WIll Rangers get back on track v Morton?

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Rangers’ recent form has been shaky – there is no getting around that. Following the fledgling season’s zenith when Raith Rovers were systematically destroyed by Mark Warburton’s men, there has been a dramatic dip in performances culminating in a fairly routine win for Premiership outfit St Johnstone on Tuesday.

The display rut had begun with Livingston – while possession was mostly enjoyed by Rangers, and the home side still managed three goals without reply, the zip, spark, energy and cohesive one-twos not to mention marauding flank play and sharp link ups in the middle of the pitch which have punctuated Rangers this season struggled to express themselves and a famous ‘inquest’ was held post-match to establish why.

Unfortunately it did not get a heck of a lot better at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium, home to Dumbarton a week later. Rangers won by a solitary goal, conceding a careless penalty in the process, and significantly struggled to break a resolute and well-disciplined host side down – while the victory was certainly merited, Dumbarton actually looked more likely to open the scoring. That told its own tale about Rangers’ woes.

And then of course the off-colour defeat to the Saints in the Cup. Many a post-mortem has been held and various philosophical meanderings have been made about whether this defeat was a worrying sign of how far off the SPL Rangers really are, or whether it was a vital lesson in the journey back top to the top tier.

Most of a Bluenose persuasion are opting for the latter, and the best way to prove these three matches have been a mere aberration of form and not a tangible long-term dip is to travel to Cappielow on Sunday where a solid Greenock Morton await and frankly slaughter them.

Rangers fans have enjoyed some breathtaking football and scorelines this season, but for the past 270 minutes that has all but disappeared. The only way to show that it is a passing phase is by giving some team a real ‘doing’.

Naturally even a 6-0 win would not absolutely prove anything beyond all doubt, but it would certainly reinstall confidence in the players’ minds and that of the fans too, convincing everyone the Rangers that have rampaged this season have not sunk, and that Warbs’ side is still capable of the great football and thumping scorelines which have delighted everyone connected with the Club.

Rangers probably remain the best side in the league – although Hibs’ renaissance has gone rather unnoticed (since losing at Ibrox they are at 100% including overcoming Scotland’s current top placed side) and Stubbs’ men are now emerging as a real threat in the league. It would be churlish to dismiss them based on this season’s results v Rangers, and the early season jokes about them being bottom of the table.

So it is up to Rangers to get the form back on track and let everything else take care of itself.

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Agree with your analysis. We have to tighten up in defense where we have been shown to be caught out with long balls through the middle where our defenders have been slow to react and been too near to each other when balls are played long. It is a problem which has been identified since the beginning of the season and it a concern that neither David or Mark have taken steps to make sure that this is resolved as I'm sure other teams will have identified this weakness which was highlighted again on Tuesday night.

  2. We have 25 to 30 games left to play,how many teams do you think will come out and try and play I would guess none

  3. of couse we will the Morton players will be tierd after beating well and a lot of them will be working sat and some on the nightshift so unless they have a plan I think we should be ok in king we trust

  4. we do have problems down the middle but we also have concern about lee Wallace both goals on Tuesday came from him being caught out of position (again) He is a liability defending and it has to be addressed quickly.

  5. Think a big problem on Tuesday night was the performance of Jason holt, I have said before he goes missing for large chunks of the game, well on Tuesday he was like the invisible man. The difference when Dean shiels came on makes me think he is due a start, another problem I thought was Andy halliday think he was just a wee bit to far up the park & was getting exposed because of this which was not helping our central defenders, remember advocaat telling Barry Ferguson when scotland played England in euro 2000 double header to drop back five yards to see the picture better, well our andy could do well to take this wee bit of advice remember he is new to the position & he has been outstanding at it so far

  6. I agree with what you say "frankly slaughter them." this is the only way to silence the critics [and by christ there are many] But it is what it is & we need to get on with it so forget cups they are just a distraction, lets win the league & go up Champs, enough faffing about lets win the thing by xmas, Then Warburton can concentrate on getting new players in or keeping the ones he has, & maybe shipping a few out {Temps,Clarke,Shiels etc] But let the comeback start now & lets win the league

  7. If Dave king isn't going to spend money like he promised I actually hope we stay in championship couldn't handle us being ripped to shreds and ceptic fans laughing at us it's time for dave king to put up or leave for good reckon the man is a charlatan hope I'm wrong WATP

  8. How long is Murdoch out on loan for? I'd get him back asap especially if the Eustace thing falls through wish we had kept McGregor but I fully trust the hat WATP

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