Rangers’ renaissance must begin v Ross County

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Rangers’ renaissance must begin v Ross County

Well we have now gone four days to truly digest the aftermath of Saturday’s dismay at Parkhead and the truth is while a great deal of soul-searching has been practised by the support, the players, and indeed the management, conclusions about how to solve Rangers’ present dilemma have varied significantly and there does not seem to be an obvious answer.

Whatever the solution may be, whether that is time, money, tactical alterations or personnel switches, nevertheless this Saturday’s visit of Ross County to the Hallowed Turf is, in many ways, now even more important than the Old Firm was.

We know Saturday was a bitter pill for all connected with Rangers to swallow, but it is down to those who ply their trade for the club to prove, against all the backlash and criticism, including on this very site, that they can compete against a very solid SPL side and indeed win convincingly.

Ross County are the kind of SPL side Rangers must overcome smoothly to at least mount a solid campaign from which they can build. It is the level of team Rangers have to at least show they are better than if any credibility is to be restored to this beleaguered team and manager because, until now, there has barely been a single positive SPL performance by Warburton and his men, even if they have managed two wins.

Unfortunately that is two wins from five, which is essentially midtable to bottom half form. Two other sides have managed two wins, that being County and Saints, which does go to show that from Hearts and Celtic down, the gulf might not be that wide within the trailing back, but with barely five matches played in this division, things will start to settle over time.

And Rangers will want their bumpy start to be part of that settling in, with the aim surely being top four for now.

But it starts at Ibrox on Saturday; with such poor displays on show when fans expected far better from the squad and the management, a bounce back against County with a convincing display will certainly cut the regime a little slack.

Warburton has professed that there will not be sweeping changes to the team, but rather some ‘tweaking’ which hints at a slight change to the XI and formation, itself a good sign.

It is evident his 4-3-3 vision is struggling in the SPL, as discussed here, and a switch to a more traditional Rangers-style 4-4-2 or perhaps a progressive 4-2-3-1 formation may yield some more promising results.

But whatever Rangers’ boss elects to go with for County (and indeed Tuesday night’s League Cup Quarter v Queens) the team has to start producing the goods, and showing they are the right players and Warburton is the right manager to solve the current malaise.

As it stands, no one at Ibrox has convinced fans of anything.

NB: thank you readers for the corrections re: Tuesday night’s opponents.

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16 COMMENTS

  1. Beating them in the semi final brought our season to an end,let's hope that loosing to them can kick start this season

  2. Firstly, it is Queen of the South on Tuesday, not St Johnstone. Secondly, the notion that Warburton will abandon his 4-3-3 after one league defeat is unfathomable. The man has stated repeatedly that this philosophy will be maintained through all levels of the club. By tweaking he refers to movement within this system. This could be change of personnel or different instructions for players (eg Miller doubling down the right wing back area on Saturday)
    What is more likely is emphasis on high pressing, high tempo and more attempts at goal which should be an unquestioned feature of our play. I expect a win on Saturday, but more importantly, a clean sheet. 2-0 Gers I reckon.

  3. If Warburton continues to pick the same players, he has no chance of lasting at Ibrox. When fans make selection suggestions, managers react in the way a doctor might react to a patient's diagnosis suggestion – with a quiet scorn. But managers up and down the land forget one thing – the fans will decide if they stay in the job or not. Keep ignoring us, keep playing failed/over-the-hill players instead of fresh talent, and you'll be out the door I'm afraid, Warbs. We want you to succeed, but you need to be brave now. The majority of the team at Parkhead failed in their duties. Not for the first time. Wholesale changes required. The kind of changes that will generate some pre-match optimism this weekend. If you don't, the pressure on failed players to produce the goods in front of 52,000 will be absolutely immense. Your team selection this weekend is the most important of your Ibrox career.

  4. Ross County will see this as a chance to emulate ICT's famous scalp of Celtic during John Barnes' reign. If Rangers lose this game, which is absolutely possible, this could mean the same for Warburton as it did for Barnes. County will absolutely fancy their chances.

    • The money situation will be grave before Xmas, apparently King has Murray rattling a collection can up and down the UK, with little success.
      It appears that likely contributors would not want to be seen in the same room as King never mind loan him money………a developing story.

  5. If Rossiter, MOH, Holt and Hobson do not start then it will be a bigger disgrace than last Saturday and deserves the same result.

  6. There were financial problems behind the scenes before last week so Level 5 has been running a good news campaign since the season started to gloss over the issues and head off any questions about money……..remember King's transparency promise? Yep just like his investment promise, nowhere to be seen.
    Murray has been trying to raise finance but no one will entertain him whilst King is steering the boat…..no serious businessman will do business with him.
    If we survive another admin only Ashley has the cash to make us a force again…………unfortunately King's bully boys will drive him away.

    Have you seen the gap in turnover with the Tims…..it's a chasm that no amount t of ST money will ever fill.

    Dembele is already attracting the big hitters………..bidding will probably start at £20m in the current market.

    That with more CL monies will in itself pave the way to 10 IAR and beyond whilst we are stuck with King and a board that have no idea how to run a football club, and have less idea where the monies will come from to see out the season.

    It's a feckin shambles, King has sold the support a pup which they have gratefully paid for……….fooled not once, not twice but three times.

    Whose going to be the next saviour……….Ashley is the only answer.

    • Away you go! Sellick supporter on Rangers forums. Saw you on a few stories now. Club 1872 is established and prevents the club falling into financial trouble (offered 500k earlier this year but were declined) Plus King, Park, Murray etc are FANS of the club and wouldn't let admin happen again. "Ashley is the answer" – proof if needed of your green and white loyalty. Idiot!

  7. What if another poor display is served up on Saturday with 2 or 3 points dropped?

    Will the deniers be saying…hold on it's only 6 games into the season, too early to make a decision on management and players, whilst Celtic disappear out of sight with a huge points lead.

    Warbs has never been taken to account for the Scottish Cup Final debacle………it's obvious that he can't handle any sort of criticism but when everyone and their auntie could see that Stokes was ripping Tav a new one the manager did feck all in response.

    Bring back Walter as soon as possible and let's kick start the chase to where we belong.

    In King We Trust

  8. Rarely will a player lose a contract dispute, could cost a couple of mill if we want rid of him, another day in court for our self appointed chairman. Where is it going to end.!

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