We’re a grumpy lot here at Ibrox Noise, and you may be able to predict that we are not taking too much from midweek’s trumping of Kilmarnock, a reaction echoed in how Rangers fans must not overreact to beating Kilmarnock. 5-1 is always a nice score to get, and it was especially pleasant to see Oliver Antman get a much needed goal, given his sporadic appearances since joining. But fundamentally, we just cannot judge a victory against a team in such a lowly position. Kilmarnock are dire this season. The last time Rangers beat them, they fired their manager. This is how poor they have been. And indeed, of course, the last time Rangers beat Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, we struggled then to win as well. The score on that occasion wasn’t exactly super accurate to the level of performance that night.
A Familiar Pattern
The one that stood out, of course, was Connor Barron, much like the assessment seen when four Rangers players were rated off the pace v Killie. He had a shining example of a performance that night, and finally showed just how good he can be. Subsequently, he almost immediately got injured. Typical Rangers luck.
But midweek against Kilmarnock this time was an even more flattering score, bearing in mind just how much McCann and Dodds’ side actually outplayed the hosts for vast swathes of this match, an ongoing theme since Rangers’ Ibrox nightmare against Kilmarnock was highlighted. Just like at Parkhead, it was a smash and grab for Rangers, when Rangers were basically being outplayed by the opponent, tactically outfoxed by the opposing coach, and yet still managed to get the win.
Winning Like Champions
Of course, many would say to you, and they’d be absolutely right, that this is what champions are made of, as reflected in wider reaction to Rangers beating Kilmarnock in the Premiership. Walter Smith many times did get outplayed by his opponents, but he always had the talented players. To stifle opponents and then cut them on the break, get them on the flanks and take them down.
Walter Smith’s team did not play great football, a reality often revisited whenever Rangers v Kilmarnock fixtures are previewed. Older bears of a certain vintage will know from both nine in a row and Smith’s second spell at Ibrox that his football was hardly tiki taka. But nevertheless, it was effective winning football and that is what we need.
Points Dropped Matter
The draw against Hibs was absolutely chronic, a frustration mirrored when Rangers’ margin for error against Kilmarnock was debated. It was a poor one. And it missed a beat big time in terms of missing opportunities. We couldn’t afford to drop those two points and we still did.
So we’re still not reading too much into beating Kilmarnock, a side down to 10 men, as we’ve previously explained. We want to see Rangers winning far more often than not. Of course we do. We want to see the talent that we have shining on the pitch and winning football matches.
Four points of six still isn’t quite good enough, especially when you’re chasing. There’s the biggest problem.
No Margin for Error
Some fans will justify draws and losses as, well, you can’t win everything. We can’t win them all. At the same time, we have no choice but to. If we are the chasing pack, then we can’t drop any points because then the gap just grows. It gets further. Our distance behind as it is just extends.
As it is, Rangers are not exactly favourites to win this title. It is a race that is going to ebb and flow. But what we cannot do is drop more points.
To win against Kilmarnock is what we must do. And this is why we were slightly taken aback by some of the reaction. Winning against Kilmarnock should not be praised, it should be expected.
Standards at Rangers
It’s not a divine right to win the title and it’s not a divine right to win matches. But there is an expectation at the level of Rangers that the proper true Rangers should be able to beat the bottom teams without too much difficulty. This is what the best teams in any league do.
And to lose the plot and go over the top for such a victory against a bottom feeder is maybe a little bit too much of the champagne too early. We want to see more of this. We want to see more scorelines like that at Ibrox midweek.
The performance, however, didn’t really justify or deserve it, but that doesn’t really matter. History books doesn’t tell you how well Nico Raskin played on the night or how well Jayden Meghoma played on the night.
It may tell you how well Mikey Moore played because of all the publicity about his performance. But nevertheless, the final score is what matters. Scoring, assisting and winning. And Rangers did that. You can’t really criticise that.
However, it must remain, it must continue, and we’ve got to stop praising the team every time they win against a really bad team. The reaction against Annan, well, that was slightly ridiculous. And it was along the same lines as when Rangers beat Kilmarnock.
Winning against terrible teams is what Rangers should be doing, not being praised for. But maybe that’s just us at Ibrox Noise.