Defence man Simpson must be patient for more game time, says boss
It only took Jack Simpson around 20 minutes to discover the intensity of the demands he will have to meet if he hopes to forge a successful career at Rangers.
When he woke up on Monday morning, Simpson’s ears were probably still reverberating from the cacophonous verbal blast directed at him and his fellow defenders by Allan Mcgregor when Dundee United grabbed a consolation goal at Ibrox on Sunday afternoon.
Mark Mcnulty’s 86th minute strike was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things from a Rangers perspective as they racked up a 4-1 victory and ended the weekend just seven points away from clinching the Premiership title.
But the unbridled fury of goalkeeper Mcgregor at seeing another clean sheet elude the champions-elect told Simpsonallheneededtoknow about the environment he has stepped into after his winter transfer window deadline day move from Bournemouth.
The 24-year-old made his Rangers debut as a 66th minute substitute for Filip Helander, one of the players he hopes to challenge for a regular slot in Steven Gerrard’s defence.
Simpson was given a testing introduction to Scottish football by the lively Mcnulty during his time on the pitch and admitted a little of the shine was taken off his big day by the late concession of the goal scored by the United forward.
"I am delighted to have made my debut and the most important thing is three points,” said Simpson. "But, especially from the back four and goalkeeper's point of view, we are disappointed to concede a sloppy goal towards the end, as clean sheets mean a lot to us with the standards we set here. So I am pleased, but also a little disappointed.”
Rangers manager Gerrard was happy to get Simpson involved but remained cautious over how much more game time he will be given between now and the end of the season.
“We will have to see,” said Gerrard. “We have got the luxury of having centre-backs who have performed ever so well over the season. We got Jack in early, which was a bonus. There was no rush or panic and we don’t need to be forceful to get him in. The game against United presented an opportunity to get him moving.
“He has been patient and waited for his debut and if we need to use him, we will use him. He has to keep fighting for more performances from now until the end of the season.
"It is very difficult to say to players ‘you are not playing today’ when they have been performing ever so well and keeping a lot of clean sheets.
"I am not saying I prefer those players but they deserve to play and deserve the shirt – and Jack needs to keep pushing and be patient.”
Simpson is confident he can prove a valuable addition to Gerrard’s squad if those opportunities come his way.
“I feel like the more I learn
how the team plays and the more game time I get, the more comfortable I feel,” he told Rangers TV.
"I feel comfortable on the ball
and I want to bring the ball out and be aggressive defensively, on and off the ball.
"So I definitely feel like I can add something to the team.”
Celtic have been revealed as the worst team in the Scottish Premiership for goals conceded from set pieces.
Neil Lennon's faltering side were punished for slack defending from a free-kick in their 1-0 defeat to Ross County, as Jordan White was left unmarked to head home the winning goal in the second half.
According to statistics published by Sky Sports, 43 per cent of the goals Celtic have lost this season have been from set plays, more than any other Premiership side. Livingston are second with 35 per cent, with Dundee United third on 29 per cent.
The alarming trend has proved a major factor in the club falling 18 points behind Rangers in the title race – a fact acknowledged by Lennon.
“We’re not learning from defending set plays," he said. "Ross County maybe had the ball in our box once or twice the whole second half and we have conceded a free header to the biggest guy in their team.
We should be dealing with it. It’s been a bugbear and certainly a weakness of ours all season. I can’t change it now. Heading the ball is part of the game and defending set plays is part of the game, and we haven’t done that anywhere near well enough this season.
“You can tell them ad nauseum on the training ground and you can set them up ad nauseum, but you have got to go and want to head a ball. I’m bitterly disappointed because they are good enough to learn. They maybe don’t want to get hurt or throw their body in the way of things. It’s not good enough.”
Ex-celtic hero John Collins pointed to rotating personnel as a reason behind the damning statistic. "A lot of that goes down to chopping and changing the back four, chopping and changing goalkeepers," he told Sky Sports.
"But the bottom line is you need your players to be winning headers in the box. It's much harder now than it's ever been defending set pieces because the rules have changed. You can't touch players, you can't do blocks or you get penalties. Their record tells you they are poor at picking up and they are not attacking the ball. The coaching team will be absolutely raging about conceding that (Ross County) goal."