PARTING GIFT FROM BATES GIVES FANS SOMETHING TO CHEER
Hamburg-bound Bates boosts bid for second on his last Ibrox outing
AFTER all the excitement about Ibrox arrivals, it was a parting gift that was celebrated as Rangers stayed on course to compete for second place.
David Bates won’t ever know what Steven Gerrard could do for his career. Blissfully unaware of the big plans Mark Allen was scheming for the club, Bates turned down a contract offer from the director of football and accepted handsome rewards from Hamburg.
At least now it won’t be the words of Graeme Murty, who labelled his move to Germany financially motivated, ringing in his ears when he recalls his final days as a Rangers player.
For his 85th-minute goal — the first and probably last of his Rangers career — allowed Bates the lifetime joy of creating an Ibrox victory roar.
And on the final home game of the season, he was able to lap up a little more applause from the sparse crowd that remained after the final whistle as he and Russell Martin said goodbyes to Govan.
The central-defensive partnership — one of 11 different starting pairings at the position this season — were the last to leave the pitch in a low-key farewell to another crazy campaign at the stadium.
Rangers now go on the road to Pittodrie and Easter Road in the hope of hurdling Aberdeen on Tuesday then holding off Hibernian to finish runners-up. Gerrard will view from afar.
On the evidence of this one, he can at least be content with the endeavour and honesty on display as a gritty win was gleaned from an obdurate opponent.
The 7,000 Rangers supporters who filtered into Ibrox for a free Friday look at Gerrard for five minutes were arguably more entertained than the paying customer at the stadium yesterday.
A Jimmy Nicholl-led side were more dominant in the second half but Steve Clarke’s well-drilled Killie side throttled them frequently at the killer-ball stage.
Clarke was only ten days in the door at Kilmarnock when he made a major impact on Rangers’ season. On the night of Wednesday, October 25, Pedro Caixinha was finally found out by a calamitous 1-1 draw.
Chris Burke tapped in a last-minute equaliser — his only Premiership goal of the season — as Killie sped up the park following a botched penalty kick from Daniel Candeias.
It says much about the mediocrity in Rangers’ ranks this season that Candeias could recover from this to be crowned the club’s Player of the Year at a subdued ceremony last Sunday night.
He was one of the hard workers who ground Kilmarnock down to inch to within a point of Aberdeen ahead of the midweek Pittodrie clash as Rangers look for four wins from four against Derek McInnes this season.
After a wild Easter Road afternoon of scoring abandon last Saturday, Clarke predicted a far tighter affair here. It was tetchier, too.
There were multiple first-half flashpoints without there being anything over the top. Then, late in the second period, Clarke complained that Alfredo Morelos should have been shown red for an elbow to Stuart Findlay.
With a glaring lack of scoring opportunities early on, some antagonism was needed to enliven the crowd. The only moment of sweat for the visitors came on 37 minutes, Jamie Murphy’s header from Andy Halliday’s inswinger clipping the top of the crossbar.
Aaron Tshibola caused problems with his movement long before he nipped in ahead of Bates to pinch a free-kick in classic Kris Boyd range.
The on-loan Aston Villa man was then first to seize on Jak Alnwick’s spillage after Boyd battered a low drive through the Rangers wall. However, the goalkeeper recovered well to spread himself to repel from Tshibola’s six-yard effort.
Fielding both Morelos and Jason Cummings was the eye-catching move from Nicholl as he used the on-loan Nottingham Forest attacker in the ‘Josh Windass’ role in behind the club’s top scorer.
Cummings looked lost for much of the time and the idea lasted all of 45 minutes, although Nicholl explained the ex-Hibs man felt unwell.
His replacement, Ross McCrorie, offered a greater threat in the opening seven minutes of the second period with a raking low drive that sent Jamie McDonald scrambling right to ensure the ball was escorted wide. Then McCrorie popped up on the edge of the area to grab a loose ball and come within inches of testing the Killie keeper to his left.
McCrorie then returned to the job he does best in anchoring a midfield as Rangers grew in dominance, with Graham Dorrans operating further up the pitch.
With Dorrans a preferable central point for maintaining the flow to moves, Rangers kept the visitors pinned back for sustained periods in the second half.
Murphy’s failure to connect with a Morelos delivery that whizzed across the face of goal was typical of the frustrations to beset Rangers.
Kilmarnock were camped in when the introduction of Sean Goss and his devilish deliveries cranked open just enough room in the visiting defence to allow Rangers in.
Goss had struck with free-kicks against Hibs and St Johnstone. Here, Rangers worked a set-piece into his path from a favourable angle for a deep ball to the back post. Bates bundled home.
Out since March 11 with an injury suffered in the 3-2 home defeat to Celtic, Bates darted to the medical staff to celebrate. With Boyd and Eamonn Brophy off, Greg Kiltie summoned Kilmarnock’s sole second-half scare for Rangers, flashing a header a couple of inches over the bar.
Just as Gerrard had done in keeping his distance from the game, the Rangers fans had kept the fervour over his appointment to a minimum while there was business to take care of. With three points as good as secured, it was time to chant about their manager again to round off a rewarding 24 hours to be around Ibrox.