Rangers today demolished a spirited Hearts with plenty to spare in easily Gio’s best away league performance as manager.
Ibrox Noise takes you through our player ratings for a fine result in Edinburgh:
McGregor:
Didn’t have to do much, but his presence made a big difference. We will give him 10 out of 10 just for not being McLaughlin. 10
Tavernier:
Bright enough but a lot less crossing than usual (just 7 attempts which is low for him) and faded as the match went on albeit managed an assist for Alfie. He’s been a lot lot worse than this but better too. 7
Goldson:
One woeful moment early on but also good positional-wise and actually marginally better than recently. Didn’t seem to have much understanding with Davies other than passing to him. 6
Davies:
Barely appeared as a defender, more like a player who was there for Goldson to pass to. Booked early on for a mess of a tackle, and it may have nullified him. Tried to play offside at one point when no one else was. A bit lost. Seems very soft – rightly hooked at HT. 4
Barisic:
Was getting exposed a lot early on by a lot of big lobs down his side, but that faded and he got a handle on it. Comfortable overall aside this and provided his customary width on the right. 7
Lundstram:
He was up for a fight and was having none of Hearts’ nonsense. Lots of key blocks in the middle and distribution in the first half especially was excellent. Thrived next to Jack. But then lost him… 7
Jack:
Clean and tidy but nowhere near enough involved, left most of it to Lundstram and departed at half time. 5
Arfield:
Quite frankly extremely wasteful repeatedly in this one – had so many great chances for a killer pass or shot and wasted the lot. Passing was very poor, and just wasn’t at the races. 5
Kent:
A fascinating match from him – so heavily involved and did so much but so little of it actually paid off – apart from a massive assist and a massive goal. He showed glimpses of his brilliance here but Rangers need so much more of it. 8
Matondo:
Maybe just maybe this is the one to get him going – he’s got pace, but he’s needed a big moment to get him sparking to life, and his assist was brilliant. He didn’t really go on from that but hopefully he’ll grow in confidence – looks like he doesn’t believe in himself, and also seems to fear opponents, which is no surprise given what Devlin did to him. 6
Goalak:
Sorry, but this guy is the best striker in the SPL bar none and his conviction and all-round game are a marvel. Two supreme goals, a fair bit of good hold up play, and the Croat can just do no wrong. 10
Subs:
Davis:
Really isn’t looking at the races these days, wasteful in passing and off the pace. Also saw a reduction in Lundstram’s impact once he was on. As we’ve explained before. 5
Sands:
Didn’t really have a lot to do in the second half, but there was more understanding between him and Goldson than Davies. Good passing and got a fair bit of the ball. Didn’t hide as always. 6
Tillman:
His Rangers spark isn’t what it was but he did secure an assist. Looks a bit jaded compared with the Kaka-type Rangers fans took him for early on. 6
Morelos:
Got a good chunk of time and was determined to impress with it. And he scored a great goal. But he’s a long way off usurping Goalak. 7
Sakala:
No time to impress.
Manager:
This was the first Rangers XI in a long long time Ibrox Noise has actually liked – a lot of changes, and mostly a refresh for the stale rubbish that hasn’t worked. It wasn’t flawless – defence was vulnerable in the first half, and there was a lot of wastefulness – plus the second half subs seemed to hurt performance and it went a bit flat, BUT Gio will be happy with the score and the overall workrate. Amazing what happens when there’s no McLaughlin or Kamara isn’t it? 7
Colak was superb and I thought he deserved to stay on for his hatrick , with Morelos coming on too to see how it might have looked. Kent is annoying he’s very disinterested but showed what ability he has at the goal. Davies looks a dud, he’s lethargic , not strong enough and struggles with the pace of our game. Goldson got out of jail a couple of times too, frustrating . Good result but we had the usual interlude of slow pondering side passing which should have been us putting Hearts to the sword instead as the rotten mob would have
I would’ve given Sakala a rating. Made some decent runs and deliveries. I think a 5 or 6 would be fair but that’s just my opinion. Overall good performance. Best away game by far. Definitely one we can build on. Glad to see Morelos and Kent on the score sheet. Shout out to Matondo. Yeah there were flaws that he needs to work on but we did see flashes of what he can bring. With more consistent game time staring or off the bench as well as getting accustomed to the Scottish game we can hopefully see his qualities shine brighter but again fingers crossed. He kind of reminds Amad Diallo. Quick and skilfull but needs to work on his physicality.
Davies involvement in Colak’s second goal was his only real noticeable moment. He doesn’t look comfortable but then he’s barely pulled the shirt on so deserves his chance. I might be alone in thinking this but if Gio doesn’t have full confidence in pairing Goldson with King why not try Barisic and put Yilmaz in for a chance at LB. I would like to see Sands get a chance to play in place of Jack who seems to be be on a fairly rapid decline in form much like Davis. Lundstram is a good midfielder but not good enough to be carrying passengers. Matondo has pace to burn and a few tricks but with the small amount of time we’ve seen from him he seems to be a bit lightweight for the SPL. Tavernier has worryingly dwindled in prescence since he signed his new deal and is much less of a threat recently. If finally getting his goal doesn’t trigger Kent on to a good run between now and the break I wouldn’t be pressing for him to sign a new deal. We haven’t had much value for our £7m on a consistent basis and I’m sure Lowry would do a better job. Arfield is another on the slide and should maybe just be used off the bench now.
Great result today rangers keep , keep up the good work and keep the non trier’s out the team.
Kent should not be getting a start not good enough all season.
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