Numbers no longer add up at Ibrox
FOOTBALL fans are many things – passionate, fickle, supportive, abusive, demented, heartbroken, lovers and indeed haters.
On Saturday, Rangers supporters were probably a mixture of them all throughout a tumultuous 90 minutes. Not for the first time this season, either.
As has been commonplace through 24 Premiership games that have already contained seven draws and five defeats, vitriol coming from the stands, even in afternoons of triumph, has not been a rarity this season, and seems to be increasing with each passing week. All the goodwill restored in the wake of that valiant Hogmanay defeat to Celtic earned by back-to-back wins over Motherwell appears to have been eroded within the space of a week.
The latest source of angst for the majority of the 49,000 inside Ibrox on Saturday not only came at another two points dropped against Ross County in this 1-1 draw – their third stalemate this season – but was deep-rooted in the familiar manner in which this performance unfolded on the back of that 4-1 defeat at Tynecastle midweek.
Fans of the Glasgow club could have been described as all of the above at various points at the weekend, but one thing they are not is naïve. Or, as the weeks go on without much sign of improvement, patient.
Mark Warburton stressed the point during the week that his side were still second in the table, therefore playing down the ‘negativity’ that is engulfing the showings of his team of late. He also argued that if you were to subtract four wins from Celtic’s record run and gave Rangers an extra victory, then the gap between the pair would have been cut down to 10.
The ifs, buts and maybes of the season do not disguise the deficiencies in this Rangers team that time after time leave it exposed at the back and increasingly reliant on a 37-year-old striker at the other end. Indeed, to use the Rangers’ manager’s hypothetical logic, if you take Kenny Miller out of the equation, Rangers would be out of the Scottish Cup and eight points further behind in the league.
Miller may not have been the man to spare Rangers’ blushes against County over the weekend – that was left to left-back Lee Wallace – but the reliance on him is clear. Joe Garner returned for his first game since injuring his shoulder on Hogmanay and, apart from one header that Scott Fox did superbly well to save, the high regard he is held in among the club’s supporters to this outsider remains something of a mystery. To be fair to the man that was brought in for £1.8m, he continues to look like a fish out of water in a passing, patient system that clearly doesn’t suit him. It’s no surprise his best effort came when those around him actually managed to find him with a cross, while he looked hesitant and almost lost at one point in the second half when he was asked to drive at goal before unleashing a tame shot.
“I played against him a lot in England and he is fantastic in the air,” said Andrew Davies, the Ross County centrehalf. “To get the best out of him, you have to put balls in the box all the time, kick the ball long. That is his game. When they don’t, I think he struggles.
“That is his game. We know if the ball is kicked [long] he will win his fair share of headers because that is his game. But when they don’t it suits us down to a tee and it suits centre-halves. He must get frustrated with that.”
County were terrific. Especially in a first half where their game plan to drive at Rangers’ weak spot worked perfectly and really should have had them out of sight by the time the second half cavalry arrived for the hosts.
The main issue continues to be the loss of cheap goals at the back. Rob Kiernan had been the subject of much finger-pointing in recent weeks given the nature of some of the goals conceded to Motherwell and Hearts, probably resulting in his removal from the firing line here. However, his replacement Philippe Senderos and centre-half partner Clint Hill didn’t exactly cope well with the directness of Alex Schalk or the quick feet and tricky play of Jim O’Brien and Martin Woods in support. In fairness, come February 14 they will have a combined age of 70.
“We’ve said before we win together and lose together,” said Jason Holt, the Rangers midfielder. “We go through the good times and the bad times together – there is no pointing fingers at anyone. The past two results have been poor, but that’s down to the players and we have a challenge on our hands now to go and change that.”
For all the fan frustration displayed on Saturday, it is clear this is a dressing room that is still with Warburton and is passionately prepared to stick to the mantra that has been drilled into them over the last 18 months. Even, in the case of Garner, it doesn’t quite suit them.
Time and a degree of understanding has been afforded to Warburton and his players as they find their feet in the league. It remains to be seen if that will stay the case if Morton inflict a Scottish Cup blow in front of that Ibrox crowd.