William Hill Scottish cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden on Sunday. However, the 4-0 scoreline obviously does not tell the whole story, with the losers imploding both on and off the field.
Rangers just weren’t at the races and insult was added to injury with Andy Halliday having a rant after he was subbed before half-time, while Daniel Candeias stormed straight down the tunnel when he was replaced in the second half.
Senior pros, skipper Lee Wallace and striker Kenny Miller have now been suspended by the club after an alleged angry exchange with boss Graeme Murty in the dressing-room after the final whistle sounded.
I said last week that I fancied Motherwell and Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals last weekend so I got that spot-on, with the Steelmen beating Aberdeen 3-0 on Saturday.
Twenty-four hours later, Celtic barely needed to get out of second gear while Rangers looked like rabbits caught in the headlights.
Brendan Rodgers’ side dominated all over the pitch – even their bench had so much more quality compared to their rivals.
I still maintain Rangers chairman Dave King flung Graeme Murty under the bus last week with his comments.
Some of the dressing-room unrest could have stemmed from that, as the players knew Murty wasn’t getting the job on a full-time basis.
In my opinion, the discipline goes out of the window as well then.
You saw that with Halliday’s reaction to getting subbed before half-time but Murty probably regrets doing that now.
There were only a couple of minutes to go to the break and it is probably one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to a footballer, getting hooked before half-time.
Wallace and Miller have also now been suspended.
It looks like Kenny may have played his last game for Rangers and if it is it, is a sad way for him to leave the club – but that’s football.
I fell out with John Brown when he was boss at Dundee. I still maintain there is ever only one winner – the manager – but Kenny will probably believe he stuck to his principles and that’s what I did.
It is hard to judge as I wasn’t there obviously, but Kenny’s record career wise speaks for itself.
Kenny’s a good pro and goal scorer so he will not be short of suitors, even at his age.
I still think Celtic are light years ahead of Rangers.
They took them close at Ibrox in the last game but Celtic went down to 10 men and still won.
With Murty having no chance of being the next permanent manager of Rangers, where do they go from here?
If you are a manager, are you going to take the job where the chairman seems to be absent most of the time? Despite that, everything has to go through him apparently.
Is there money there, can you move on players you don’t fancy?
Would you want to be in charge if Celtic are getting closer to nine or 10 in a row?
Celtic haven’t spent massively in recent years so are they sitting with a pot ready to strengthen even more?
It is all ifs and buts but as a manager looking in at Rangers, it seems like a basket case again.
They got close at Ibrox and were cheering when they heard they had drawn Celtic in the cup.
They obviously thought they could do it but Celtic have just annihilated them.
As I said, Rangers are light years behind their Glasgow rivals and it is difficult to see how they can close the gap.
Dark Blues’ chance
It looks like St Johnstone will have at least seven players missing including the likes of Chris Kane, Murray Davidson and Stefan Scougall when they play Dundee at Dens on Saturday in the first post-split fixture.
Saints’ Premiership safety is already assured so Neil McCann’s side need to take full advantage against their depleted opponents.
Dundee are, of course, sitting third bottom in the Premiership table, four ahead of Ross County and five in front of Partick.
However, if they can get off to a winning start against Tommy Wright’s weakened side, it would put them in a great position.
Dundee need to get points on the board straight away and the fans can obviously help achieve that aim.
Saints should bring a decent crowd through after their 4-0 win at Dens the last time the sides met.
The Dundee fans have backed the team through thick and thin so this is the time for them to stick together and really get behind the team.
The Dark Blues are in a bit of trouble but it is still in their own hands.