Sweet 16 for Ibrox boss Gerrard
STEVEN GERRARD last night hailed his Rangers players for passing a character test with flying colours as they took a 16-point lead at the top of the Premiership.
The Ibrox side looked in danger of back-to-back defeats for the first time this season after their midweek Betfred Cup exit.
But their come-from-behind win to score three in the last 18 minutes over a dogged Motherwell — who played an ultra-defensive 5-5-0 formation — showed a composure and resilience which thrilled their manager.
A double from Kemar Roofe, the first coming in the 73rd minute, and a goal from sub Cedric Itten eventually cancelled out a sixth-minute opener from Callum Lang. In a
week where Rangers’ bottle had been questioned, Gerrard felt it was the perfect response.
‘This was a big test for us today,’ he said, ‘and we’ve passed it with flying colours. We remained calm, we showed bravery and a persistence to keep going. We got off to the worst possible start, we never defended their goal well enough, but our reaction to going a goal down was really pleasing.
‘We were up against a five and a five today which was a new experience, so that’s something we will have to look into. We knew it would come at the end if we kept making chances, though, and the subs had a massive impact for me.’
Gerrard insists he can’t control the narrative around his team after they were accused of a lack of bottle in midweek as another trophy slipped through their grasp in Paisley.
After previous collapses from strong positions, he was asked if his players had shown they did have the bottle to see the season through.
‘They did,’ he insisted. ‘Look, we can’t control what people write about us, what ex-players and pundits say, what the media write about us. We need to try to block out the outside noise because we’re playing at a club where you know and I know there are a lot of opinions out there. And not all of them are right, unfortunately.’
Gerrard admitted, however, he had moments of doubt that the breakthrough would come as
Motherwell’s players put themselves on the line time and again to defend their box.
‘It’s a big result, he said, ‘and I’m very satisfied but there were moments when you think, “is it going to come?”. They were defending well, so to turn it around the way we did was hugely satisfying. It’s a big three points for us.
‘We’ve been on a tremendous run, we suffered a bump that stung and from there it was all about getting back on track today.
‘We found a response. We showed character and we’re going to need that moving forward.
‘It’s not always going to be comfortable and people are going to ask us questions.’
He refused to read anything into their prodigious lead at the top of the table, though. ‘No, no, no,’ he winced when asked about the psychology of the advantage. ‘We’re in December. Obviously, we’d much rather be where we are, of course. But there are a lot of games in hand. We understand how the situation lies.’
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson, meanwhile, was frustrated by the ‘nearly’ nature of their game plan.
‘It’s tough to take, he said. ‘For 72 minutes, the game plan is brilliant, we get ourselves in front and the boys carried out what we wanted to the letter. I’ve questioned the application and desire at times but they showed it in abundance today.
‘Ultimately, we’re playing against a very good side and we made three very poor decisions and got punished for them. The boys gave their all but the decision-making in the box for the goals wasn’t good enough.
‘I thought the system worked well and the players threw their bodies on the line to defend the best they could. At 72 minutes, they’ve made their subs and you’re starting to wonder. But the level of sub they’re bringing on is top class and you have to hold your hands up.
‘But we weren’t worn down from their good play, that’s the frustrating thing.
‘What this does is give me hope — we’re on a sticky run but I’m confident we’ll get results in the coming weeks against teams with a lot less to offer than Rangers.’