We’re win it together
Rangers No2 says Euro victory shows there’s no team split
Gary McAllister believes Rangers’ stunning comeback win over Braga should end rumours of a dressingroom rift at Ibrox.
Steven Gerrard’s right-hand man was responding to stories circulating online before the 3-2 Europa League win on Thursday.
Former Gers star Hugh Burns claimed on radio that the club’s Premiership title race collapse
won but, performance-wise, it just hasn’t been there.
“And it was similar on Thursday night for a long spell, albeit against better opposition.
“But we showed in the last half hour what we need to bring for 90 minutes every week now, whether it’s St Johnstone this weekend or Kilmarnock in the league or Hearts away in the Scottish Cup.
“That’s what we need to bring to win games of football.
“Can we sti ll produce a title challenge? We hope so. But we have to take it game by game now.
“We have to go on a run of picking up three points. And we’ll only do that by producing the performance we saw for 30 minutes against Braga.
“We need to play with that intensity and hunger every week now – then we’ll see where it takes us.
“I don’t know why that character hasn’t always been there since the winter break.
“It’s easy to point fingers and blame people or different situations. But we’re all in this together. And it’s tough. You have these moments in football.
“We’ve got some results when we’ve not been at our best and we have suffered together.
“We just have to keep moving now and that starts with St Johnstone on Sunday.
“We’ve then got Braga away before Hearts away in the Cup 72 hours later, which is a huge game.
“But we have to deal with it, that’s what we’re paid to do.
“We don’t have much recovery time but we’ve been doing this for two years now. We’re used to it.”
The catalyst for Rangers’ rescue mission in midweek was youngster Ianis Hagi who is on loan from Genk.
The Romanian stepped up to the plate when his team needed him, scoring twice, including a deflected winner.
Goldson has been impressed by Hagi’s impact, not just in terms of the technical ability he has added to Gerrard’s side.
It’s more to do with how quickly he’s settled at Ibrox and his willingness to make things happen on his own.
Now he wants the rest of Gerrard’s front players to do the same.
The Englishman said: “If you’re in the front three at Rangers then you need to score goals. Usually there’s a strong base behind you, especially in the league games when we’ve not conceded that many.
“But we need our forwards to be match winners every single week, to score and create goals.
“Ianis grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck against Braga. He brought us back into the tie.
“He has settled real ly quickly and that’s impressive given our form at the minute.
“It’s easy for players to go under during a tough period like that.
“So for a young boy to come here and show what he’s capable of – even when the team’s not playing as great as we were – shows the talent he’s got.
“He also works really hard. He’s in the gym every day doing extra work.
“He’s a popular lad in the dressing-room and he will be even more so if he keeps scoring goals like he did the other night.”
Rangers have still to finish the job in Braga on Wednesday night but Goldson says the first-leg atmosphere was unlike anything he has experienced before. He believes Ruben Amorim’s side are the best opposition he has faced at Rangers.
But he’s still convinced Gers will get chances to win the tie over there. Goldson said: “We were all over the place p in the first half. They showed s what a good side they t are and why they’ve beaten b all the top teams in Portugal. P
“They showed us little respect r and played us off the t park for 45 minutes, maybe m more.
“We were lucky to be just ttwo down – it could have bbeen more. We couldn’t get nnear them.
“They cut us open and are aas good a team as we’ve pplayed here in Europe.
“But we fancy ourselves aagainst anyone at Ibrox. And oonce our first goal went in, thet crowd got behind us and it gave everyone a lift. I don’t think I’ve played in a game like that before.
“We’ll get chances in the return game as well. They’re bold and attacking but we will aim to get in behind them.
“And when we get opportunities, at this level, we’ll need to take them.”
Braga cut us open .. they are as good a team as we have played in Europe – they’re bold but we will aim to get in behind them
Connor Goldson accepts that Rangers’ players haven’t turned up in the league since the winter break.
With brutal honesty he admits they’ve lacked character as the title challenge has slipped through their fingers.
But in that incredible comeback against Braga, to secure a first-leg 3-2 victory, he saw glimpses of it again.
And the Ibrox centre-back knows that i f they’re somehow going to drag themselves closer to leaders Celtic, they’ll have to show the same kind of heart and desire that floored the Portuguese.
Just like Ibrox gaffer Steven Gerrard, Goldson is at a loss to explain the domestic dip that has seen them drop eight points in six league games.
But he’s certainly not ready to give anything up.
And the 27- year- old vice- captain believes the inspirational victory in the Europa League first leg on Thursday night can reignite their league campaign.
Ahead of today’s must- win game against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, Goldson said: “That should give us massive confidence.
“Since the winter break we haven’t really turned up for most of our games.
We’ve got through some of them and
Since the winter break we haven’t really turned up for most of our games. We got through some and won but, performance-wise, it just wasn’t there. But we showed in the last half hour against Braga what we need .. we need to play with that intensity, that hunger, every week