COUNTY THEIR BLESSINGS
James Tavernier says Rangers will cut out the errors and stay on track for Europe
This season has been different to last season where we dominated most of the teams, but there’s more quality where they can punish you in this league
THE two previous meetings between Rangers and Ross County have rather summed up the problems which have plagued Mark Warburton’s team this season.
When the Highlanders visited Ibrox for the very first time it ended in a 0-0 draw. The home side had more possession but coughed up better goalscoring opportunities, especially in the second-half. Then when they met in Dingwall, Rangers took the lead and played some really good stuff. They missed too many chances, didn’t defend a corner properly, County got an equaliser and then should have gone on to win the game.
It wouldn’t be a great surprise if Jim McIntyre’s men came away from today’s match with at least a point because even on their better days, this Rangers team are in the habit of allowing any opponent chances, with all four of Hearts’ goals during the week easily avoidable.
“We don’t mean to make mistakes and that’s the whole learning curve of football,” said James Tavernier, the Rangers right-back. “It’s disappointing to send the fans home unhappy and we were all devastated when we got into the dressing room after the Hearts game. We’ve looked back at the game and found ways to improve ourselves. Most of the time it’s not always the same mistake over and over again, so we just have to learn together and be better for it.”
Despite Tavernier’s protestations, there’s an argument the same mistakes are being repeatedly made. Crosses not being stopped or defender properly, the back four trying but failing to play out from the back, needless free-kicks conceded and players out of position and therefore not doing their job. “This season has been different compared to last season where we dominated most of the teams, but now there’s a little bit more quality where they can punish you in this league,” admitted Tavernier.
“Obviously some teams are still defending with ten men and they do have better players defending with ten men, so it’s harder to break teams down. But we’ve shown signs where we can break them down later in games. On the flip-side again you have teams that can score against you with a slight chance in this league, so it’s an improved league but I feel with the group of lads we’ve got we can go on another good run now.”
Celtic are going to win the league and it could be by as much as 40 points. Rangers are 25 behind right now and while nobody should have expected them to get close, they should be closer to their old rivals. “It is a big gap and obviously we’re all disappointed with some of the results that we could have won and could have prevented,” said Tavernier.
“Obviously they’ve taken their chances and have only dropped two points all season. We’ve just got to set things right against Ross County, and try to win as many games as we can. Any team in any league who have only dropped two points halfway through the season – that’s been a good run. If Chelsea had done that in the Premier League, people would say ‘Hats off to them, they’ve done a good job’. Our aim is to try and close that gap. The only way we can do that is by winning games and by them dropping points. All we can do is win our games.”
As for Ross County, McIntyre may curse his side’s inconsistency this season, but the manager can count on one attribute almost like clockwork – the team’s capacity to react positively to adversity. McIntyre has been exasperated by the way simple errors have cost his team valuable points, with Tuesday’s loss at home to Motherwell the latest glaring example.
“We’ve had some good results against the bigger sides over the last couple of seasons and we’re going to need that again,” said McIntyre. “The one thing we can always guarantee from these players is a response.
“You look at your team individually for each game. Obviously when you’ve lost two games in a row there’s a good possibility there might be changes to the team, that’s just the way football is.
“But we’ve got good players here – players who are playing really well for periods of the game but then maybe making a really poor decision that’s costing a goal. All I’m looking for is to learn from that and to make sure they aren’t letting it happen again.”