Rangers were unable to close the gap on Celtic today, having to settle for just a point.
Ibrox Noise takes you through a game of two halves which the Famous really should have won.
McGregor:
A lot of touches early on with pass backs, but didn’t have a single save to make and his inability to come for crosses should have cost a goal. Had no chance with the goal. 6
Tavernier:
Was completely exposed for the goal, letting his man behind him, but did provide a lot of width on the right and a constant outlet, even if his crossing was inconsistent. Wasted every single corner. Passing wasn’t the best. 6
Goldson:
A glut of clearances from the English stopper, he was strong in the air but loose with his passing, with 13 attempts at long balls and only 4 on target. 6
Bassey:
Once again making minor errors then having to clean up his own mess, Bassey is such a flaky defender and we just don’t trust him. Was useless at the goal and wasted a host of long balls. Produced by a distance the lowest number of defensive interventions of the back four. 5
Barisic:
Had a horrific first half, with some bad comms with Kent, some poor passing, and of course let Jota trample all over him for the goal. But far superior in the second and regained that confidence. His crossing was bad though, just one decent cross. 6
Davis:
Poor. Davis wasn’t at it in this one, and gave the ball away quite a few times. It was no surprise he was removed. 5
Lundstram:
His game, again, was neutered a little by having to partner Davis, who is chalk and cheese to him – the NI legend slows Lundstram down. The two cannot work together, and we saw less of the tubthumping Lunny we saw at Hampden. Passing was strong though, best in the team, and he was there for a bunch of the quiet gritty work in the middle that goes unnoticed. 7
Arfield:
Quietest Old Firm for a subdued Arfield we can remember, we’ve had to edit this article to add him in, he was that forgettable. Dearly needs rested but did nearly grab a massive winner near the end. 5
Kent:
Will have been so frustrated by Barisic in the first half, who just wasn’t partnering him well. But it definitely improved in the second, and he assisted Sakala. Once again, he was one of our best players but Rangers fans often dislike giving him credit for that. 7
Aribo:
Did some excellent shift work as a false 9, dragging the whole team up the pitch at one point. Not scared to work off the ball, and wasn’t on the ball a lot. Did what he was told to and can hold his head high. 6
Sakala:
Oh here’s the one you’ve been waiting for. Absolute nightmare for the Zambian until the goal, the hitman was making dumb runs, losing the ball, failing to look up and just looking like he lacked a football brain. All seemed forgiven when he nailed a fine finish, but then he blew it with at least two more golden chances to win it and just couldn’t. Works to the ends of the earth but lacks the intelligence and quality when it really counts. 6
Subs:
Wright:
Was involved with the goal and nearly produced a winning assist but for a miracle save from Hart. This is where he’s better used, an impact sub. 6
Jack:
Actually tidy in the middle but just shored things up. 6
Diallo:
Took one for the team with a 36-seconds booking, and then was at 6s and 7s with himself when he could have laid the ball for Wright. His Rangers loan has been a complete disaster, sadly. 3
Manager:
Gio picked a bad midfield with Lunny and Davo, and the choice of Sakala was not popular either, and until the second half started fans were justified in their ire, but that second 4 was very strong and whatever the boss said in the dressing room worked. He will be gutted the side didn’t take the deserved 3 points. 7
Agree with all the ratings apart from Barisic, i usually try stick up for him, but when he gets the ball now i get the fear, even when he does make a pass its usually back the way. Hes turned into a total bomb scare. Would have rated him 3 at best for falling asleep again at back post.
Hard to disagree with your markings. Strange that players barely got above a 6 but we could easily have won the match. Makes you wonder what we could do to them if everyone turns up and put in a 7 or 8 performance. On Sakala, he is clearly lacking in the quality we need and is very frustrating but at the same time I always feel he has “a moment” in him.
These ratings gained more abuse than we can ever remember Rob, really making us think in the future as to whether we’ll do them any more.
You do them to strike a debate so why give up. Of course people will always have different views but so what. It was a strange match. In some ways we played well and I was fairly happy but individually no one really hit the heights and 6 all round was very fair.
Because we welcome different views but not downright abuse. Which those particular pieces always seem to attract from many of our own supporters who ‘disagree’.
Comments are closed.