THE BLINKERS
Ibrox boss may like what he sees with Barton out of picture
TAKE the highest-paid player out of the team and Rangers are better. They have more urgency, more pressing, more efforts on goal. But the bottom line is still written in red ink.
The expulsion of Joey Barton prompted Mark Warburton to resort to a few safe bets against Ross County.
Andy Halliday and Jason Holt were reunited in midfield. Danny Wilson was back in central defence. By general agreement, it was their most fluent performance of the season so far.
Bizarrely, the outcome was the same. There were boos around Ibrox at full-time as a third draw from six Premiership games proved a poor yield for 90 minutes when Rangers deserved better.
‘I always compare it to the money markets,’ said the manager, a former city trader. ‘When you lose a lot of money one day, you don’t get it all back the following day. You build slowly.’
A fine theory, but football supporters are not noted for their patience. Rangers fans want a return on their investment now.
Warburton spent heavily on player wages over the summer. Not the sums promised by chairman Dave King, perhaps, but the Ibrox side have the second biggest budget in the league.
After six games, their league position fails to reflect that and, soon enough, directors will begin to ask why.
Today, Barton returns to the club after a training ground bust-up and a suspension. A niggling, persistent critic of team performances and Warburton’s strategy, the manager’s biggest strategic error might have been entertaining the likes of Barton in the first place.
Josh Windass, a modest free transfer from Accrington Stanley, carries a constant threat with his pace. The best player against Celtic the previous weekend, he twice came close to breaking the deadlock against County and exemplifies the kind of hungry, lower-league signing Warburton (right) does best.
That he looks the best of the summer recruits makes the decision to hang a Premiership campaign on high-salaried, experienced old lags like Barton, Niko Kranjcar and Clint Hill looks like an expensive misjudgment.
‘In the previous games, we hadn’t really played the way we did against Ross County,’ said James Tavernier, a player the manager can hang his hat on.
‘You would have to say that this was our best performance of the season so far.
‘We looked almost like the Rangers we were — on the front foot and dominating the ball.
‘We created chances but just didn’t get the luck to put it in the back of the net.
‘If we play with the same intensity, we will win games. Sometimes, you get the luck and get the first goal and they keep flowing.
‘County defended well on, but we didn’t get the luck. We kept probing, so we are disappointed that we didn’t get the three points.’
Rangers had chance after chance. Windass showed lightning pace in seven minutes to knock the ball past County’s Davies, round goalkeeper Scott Fox and turn the ball towards goal, Paul Quinn clearing off the line.
Tavernier himself was denied a certain goal at the back post by the timely intervention of Michael Gardyne, while it took a terrific save from Fox to push a Martyn Waghorn net-bound effort wide in 56 minutes.
Clint Hill had a dipping header cleared off the line by Martin Woods and the Ibrox side came even closer when substitute Michael O’Halloran headed a Windass cross on to the crossbar with his first touch. With 10 men behind the ball, County were slack in possession, but defended heroically at times. They also infuriated the home support with their time-wasting, though no more so than the idiot who emerged from the Broomloan Stand to try and attach himself to the goalpost. Weakened by a pre-match injury to leading scorer Liam Boyce, the Highlanders came close twice via striker Alex Schalk.
A Woods free-kick caused chaos in the Rangers defence in 26 minutes, Schalk forcing a good save from Wes Foderingham at his left-hand post.
When Rangers over-played it in defence, Schalk produced another fine save from the Ibrox keeper with a rasping, rising shot.
Things won’t get any easier for Rangers this week.
Tomorrow night’s Betfred Cup quarter-final against Championship leaders Queen of the South is a potential banana skin. A league match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie next Sunday has all the appeal of a one-way ticket to Damascus.
Yet with Halliday and Holt back in the midfield engine room, the Ibrox side have a more balanced look. Frankly, Barton would have to do something extraordinary to merit an immediate reinstatement in the first team.
‘We created a lot of chances through the midfield and it was a good start to the game,’ added Tavernier. ‘But we are disappointed.
‘Things came together against County. We just couldn’t get the ball over the line.
‘We will focus on Tuesday now and then the next league game. ‘That’s all we can do. Look forward, take the positives and work hard on the things we have to improve — and take it into the game.’ A wretched week began with a 5-1 defeat to arch rivals Celtic and continued with the Barton fall-out. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre described events as a ‘circus’ — and he wasn’t wrong. ‘It was amazing last season, getting the win against Celtic,’ said Tavernier. ‘So losing to them was a big blow. Knowing that we didn’t play our best was an even bigger blow. ‘But you need to put it behind you as you are bound to play them another three times in the season, plus more in the cups. ‘We have worked hard in training all week and that showed against County. ‘We showed last season how dominant we are on the ball and how good we are in possession. ‘That showed in the amount of goals we scored last season and we want to be able to do that this season, too.
‘Teams will drop off, like they did on Saturday, but we just have to be clinical and take the chances that come our way.
‘When we do that, we will look like the team from last season. We need to put it behind us and work.’