FAST FORWARD FOR IBROX MEN AS LAW HAILS WARBURTON REVIVAL
Law hails Warburton revival at Rangers
AMID swirling snow at Ibrox, Rangers swiftly buried Livingston. In doing so, Mark Warburton’s men served fresh notice they have emerged stronger from their bleak mid-winter mini-wobble.
Last time these teams met, in a 1-1 draw at the Tony Macaroni Arena in November, the Ibrox side were enduring a worrying run that saw them drop 10 points across six games.
It is all rosy again now following four wins in a row, while Saturday’s four goals made it a formidable 61 scored in just 20 league games.
Rather than cast his mind back to that minor blip in November and December, Nicky Law thought it more pertinent to reflect on a genuinely troubling time exactly 12 months ago.
In identical conditions in Govan, the Rangers v Hearts game was abandoned at 0-0 after 25 minutes.
It had kicked off with the Ibrox side trailing their visitors by 13 points in the Championship, while the soundtrack to the short-lived match was repeated chants of ‘Sack The Board’ from disgruntled home fans.
Fast forward a year, and Warburton’s confident and impressive team are very firmly in the driving seat to win the Championship title.
He is also closing in on signing Michael O’Halloran from top-flight side St Johnstone and Toumani Diagouraga of Brentford but, if this performance was anything to go by, the pair will have a battle on their hands to get into his team.
‘I was reading in the match programme that it was exactly a year to the day since that Hearts game,’ said Law.
‘It’s been good to see the changes in the last 12 months. It’s night and day. There’s a lot of positives at this club at the moment.
‘We have built up a bit of a lead at the top of the table and the goals are coming now. We also have new players coming in and everyone’s confidence is sky high.
‘For the boys who’ve been here a few years it has been really, really tough at times but what it’s like now is fantastic.
‘The fans are back on side and it’s good for Scottish football, too, because Rangers going back into the top flight is what everybody wants to see.
‘But it will be hard for any new boys to get back into the team. The manager has said that once people come to the club they aren’t going to walk straight in.
‘They have to earn it, but that will be difficult because we’re doing great. The last four games, we’ve scored a lot of goals and you couldn’t really drop anyone.’
When Rangers went ahead in eight minutes, the only surprise was that Livingston had held out that long. After a short corner, Martyn Waghorn’s shot was saved by keeper Marc McCallum but the ball sat up for Danny Wilson to nod into the empty net for the first goal of his second spell at Ibrox.
Rangers surged further ahead after Declan Gallagher went through the back of Kenny Miller. Waghorn found the bottom-right corner with his 10th successful spot kick of a remarkable season.
Livingston defender Ben Gordon was lucky to escape a red card when he handled to stop Barrie McKay making it 3-0. Somehow referee Craig Thomson awarded a corner to Rangers instead.
Ten minutes before the break, Warburton’s men went three up when a fine passing move ended with Lee Wallace feeding Miller. The veteran found the bottom corner with an exquisite shot.
After Waghorn hit a McKay cutback off the inside of the post and away to safety, the Englishman grabbed his 27th of the season after Wallace’s shot spun up nicely for him to volley over McCallum.
Rangers sat back after the break and Liam Buchanan grabbed one back for the visitors when his low shot from outside the box found the bottom corner.
Waghorn was then denied a hattrick when his volley cannoned back off strike partner Miller.
The English forward had already been replaced when tortured rightback Morgyn Neill felled Dean Shiels for a penalty. But McCallum saved Andy Halliday’s spot kick on a day when Rangers could easily have run up a cricket score.
So what has led Warburton’s team rediscovering their mojo after that brief testing period?
‘I’d like to say it’s me coming back into the team after injury,’ joked Law.
‘No, I just think a team has bad spells over a season. The standards we set early on were so high and we know we had three or four bad weeks.
‘But beating Hibs last month was massive. It’s given us renewed confidence. We’re scoring goals and playing some really good stuff.
‘Personally, it’s been frustrating to be out for nine weeks injured.
‘But I went straight into our most important game of the season against Hibs, so that gave me a lot of confidence. But there are players on the bench looking to take that spot from me, so I need to be at my best.’
Law now hopes to win a contract extension with his current deal expiring at the end of the season.
‘I had a chat with the manager a week or two ago and expressed that I’d like to stay,’ he added. ‘It was a positive meeting and, I hope, in the next couple of weeks there will be something either way.
‘I want my future sorted. I’ve just had my first child, so for me the biggest thing is security. Either way, I’d love my future sorted.
‘It’s has been tough here at times over the years but I never once thought about leaving.
‘I came here because I wanted to help the club get back to the top flight. That hasn’t changed.’