Many Rangers fans are blaming James Sands
Rangers' James Sands and Union's Dante Vanzeir fight for the ball during a match between Belgian soccer team Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and Scottish Rangers FC, Tuesday 02 August 2022 in Heverlee, the first leg in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League competition. BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
If there was one stark reaction after Rangers’ loss last night, it was the consistent view from 90% of supporters that defender James Sands had had an awful performance.
This was not a view we completely shared on Ibrox Noise, given he saved a couple of goals and looked like the only defender actually defending half the time.
But nevertheless he was very much the scapegoat for many, most of whom slaughtered Gio for picking him.
The same fans, we promise you, who complained at Ibrox Noise’s proposed starting XI where we predicted Ben Davies in that position and who instead claimed they wanted… yes, James Sands.
There were dozens, hundreds of you who wanted Sands in defence, who’d been ‘impressed’ by him preseason, and there were also very few of you complaining about him after Livi.
But for some reason, history was once again revised as Sands suddenly became hopeless, and fans who’d asked for him in defence were now disgusted he was in defence and the manager was wrong.
Looking at the match lineup post on Twitter (check it out yourselves if you don’t believe us), and only ONE Rangers fan was vocally whining about Sands – EVERY other post praised the decision to start him.
🆕 Tonight's #RangersFC team to face @UnionStGilloise.
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) August 2, 2022
🗒️ Full Team News: https://t.co/2sNpBm035w pic.twitter.com/8PTMbKTSzW
The same fans were later complaining it was a shocking decision.
Indeed, 95% of all twitter responses were completely happy with the lineup.
So, when it comes to fans telling others ‘I told you so’, it seems you actually didn’t.
Sands was not the worst out there, but like Souttar he’s become easy to criticise. We stand by our views on McLaughlin, but we’ve held them for years if you care to check.
Sands to blame? No, there’s a lot more to it than that.