Now that Rangers have faced the two top teams in the Championship, and a very solid SPL side in St Johnstone, it is worth taking a look at how Warbs’ Rangers Revolution has stacked up against title rivals and ‘superior’ teams.
The first obvious stat to pick at is he has recorded two wins from three, with both title rivals losing at Ibrox and the Saints inflicting Rangers’ only non-win all season.
Let us take a look at each more closely:
Hibs:
It took a rasping 35-yard free kick to finally beat Stubbs’ men, but the stats were more impressive; 60% home possession with 13 shots, five of which hit the mark. While Hibernian played impressively enough themselves, they remained toothless up front and only registered one shot on target at Rangers’ goal.
Falkirk:
After three minutes we thought this was to be a walk in the park, but it turned into anything but. The visitors made this one extremely tough, and it was not until Tavernier’s latest sterling free kick that the home side finally managed to restore their early lead, much to opposition manager Peter Houston’s amusing disdain. Home possession was again colossal, at 64% with 19 shots, of which 11 hit the target. While it was a hard-fought match, Rangers were deserving winners despite the fact, again, their opponents did not bend over.
St Johnstone:
Statistically this one was again very decent, at 62% of the ball and a respectable 12 shots, but only two of those were on the money and the visitors deserved their win thanks to managing 4 shots on target, three of which registered a goal. Rangers’ defence was drastically exposed in this one, and everyone viewed it as a critical learning experience in the growth and development of the team.
Since falling to that loss Rangers have registered seven goals in two matches, with just one conceded – including a standout display in Greenock, and Saturday’s gritty win over debatably the second-best team in the division suggested lessons had been learned from the loss – Wilson and Kiernan especially had far better positioning and the former particularly stood out with quite a few vital interceptions.
So, what is the final verdict? How do Rangers rate against the ‘better’ teams?
Overall the conclusion is positive – if the walkover at Easter Road is to be included, Rangers have had the best of the four matches. Just that one bad loss blots the copybook, and it does appear to have helped in terms of learning.
Rangers will find their gung-ho gusto style will generally stroll through most matches in the Championship, but more patience is required against the better teams – but Rangers are comfortably the best in the division so that patience will invariably be rewarded more often than not.
Keep it up lads.