So, which of the Big Two will get their act together FIRST?
ANGE’S ALL-OR-NOTHING APPROACH ISN’T PAYING OFF YET. BUT, WHILE GERRARD HOLDS ALL THE CARDS, RANGERS AREN’T FIRING EITHER...
I COULD see it coming. The longer I watched the scoreline stay 1-0 at Ibrox on Sunday, the more I felt trouble was brewing. And so it proved. Right now, you have the sense Rangers are very vulnerable. After Motherwell equalised, it almost seemed a case of going through the motions. They never convinced they could create in the same way they had done during the earlier part of the game.
Steven Gerrard said it should have been a a 3-0 or 4-0 game given the chances. When you have 24 shots in total, that’s a very fair point. But Gerrard could also feel lucky in one sense.
Why? Because Celtic are not currently capable of providing the pressure that might add to his worries. Instead, losing 1-0 at Livingston delivered a sixth away defeat of their season and left Ange Postecoglou facing a major headache as he tries to rebuild from the wreckage he inherited.
Postecoglou’s ideas about football seem to be all or nothing. It’s fantastic when they come off, but three wins and three losses from the first half-dozen Premiership games has got to be a concern. Things could quickly turn sour for the Australian if those numbers are not amended.
With a high probability of automatic Champions League qualification for this season’s Premiership winners, there is a huge £30million prize available for whichever Old Firm manager can solve his problems quickest.
Gerrard holds the better cards. Plus a four-point advantage over Celtic already. I do believe Rangers will eventually come good in terms of performance levels, but the process of getting to that point is taking longer than the Ibrox manager must have anticipated.
There has been disruption through injuries and Covid, which have taken an understandable toll on consistency. Yet Gerrard didn’t seem in any mood for excuses after the draw with Motherwell that followed the raising of the league flag. He spoke of ‘flaky’ defending. And of there being a ‘mentality’ issue in both penalty boxes.
That latter point is perhaps the key — because rediscovering a spark ultimately comes down to players taking personal responsibility.
It’s always a difficult thing to explain when a successful team loses a little bit of its edge. Every player who wears a Rangers jersey is hungry for success. But you can go through stages in a season when mistakes are highlighted, little things are not right and the gaps in the team become too big.
That was definitely what happened with Motherwell’s goal, which was very poor from a Rangers perspective. Borna Barisic should certainly have been closer and given himself a chance to block the shot. He was a yard or two off it. There was another sequence in the second half that also caught my eye. James Tavernier couldn’t get a forward pass, so he turned and gave a poor ball to Connor Goldson, who ended up conceding a corner.
I saw Goldson’s furious reaction. As an incident, it wasn’t consequential to the outcome of the match, but it still seemed to encapsulate some of the issues affecting leading players. And putting it right is a challenge. These players were magnificent last season and didn’t become vulnerable overnight. The upheaval in team selections doesn’t help, with Filip Helander, Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi and Alfredo Morelos all out of the starting lineup on Sunday. In those circumstances, you’re looking for other people to impose their personalities. Fashion Sakala was very bright in the first half and I believe he will be a good addition. But it can’t just be about one new signing energising everyone else.
I think back to the issues we had in the nine-in-a-row season. At one point, we had Gordon Durie, Ally McCoist and others out.
I was more or less the only striker available — and not an out-and-out one at that.
It was tough. But my mentality was always: ‘I need to play well or Rangers will struggle. I have to deliver.’
That puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders but such is life at a big club. I was lucky enough that the goals came in the 1996/97 campaign and we got over the line.
Every player just now needs to try and go into games thinking that way. It’s down to me to make the difference and the team will be in trouble if I don’t. They can’t pass responsibility. Make sure you affect the game.
If that mindset can be achieved then I’m certain you’ll see Rangers sparkle again. But while this difficult period persists, there is always a chance of further points being lost in both the Premiership and Europa League.
One of the good things about Rangers last season was the spread of goals. The burden was shared. Tavernier, Kemar Roofe, Morelos and Kent led the way, but the supporting cast was strong.
Now, I think Gerrard will look to some of his midfield players and
say: ‘We need to get their numbers up.’
Joe Aribo is one example. He had a very good game overall on Sunday. I find him an absolute joy to watch at times. But he needs to add more goals because he has the talent to do it.
At the other end of the pitch, Rangers have now conceded five times in the Premiership after only letting in 13 goals during the entire 38-game programme last time around. Gerrard (right) will be looking for signs of improvement in both departments come tomorrow’s League Cup quarterfinal against Livingston — and again in the weekend visit to Dundee.
It’s important it happens because their fixture list soon starts to look tougher, with meetings against the two Edinburgh clubs either side of the international break.
The fact Hearts, Hibernian, Motherwell and Dundee United are sandwiched in between the Old Firm after six games is — in my view — a positive for Scottish football. The title winner will come from Glasgow, but the longer the capital clubs, in particular, can sustain a presence near the top of the table, the more competitive the whole league will feel.
I won titles with Rangers despite losing six or seven games in a season. We could be heading back towards those kinds of numbers this term as I think there will be more tough days ahead for the big two.
The players cannot pass responsibility. Make sure you affect the game