A major number of Rangers fans are of the conviction now that yesterday’s comeback against Falkirk was a Rangers champion’s performance. The truth, perhaps, is somewhere in the middle regarding whether coming from 2-0 down to win 6-3 in the end was a champion’s elect display. The reality is that Rangers conceded three goals against the weakest team in the top six. Falkirk are a hardy bunch, but they are sixth place for a reason.
Slow start raises questions
Rangers struggled earlier in the season against this side, drawing twice at their place. One of those occasions was managed by Rohl. On Sunday, the tables looked even more against Rangers. When conceding two goals, the side looked dead, buried and really struggling to make ends meet.
Substitutions change everything
Half-time subs did change a great deal about this match. The introduction of Miovksy created two large bodies up front. It showed that Rohl had got the starting line-up completely wrong in the first place. Many did argue that this result was in fact in spite of Rohl, rather than because of him. Either way, he was the one who made the substitutions. We have seen this so many times down the years from Rangers managers. They start with a weaker team, then change to a stronger one. It seems to be the way that this club goes.
Title talk dismissed
But does yesterday’s result make Rangers champions elect? Chris Sutton, that ‘glorious’ Celtic man himself, has conceded the title. Ibrox Noise does not subscribe to that at all. There will be many twists and turns before the end of the season. It is only going to get harder now for Rangers.
Defensive concerns remain
Our biggest concern is the goals being conceded at the moment. Of course, the old rule in football is simple. Score more goals than your opponent and you will win the match. Very true. But the concern is Rangers conceding high numbers to sides who are considerably inferior in theory.
Dundee United and Falkirk were 7th and 6th respectively. They were the weakest teams that we were to face towards the end of the season.
Tough run ahead
Upcoming are Motherwell, Hibs, Falkirk again, Hearts and Celtic. These are tough nuts to crack, to say the least. They are likely to score more goals against Rangers. Again, the question is simple. Can Rangers score the goals against them?
Anyone’s title to win
The reality, put simply, is that it is anybody’s league at this point. We personally think it is Hearts’ title to lose. We only hope that Rangers can continue to win. But we would not say that beating Falkirk is a Champions performance. It was a tough nut all right. It was one that we absolutely had to win to keep our hopes alive.
Consequently, we are not going to predict Rangers champion’s performance and never have. We do believe that Hearts have the pole position to take this title. Their record against the top six is by far the best of the three contenders. But either way, this is a rollercoaster. No one should ever try to predict how this one is going to turn out.
But beating Falkirk? A good start.