Rangers threw away another two points in the league yesterday and it was an accumulation of incidents during the game that we have all seen before.
Losing sloppy goals, personal mistakes from the same culprits and match officials missing obvious errors which then cost the club goals in key moments.
There is absolutely no doubting that the second Hibs strike was offside but when the club is silent and allows Alfredo to get booted, like he did last week, then there is no point in being surprised when the assistant referee misses a blatant offside he is looking straight at from 25 yards away.
You can absolutely bet your last coin that had the shoe been on the other foot then other clubs would be actively pressing to make sure their voices were heard. I’ll further add there is nothing wrong with that because that pressure should happen, again we sit in silence.
When Ryan Porteous smashes his forearm into Alfredo off the ball and only receives a yellow card (excessive force etc….) then there isn’t any point moaning because we are allowing it to happen by not controlling the narrative surrounding the officials.
The match officials play a huge part in the result yesterday but we also have to look at our own failings. We lost two absolutely atrocious goals then were littered with individual errors throughout.
The first goal was extremely poor yesterday from Borna Barisic, his hesitance in the 50/50 and subsequent backing off allowed the cross and then the scorer Drey Wright was left all alone (a combination of Davis and Arfield leaving the man and that space wide open)
The second goal was even worse and the comedy of errors starts with Connor Goldson doing what he does every ‘so often’. His casual flicks, passes and drag backs infuriate me and it has cost us. Now this is were the management have to be seen to address this, we now have the centre back cover. Goldson has been brilliant but his errors are every bit as common as others, unless it’s addressed it will eventually cost the management because this isn’t the first time.
The next part of the goal is all down to James Tavernier and at this point defensively he was all over the place. He was lazy and slow out to Boyle and then failed to stop the cross, the exact same failing as Borna. Helander is caught flat footed and allows his man to get the run on him, as the ball goes in it is telling everyone looks to the full back. Three times is several minutes Tavernier was ripped apart down that side, the first causing an almighty scramble we managed to get away, the second Goldson slices into the goalkeepers hands and the third cost us.
Tavernier was good in parts yesterday but wasteful on the ball for crossing, poor defensively but saying he had a typical ‘one of those days’ caused almighty friction and personal abuse yesterday. Opinion is absolutely everything but it doesn’t change mine that he did indeed have a below par day. However he wasn’t the only one and the defence, led by Goldson, were absolutely rocking all over the place and none of the four can say they didn’t have ‘one of those days’, in the case of Goldson and Tavernier these moments always seem to cost us.
The manager also played his part with changes which to me lost all our rhythm and cohesion at a time we were changing the shape whilst chasing the game made no sense. But substitutions work and then like yesterday don’t even come close.
Moving on the missed chances came for Alfredo twice in the air, Scott Arfield missed a double chance and Ryan Kent failed to score when one on one. Rangers proceeded to camp around the area and several times our centre mids added nothing but a square pass five yards to the side, our overloading in areas was great but people who say ‘play Kamara further forward’ should look at yesterday and his abject failings and reluctance to have a shot at goal, ever.
Add that to the poor defensive performance and atrocious officiating then we have all seen this before.
This is groundhog day and as a team until we cut these errors out and become ruthless we will never ever succeed where we so badly want. This manager, these players and this club will remain nearly rans. This manager has signed 36 players, spent millions and we still look short, that isn’t good enough.
Rangers need signings and the midfield need two reinforcements quickly. We lack that creativity and we lack anyone who can take a half decent shot. It is a pretty poor observation that out of all our midfielders only young Jamie Barjonas can strike the ball. That urgently needs rectified and in a game like yesterday could become invaluable. The fact we haven’t addressed that just continues to cause issues.
If Alfredo goes then we will also need to replace him because with Itten, Roofe and Defoe I personally don’t think we have the firepower required and certainly not the individual quality which Alfredo possesses. I still believe that Alfredo will leave the club and if it is that funds we are waiting on then I do understand, the board have heavily backed the management, it isn’t a never ending pit of money we have.
Just perhaps prioritising the midfield which has been weak right throughout the managers tenure should have been our first move.
Finally it’s never nice to read about the club making redundancies throughout the football club as a result of Covid-19 and the devastating effects it is having on work places. I can only hope the individuals find new jobs and careers quickly. That news coupled with the clubs apparent stand off with club 1872 are the major concerns in the last few weeks off the pitch.
The club and club1872 have to resolve this and work together for Rangers first and foremost. Nobody wants another fan group vs the club situation and I can only hope it is resolved quickly.
I believe I have said a lot about the running of the club, Castore, club1872 etc and it is time to put that to one side. The club do deserve huge credit for the way they have upgraded the facilities, the ambitious and exciting anniversary plans for Ibrox etc. The board are providing funds and as Rangers men I believe they are doing right by the club.
They must however engage the support and speak to us more, that will always remain the key to trusting everything they do. As a club we have to be more vocal against officials before it really costs us again this season, that is a frustration to us all.
But as a club and fan base we have to unite and move forward.
New signings will come, The club have promising things to look forward too. If we can just stop the recurring mistakes on the pitch then we will be in a good place.
Onwards to Holland and then Fir Park this weekend with no room for error
Groundhog day has to be left in the past at some point.
Ignore the nonsense, the irrelevant and the noise 🔴⚪️🔵
Four Lads Had A Dream 