Why Warburton’s Rangers may have dipped

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Mark Warburton said post-Dumbarton this evening that he was ‘very happy’ with the result but if Mark Warburton is the Mark Warburton we know, he will be anything but.

If Rangers were ‘below par’ against Livingston, they positively toiled against a well-drilled and hard-working Dumbarton who relished in ‘anti-football’ until their luck ran out.

The truth is while Rangers should have had a penalty inside 40 seconds, and that may have seen a different feel to the game, Dumbarton deserve huge credit for their tactical approach and never-ending work ethic.

Rangers’ ability to express themselves was worryingly absent, and while all teams hit lulls, Rangers’ form seems to have suddenly dipped just before the first ‘big’ test comes to Ibrox in the form of St Johnstone on Tuesday.

The quality of play in the past two games has fallen well below the stunning level it achieved over the majority of the first nine matches, with a real loss of effective link-play and efficient off-ball movement.

Dare I say it, teams seem to be starting to learn Warburton’s style, and those rampaging 5-0 wins may now be starting to become a distant memory.

This is not criticism for criticism’s sake – in fact it is praise to the regime that two matches in a row of weak displays have seen 5 goals scored and only one conceded, but it is a factual observation that the glorious flowing football which punctuated the first nine matches has worryingly dried up in the past two.

Rangers have 11 wins from 11, which is extraordinarily impressive.

But we are now seeing signs that that astonishing start is beginning, just beginning to taper out and normalise.

Teams are starting to figure out Warburton’s Plan A now, and his response is that he does not have a Plan B but that he intends to make Plan A better.

Hopefully we will see how he does that on Tuesday night at Ibrox against higher class opposition.

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20 COMMENTS

  1. keep the faith we will be ok this season evin way this dip in form and that is what it is winning these games still look easy we will see a massive improvement on tuesday night when st johnstone come calling wait and see we will be right up for it WATP

  2. Cannot say that teams are figuring out Warburtons plans ,they just pack 10 men in defence then hope for a break away .The thing I don't understand why he started Law Miller .none of the team played up to par ,even though I thought had a good game.WATP.

  3. Let's hope we can escape celtic in the cups as they would murder us and it could get out of control …. give us a team in a lower division one of the part time one's and stay undefeated for eternity . NO SURRENDER. ….

    • Quiet a lack of confidence in that comment m8, Celtic would not sit back like these wee teams. They would have a go and and so would we.

    • I can't believe someone can say that as a bear at the moment. I would relish meeting them at the first opportunity. We have a few scores to settle and since they are utter shite I'd fancy our chances.

  4. great result i heard the dumbarton players only worked late 3 nights this week that shows the respect and fear teams now have and we still beat them in king we trust

    • Heard Dundee fans are to be given gas masks on entry to game at the piggery tomorrow & celtic fans will only be charged ten Bob for use of towels after their shower upon entry Liewell has to make money somehow

  5. They have come up against 2 teams in the last 2 games who have been well drilled in Parking the Bus. Rangers showed skill and patience sticking to their game plan and probing for openings. What would you have them do? Lob hopeful high balls into the box? That's probably what McCoist would have done.
    We don't have a God given right to score 5 goals every week. Full credit to Warbs for sticking to playing football against teams that have little interest in attacking us.

  6. I think it's inevitable that teams will " park the bus" and try to stop Rangers playing…it's down to the players to keep pressing ..mistakes happen and lapses of concentration will allow us to exploit them.
    We need to remember that Dumbarton were the first team to take points off Hearts last season…and the Gers of last year woukd probably have lost this one!!
    We won…we remain 100% ….so it's on to Tuesday when I feel we will see a good performance return.

  7. Terrific shift by Dumbarton today. Remember these games are 'cup finals' for these part time lads. How many times have we seen colossal clubs lose and under perform against lower opposition on a single cup occasion, Rangers have to do it week in week out.

    Should we play the 'Rangers way' continually throughout a game or do we change it up with a couple of long balls into the box to mix it up??

  8. Don`t see a problem here , we cannot play brilliantly in every game and score 5 .Sometimes the opposition will make it tough by kicking everything that moves (Livingston) or keeping 10 men back, like today.The trick is to be patient and win these games anyway.You could see the game open up a bit when they got tired in the second half , that comes from chasing the ball and we took advantage .The stone wall penalty after 40 secs would have changed the game .Where do these refs come from ?

    • Remember Klopp is still available… I don't think Levy will trust a Championship manager who hasn't won a trophy to date. That's the black and white of it. Warbs will do well wherever he goes but I hope he's here till we're in Europe at least.

  9. Geez a break pal can't play well every week, St Johnstone should give us a more accurate account of where we are just remember main difference this season is we have players willing to give 110 % last year we didn't keep the faith

  10. I don't get the big deal about Tuesday and people say the big test.. We beat St Johnstone last year with the worst Gers team ever, so the result will have no bearing on this season.. Win the league this year and we should be happy, as for a dip., if we score less than 4 goals a game it's now a dip.?? Time to to be logical, if we win all season 2-1 with 70% possession then I for one will be a happy man.. Happier with 4 yes but 3pts are all I care about.

  11. Defence is brutal, and Warburton's cheap recruits were shown up to be just that.

    St Johnston remember, not Real Madrid…….just taken apart.

    Wilson and Kiernan are a joke and Celtic would rip us a new one.

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