SAYS MARK WARBURTON
MICHAEL GANNON
MARK WARBURTON reckons people need to get Real at times. Only the megastars in Madrid can expect to turn it on every time.
The Rangers boss cut his troops a bit of slack after they struggled on Christmas Eve against Inverness.
Warburton admitted Gers were far from at their best but was prepared to let them off the hook as they still managed to get the job done and make it four wins on the spin to stay ahead of the pack in the best-of-the-rest race.
Managers will wag the finger and say it’s not good enough but secretly they love these kind of wins. Their team is off-colour but still pocket the points.
Rangers didn’t win any beauty contests at the weekend but Warburton was satisfied his side showed they can get the job done when the going gets tough.
He said: “I wouldn’t say performances have been inconsistent. Not really. They’re human beings. If they’re perfect every week, they’re on a quarter of a million pounds a week and playing in the Bernabeu. The fact is we’re human.
“They have played four games and won four. We’ve had three very good performances, we were sub-par on Saturday but they have taken the points against a good team.
“You have to take the positives out of the negatives. We’ll train well this week and look forward to another tough test against St Johnstone on Wednesday.”
Warburton declared himself content but wasn’t too chuffed with the display. Everyone else might cut loose at this time of year but football teams usually get punished for slacking off. It took a scrappy own goal from Brad McKay to separate the sides on Saturday – along with some top-class goalkeeping from Wes Foderingham on a wild and wet day.
The Gers boss said: “It was a poor performance. I said to the players we’ve had a bad day in terms of the quality of performance. But they’ve emerged with the three points, that was the main thing.
“If you can have an off day and still win it speak volumes for the team. That’s four victories out of four. We have 38 points now out of 19 games.
“We were loose on Saturday, in and out of possession. Our shape wasn’t good. We gave it away cheaply. We didn’t make good decisions but we got the goal.
“We missed a couple but were too open. However, they battled and scraped and emerged with the three points. When you have a bad day and you win against a hard-working, good team like Inverness, you have to take the positives.
“That’s the message. It was a huge three points for us. We had three good performances and got the nine points out of nine. On Saturday we weren’t good but we still got three points.”
Warburton refused to blame the horrible conditions, although it must have been tempting. You’d be barking to even take the dog out on days like Saturday but it wasn’t the howling wind that caused Rangers to struggle.
Warburton said: “You can’t blame the conditions. It was the same for both
teams. You saw a lot of balls going m.gannon@dailyrecord.co.uk astray and loose touches. It was difficult with a swirling wind.
“Wes Foderingham did well. His concentration was good. He had a good low save and one high to his right later in the game. So all credit to him.
“He has to maintain focus. I thought possession was even but apparently we were 55-45. I was surprised by that. But he has to maintain concentration for long periods. He did that and pulled off a couple of very good saves.”
Warburton made no excuses but he wasn’t going overboard. He knows his side have come through a perilous November period and had a decent December.
They are now clear in second spot – where most folk reckon they should be – and in better shape than they were earlier in the campaign. Warburton believes his men are on the right track – although St Johnstone on Wednesday and Celtic on Hogmanay will test his theories about the Gers points tally.
He said: “We were very disappointed by the shocking start but we are up to two points per game. We want to get up to 2.3 or 2.4 per game. “A good performance and win on Wednesday will take
us to 41 points and above that two-point average. If we keep grinding out results we’ll be in a good place. Everyone is aware of complacency. We have 12 points out of 12 and it’s going well. You want a bit of arrogance but without complacency.” Warburton wasn’t going to underestimate Inverness either. They ended up spending Christmas at the foot of the table – which tends to be where sides end up at the end of the season. But the jam-packed nature of the bottom half of the league means while the table might not exactly lie, it can tell a few fibs. Warburton, who hopes skipper Lee Wallace will be okay for this final push of 2016, said: “Partick won on Friday and moved from bottom to ninth. Dundee went seventh. It’s very tight down there. “It’s a false picture to paint if you start saying Inverness are down at the bottom. They are well organised and their work ethic is outstanding. “You must appreciate and respect that.”