The three stats which Stevie must fix ASAP

As we all know, Rangers really should have won that match last night. We try to avoid ‘what ifs’ on Ibrox Noise, but the reality is in the past few matches ‘what ifs’ are becoming a way of life with Rangers.

Going into last night’s fixture, Rangers had only scored one solitary goal in six matches’ open play. We warned about this in previous entries, and only prayed it would be resolved in Edinburgh, but the worrying truth is 19 shots at goal with a staggering 8 on target but no goals tells a deeply concerning story.

We even confessed Morelos’ presence last night wouldn’t strictly make a lot of difference and sadly we were proven correct as the Colombian hitman fluffed his lines several times, admittedly aided and abetted by a fine goalkeeping display from Bogdan.

Even worse was James Tavernier and Gareth McAuley effectively wasting open goal chances as well, and it has become apparent that despite Rangers being joint-top scorers in the SPL, points are being lost left right and centre due to this team’s staggering profligacy in front of goal.

It’s more than just a striker problem. More than a creation of chances problem.

It’s pure bottle. Nothing more.

While Gerrard has tried instil a bit of aggression and aggression, (no red cards for two matches, is that a record) the wastefulness in front of goal suggest a bunch of players doing their best but coming up short when it counts.

And that’s the bottom line – the Aberdeen semi at Hampden, last night’s draw at Hibs… these big opportunities come knocking and as Ibrox Noise’s Greg said, it’s getting almost boring watching us waste these chances every single time.

The one exception was against Hearts, but that was a Hearts on the downward slide and Morelos’ goal shouldn’t even have stood.

Every other time domestically Rangers have just not had it – just not had the edge, the killer instinct to get the team over the line, and it’s more than just Morelos missing.

Captain Fantastic James Tavernier’s miss was the single-most outstanding example of the problem with Rangers right now – bursting through on goal, only had to connect for a finish, and flubbed his lines so embarrassingly there wasn’t a Rangers’ fan in the land who didn’t scream ‘oh for **** sake’ at that moment.
And until this team learns to take its chances on the pressure occasions (and not against a 10-man Motherwell) also-rans will all they’ll ever be.

We hold zero blame on Gerrard for this – this is the players simply failing to capitalise on opportunities, and Stevie is powerless to do a thing about that from the dugout.

Hopefully January will see some new talent which brings with it the mental strength the team evidently lacks right now.