Distracted and disjointed, Rangers flatter to deceive
The fact Rangers could prevail over Hearts at the weekend might suggest that Pedro Caixinha has more to work with for next season than his Tynecastle counterpart Ian Cathro. To assess the cohesion and character across both sides might suggest otherwise.
The losers, and their universally maligned coach, were rightly lauded more for their efforts. Down to ten men for more than an hour because Prince Buaben earned himself a needless straight red card by denying Josh Windass a goalscoring opportunity with a tug, Cathro cleverly switched to a back three at the interval and his team were thereafter in the ascendancy.
He could not legislate for debutant goalkeeper Viktor Noring making an almighty hash of dealing with a cross to allow Barrie Mckay to score. That 53rdminute winner, only seconds after Esmael Goncalves had plundered an equaliser for Hearts, came at a time when only a seventh victory in 24 games seemed in the frame for the visitors.
It wasn’t that Rangers, firmly in control for long spells of the opening period following Joe Garner’s sixthminute opener, merely looked pedestrian as the encounter wore on. They appeared distracted, and that is maybe to be expected, with Caixinha making plain this Ibrox side has run its course and will be gutted once their Premiership programme is completed with the midweek visit by Aberdeen and Sunday’s trip to St Johnstone.
Clint Hill later confirmed what we already knew as a result of “leaks” lambasted by the Portuguese coach in that he was leaving, but the thought that coloured a win which ensured third place for Rangers was how many of Saturday’s squad might join him.
With talk of all manner of Caixinha targets arriving from his previous stopoffs in Qatar and Mexico, and the list yesterday swelled by the name of Bruno Alves, it is clear that the club’s manager of eight weeks wants to take a fish slice to the current squad.
Teenage midfielder Jamie Barjonas, pictured, speculated following a home debut as a late substitute that he might be forced to drop down to the under20s next season, but he could instead enjoy a promotion.
Mckay has stated he is waiting for an improved contract that hasn’t come, and it is questionable whether Caixinha cares to offer one. With Andy Halliday relegated to the bench and others such as Danny Wilson and Jason Holt having failed to impress of late, elements of the Scottish contingent at Ibrox could be squeezed, a week after 15yearold Billy Gilmour was lost to Chelsea. With Philippe Senderos and loanees Emerson Hyndman and Jon Toral also having no part to play next season, there is no special purge on native talent.
Indeed, the rebuilding started, in some ways, with a new deal for 37yearold Kenny Miller. That is a move it can be taken as read the 18yearold Barjonas would have considered imperative. The Cumbernauld youngster, who has Lithuanian grandparentage, presents Miller as a man who embodies the Rangers ideals aspired to by those in the under20s – a group that Barjonas believes have been given a fillip by the arrival of Caixinha. Miller also represents a crucial link in the development chain across the Ibrox setup for a player clearly enthralled by the veteran.
“Kenny Miller has been a big