As far as results go, a 2-1
victory over Hibernian during the first competitive outing at Ibrox is, on the
face of it, respectable enough. Hibs are, after all, a recently-demoted SPL
team with a decent enough squad and recent experience of the highest level in Scotland, not
to mention endowed with new management under the watchful eye of former Celtic
defender Alan Stubbs.
So to win in Govan against these
visitors in the first round of the Petrofac Training Cup (or ‘Ramsden’s Cup to
you and me) was certainly not an objectionable outcome.
However, what the final score
fails to illustrate was just how utterly dreadful Rangers were in this match,
and how manager Ally McCoist was, once again, completely unable to get the best
out of his players.
The team selection was bad
enough, with a 3-man wall at the back. Now I will admit I am not a total
opponent of the 3-man backline with two flankers in midfield, but you
absolutely need the right players to do it well. Martin O’Neill’s Celtic side
of the early noughties were an example, with 3 men-mountains at the back in
Valgaeren, Mjallby and Balde, while Agathe and a utility man like Thompson or
Petta would cover the flanks. It worked well because Celtic had the players to
do it, sadly.
Rangers, even more sadly, do not. Lee McCulloch as a
defender will never be up to scratch, and Foster is dire going forward. There
is also the long-standing problem that Nicky Law, charged with supporting the
strikers, simply cannot carry out that role. Truth be told he fails to carry
out any role these days, but starts
anyway being one of Ally’s ‘pals’. So Boyd and Miller up front were starved of
decent service, something predictable when you looked at the lineup.
Now, being fair, the first 25
minutes actually were not half bad. While Rangers did not exactly shine, they
were not poor and indeed thanks to MacLeod’s wonderful strike did take a
borderline deserved lead.
Unfortunately that was as good as
it got for McCoist’s men and thereafter Stubbs’ outfit grew into the match and
fully deserved their equaliser in the second half. Rangers just looked worse
and worse as the match continued, which is simply not acceptable. There was no
blood and thunder after the half time break, something McCoist is repeatedly
guilty of, and despite Law’s late, late winner which nicked this one deep into
extra-time, it cannot be forgotten Hibs were down to 10 men and still more than
holding their own after Danny Handling’s harsh red card for a careless but not
malicious challenge.
That it took the added time for
Law’s very fine strike to win this one shows just how stagnant McCoist’s
management is.
Every match is the same old
clique act of playing his buddies and not the best players, while quality youth
such as McAusland and McKay fade ever more from the picture. And every half
time sees little change from the dressing room.
With a real test on Sunday when
the men from Gorgie come to visit in the opening match of the Championship
season awaiting Rangers, it is abundantly clear that the Hearts result (and
performance) needs a drastic improvement.
How long will McCoist’s ‘we don’t
do walking away’ line and loyalty during the dark days buy him? It is almost a
taboo to criticise him in light of what he gave us back then, but that was then
and this is now. We respect and admire those acts but his management is
mutually exclusive to this, and sooner we separate the manager from the admin
figurehead the better.
If Rangers fail to convince on
Sunday McCoist will simply end up under more pressure, and it would be a sad
end to see a Rangers team managed by him ending up in football disarray and him
being fired.
He is a legend on the pitch, but
thus far he has been pretty dire as a manager, and it is not unfair to point it
out.