Lee Wallace has no excuses -
Players need direction beyond the kind Wallace can give and defender hopes it’s available soon. By Neil Cameron
LEE Wallace ackowledges the under-performing players have let down everyone at Rangers, both before and since Mark Warburton’s shock exit. The captain didn’t attempt to hide from the fact that his side, who have won once in their last seven league games, have been nowhere close to good enough all season, and that the recent upheaval could not be used as any kind of excuse.
Wallace admitted he was disappointed that Warburton had gone. The pair had enjoyed a close relationship and, indeed, just hours before his departure was announced, the defender praised the Englishman to the press.
While this honesty and straight talking is admirable, the supporters want to see some action, both on and off the pitch. But uncertainty runs right though the club, from boardroom to dressing room, and until that is dealt with there are going to be plenty more nights like Friday when bottom-of-the-table Inverness could afford to miss a late penalty and still beat Rangers 2-1.
“It’s not a great feeling as you can imagine,” Wallace said. “That’s now two defeats in a row. It’s a pretty shocking situation we are in, but there are no excuses. We are in a bad moment. I’m not going to lie as it has been difficult. As I have said numerous times before, when we are faced with defeats or bad performances, we are never going to get too disheartened.
“We now have a massive game on Wednesday [when they play St Johnstone]. In front of our own fans, we have to turn this round.
“We have to get back to winning games, back to doing the basics, back to being better in both boxes. On that front, we again let ourselves down at Inverness. It is a difficult moment but we are never going to throw in the towel. We have a huge responsibility.
“We have a lot to make up to a lot of people. To the fans, to our families, to our family, to Graeme Murty, Jim Stewart, and all the staff who put every single bit of effort in to make us prepared for a match day. We are letting these people down.”
That they are, but it is hardly all on the players, even if quite a few need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Warburton and David Weir must also accept a large share of blame, as must those who employed them and are now in charge of finding the new guy.
Or should that be guys, as interviews have already began to find a director of football, an admission, perhaps, that there are not enough genuine football people walking up the famous marble staircase every morning. “I don’t think it has affected us on the pitch,” said Wallace, when asked about Warburton’s exit. “We were still trying to find that consistency before the departure of the gaffer and Davie.
“It did come as a shock at the time and I know more than anybody that the two clubs I’ve played with there has always been off-the-field issues. I feel the best answer is to be as professional as you can and get on with the job in hand.
“Unfortunately for us, what is happening on the pitch has not been good enough. We are in a bad way but we have to get ready for Wednesday and move on.”
Rangers and uncertainty have gone together for some time now. Wallace did hope those days were gone after promotion to the Ladbrokes Premiership was achieved and Dave King had taken control of the club.
“That was definitely the feeling,” he said. “I don’t think there was any reason to think otherwise. We had a strong season last term, apart from the disappointment of the cup final. I think the progress we were making and the style of football was laid out perfectly for us.
“Everything was there to kick on and be as competitive as we could this season. We have not managed to do that, which is another disappointment. We have a real tough challenge on our hands to get second spot, which we have targeted.”
So what did he make of the long, weird Friday which saw Warburton go? “It was a strange situation as I was at home watching the manager’s press conference when Kenny [Miller] phoned,” Wallace said. “He told me the news and then I turned over to Sky Sports News and saw everything unfolding. It was a bit of a shock. It wasn’t great finding out that way.
“I’m disappointed because I had a great working relationship with both the gaffer and Davie. Hopefully everything will sort itself out, and we can move on and be stronger.”
Murty looked a man on the edge at Inverness and the caretaker manager needs to be taken out of the front line and now. Wallace agreed there could be no more delays it is time to get the new regime in before the end of a season that is unravelling at a staggering rate of knots.
“I think that would be the approach everyone would want,” he said. “To get a new manager in and give him this last period to assess how he is going to move the team forward and get a structure in place.
“Obviously there is a lot of noise about a director of football. Hopefully that process is quicker and happens sooner rather than later.”
On the pitch, it hasn’t been good enough. We are in a bad way but we have to get ready for Wednesday