WILSON WOE AFTER TYNECASTLE LOSS
AS a former Hearts player, Danny Wilson admits Rangers’ comprehensive defeat at Tynecastle left him embarrassed and unable to sleep.
The defender, who was captain for much of his two-and-a-half years at Tynecastle, was powerless to stop his current club being swept away by a grand farewell performance for outgoing Hearts coach Robbie Neilson on Wednesday night.
And, if partaking in the 2-0 defeat felt bad enough, the 24-year-old concedes having to meet and greet his old colleagues afterwards merely heightened the mental torture which gave way to a restless night.
He said: ‘It’s impossible to switch off as a Rangers player and it was worse last week, going back to my former club. Afterwards, I just wanted to get home but I have a lot of friends there and you have to put a face on and speak to them.
‘Next time we go back, we must do a lot better. I went home and didn’t sleep too well at all. I don’t like losing but I really don’t like losing when you’ve not laid a glove on the opposition.
‘I was sitting in my bed until 3am on Thursday morning, stewing over the result. We haven’t won three games on the trot yet this season. For Rangers, that’s really poor.’
It would be wrong to say Wilson enjoys the flak that goes with being a Rangers player but, over time, the Ibrox defender has learned to use criticism as a motivational tool.
Blooded at the tender age of 17 by Walter Smith, it was Wilson’s good fortune to take his first steps in a winning team, but there was still some attendant carping from a demanding crowd before he departed for Liverpool just a few months later.
The stick he experienced served him well going into his second stint at the club.
‘Throughout my spells here, it’s been largely successful,’ he said. ‘Now we’re going through a sticky period and there’s criticism coming our way. That’s just something you deal with as a Rangers player.
‘Everyone is a critic right now, even people in the supermarket. But that’s not something that fazes me. It probably helped that I experienced that at such a young age here.’
Although Rangers had hoped to be challenging Celtic for the title, they are now locked in what looks to be a three-way fight for second place with Hearts and yesterday’s opponents Aberdeen, whom they defeated 2-1.
With the Tynecastle side due at Ibrox again next weekend, Wilson said: ‘We’re fighting it out for second place. We need to click into gear.’
LIMITED number of season tickets remain available for the Family Stand at Ibrox — priced just £25 for kids. The half-season ticket package is valid from the Christmas Eve match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with adult tickets starting at £150* and concession tickets available for £90. (*fixture v Celtic excluded)