The goals are drying up but the title is on the way
ONE-nil to the Rangers. No matter how fluent any championship-winning side is, there is usually a stage in their title endeavours which boils down to grimly grinding out tense single-goal victories. For all their free-scoring exploits earlier in the season, the Ibrox side are well and truly in this phase right now. They have scored just five times in their last five league matches, enough to win four of them and secure a 1-1 draw against Alloa. While more goals would be nice, this is by design rather than accident and it is championship-winning form, not least because Hibs’ foibles in the last week now see Rangers with an 11-point lead with just ten matches remaining.
After watching his side eventually take care of St Mirren, courtesy of a fine, late goal from substitute Harry Forrester, a typically conservative Mark Warburton refused to acknowledge the title will be within touching distance until they have won a further five league matches. But already it appears difficult to envisage circumstances where Rangers could concede such a generous advantage.
Danny Wilson is a man with no shortage of experience of how to conduct yourself in a title run-in. He was blooded as a senior professional under Walter Smith during the club’s 2009-10 SPL win, even if the Ibrox side’s task that season was made somewhat easier by Tony Mowbray’s misfiring efforts across the city. Last season, he was Hearts skipper as the best defensive record in the division helped return the Tynecastle side to the top flight.
“In the last couple of weeks we have just been getting over the line and sneaking 1-0 wins, but they are just as important,” said Danny Wilson. “We are not going to put four or five past teams, you saw that with St Mirren. Teams are not going to come here and make it easy for us. It’s just about getting the three points, it doesn’t matter if we score in the first or 90th minute.
“At the start of the season we were scoring a lot of goals, but we were also conceding a lot,” he added. “But we have tightened it up at the back. We’re having days where we are not great in front of goal and we just sneak the odd-goal win, but it’s the same three points at the end of the day. We’re just happy to chalk another game off.”
If the catalyst for this rethink in the Rangers defence was a spell leading up to Christmas which saw them concede six goals in three games against Falkirk, Morton and Hibs, what is particularly surprising is that the club has got through the campaign using just five defenders. While Wilson, Rob Kiernan and Dominic Ball have monopolised the central roles, full backs Lee Wallace and James Tavernier have been incredibly reliable.
“It’s unusual because a lot of teams like to carry a big squad, but the manager doesn’t like that, he likes to have a tight squad,” said Wilson. “We only have about 18 or 19 players who are fit and that’s going to be us until the end of the season, but it’s good because everybody feels involved and it’s good for the understanding because we are not always changing at the back. We have got the five defenders and we are all capable of going in there when needed.
“Over the last few weeks we have done well with clean sheets,” he added. “In the main we were trying to do the right thing. Maybe we’ve had a little bit more luck or maybe we are more organised and that’s allowing us to keep the clean sheets, but we’re just happy when the forwards aren’t scoring as much to keep the door shut at the back.”
While their resistance was eventually undone, Alex Rae has also markedly improved the organisation of this St Mirren team. While their attacking players never quite showed the conviction required to score, they limited Rangers for much of the day and veteran goalkeeper Jamie Langfield almost ended the game with a clean sheet.
“I’m a wee bit gutted because we put so much into the game,” Langfield said afterwards. “We obviously knew how Rangers played and how fluent they are but I thought we defended really well and when I had to make a save I made it. I think we take a lot more positives than the last time we were here.”
Langfield for one reckons the championship is all about over as a contest, but feels Rangers will have to improve their ability to break teams down when they reach the top flight, even if Michael O’Halloran did well on his home debut.
“They are a great team to watch but they might need a couple more players in the summer,” said Langfield. “Sometimes it’s different when you go up a level to the Premiership and play against Aberdeen, Dundee and St Johnstone who are a lot more compact – a bit like ourselves today but perhaps with a bit more quality than we offer.”