By Alistair Aird
The mid-season World Cup was almost upon us. And for the Rangers supporters a break from what has depressingly become the norm of domestic drudgery it couldn’t come quick enough. Another limp loss in Perth on Sunday had widened the gap at the top of the table to seven points. A Celtic side that seems to be there for the taking maintained the knack of scoring late to pick up points, but the ineptitude of Rangers at the moment is such that Ange Postecoglu’s side have simply sailed away. Time will tell if the listing Rangers ship can be steadied, and the rough waters calmed such that we can get excited at the prospect of a race for the championship again.
Whether Giovanni van Bronckhorst is at the helm of said ship remains to be seen. With each game that passes there is a growing clamour for him to be relieved of his duties. Approaching his first anniversary as Rangers manager, there won’t be much in the way of celebrations as the Dutchman and his players continue to go from an irresistible, fast-paced force to a pedestrian, pathetic shadow of the side that some of the Continent’s top sides feared facing last season.
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Despite being woeful on Sunday, van Bronckhorst decided that he would make just one change to his starting XI. It was enforced too, Fashion Sakala joining the litany of players sidelined at the moment. He was replaced by another of the players who has regressed in recent weeks, Rabbi Matondo. He would take another backward step in this game too.
Hearts, fresh from a dramatic 3-2 win over Motherwell at the weekend, listed Andy Halliday – scorer of two of the goals in that victory – in their starting XI, but Barrie McKay had to content himself with a place on the bench. Both had etched their name in the Rangers history books; McKay scoring the first league goal of the journey back from the bottom to the top, while Halliday had endeared himself to the Rangers followers with over one hundred wholehearted displays for his boyhood heroes. It had to be hoped that they wouldn’t be another part of history in the making in this game as a win for the visitors would surely signal the end of the road for the Rangers manager.
Statistically what had stood out in recent weeks was the one-dimensional nature of Rangers’ play. Against Livingston the tactic seemed to be to get the ball wide and pepper the penalty area with crosses. Seventy-three were recorded in total, with only 17 registered as accurate. It was similar story against St Johnstone, with only 34% of the 50 crosses executed finding a Rangers player. Both matches had also witnessed almost 600 Rangers passes, but the high percentage accuracy can be attributed to the fact that most of the passes played were simple and passive and not incisive. With little in the way of personnel change, would we see a different tactical approach in this one that would yield a richer dividend?
Initial signs suggested it would be a typical van Bronckhorst formation, with 4-2-3-1 morphing at times into 4-1-4-1. James Sands would sit in front of the back four, with John Lundstram given licence to roam into a central position further forward.
Attacking the Broomloan Road end, Rangers almost carved out an opening inside the first minute. Kent chopped back inside onto his right foot and when he couldn’t find space for a shot, he teed up Tillman on the edge of the penalty area. But the American over-elaborated and the chance was gone. It was another example of the Light Blues not being clinical when in good goalscoring situations.
A couple of minutes later, Matondo danced his way to the bye-line, but his low cross was cut out before it reached Colak. The first corner followed shortly afterwards, but similar to the 20 that had been forced at McDiarmid Park it did not result in an opening for Rangers.
Play swung to the other end and Hearts looked to be in on goal. A simple ball over the top sent Josh Ginnelly scampering clear, but McGregor came out, spread himself and got enough of the ball to take the sting out of the Hearts man’s effort. A scramble followed in the penalty area before referee John Beaton noticed an infringement and awarded Rangers a free-kick.
That passage of play elicited some grumbles among the home fans. Defensive frailties were once again apparent. If there was any game when you didn’t want Rangers to lose the first goal it was this. Ryan Kent then managed to further exacerbate the fans when he did what he has been doing a lot of late, ran into a cul-de-sac and surrendered possession.
The tactic of winger teeing up full back to cross into the box was to the fore again too. But once again the accuracy was found wanting, in the opening 15 minutes only three of the 10 crosses from wide areas found a player in a royal blue jersey. Craig Gordon hadn’t had much to worry him either, with just two shots on goal, neither of which was on target.
But out of the blue came some incisive football. The ball was funnelled wide to Kent who rather than take a touch and cut inside, played a pass first time to Lundstram. The Liverpudlian strode forward and met the ball with a firm strike that unfortunately was a shade too high. It was a positive passage of play, nonetheless.
As the half hour mark approached, the match had all the hallmarks of a dour, end-of-season encounter in which both sides were merely going through the motions. Hearts showed no real attacking intent, while Rangers seemed devoid of ideas and confidence. The mood was summed up when Tillman got himself into another good position only to dilly dally and run the ball out of play.
After 32 minutes, Kent’s trickery got him away from Michael Smith and his inviting cross was headed away for a corner. And when Tavernier lofted the ball into the box it found its way to Colak, but his tame effort was pouched by Gordon. The fact that Rangers had only now managed to muster a shot on target summed up how poor the fare had been.
Four minutes later, Colak got a sight of goal, but he was thwarted by Gordon. It was only the tenth time the Croatian predator had touched the ball and the majority of them had come outside the penalty area. When you starve your principal goal threat of service you won’t score many goals, and the fact that Allan McGregor had registered nine touches was another stark illustration of how impotent the attacking play from Rangers was.
Three minutes before the interval, Hearts forced a corner. Given how many goals have been conceded from set pieces this season there was a nervousness in the air and that became even more palpable when the ball ricocheted around the area before McGregor cleared with haste on the bye-line.
Half time arrived and the inevitable boos rung around the Stadium. There wasn’t quite a cacophony but they were audible all the same. The natives were understandably restless, and their heroes were doing very little to provide them with anything to get excited about. They had 45 minutes to try and raise a smile and perhaps save their manager’s job.
There was one change ahead of the second half getting underway. Scott Arfield came on for James Sands, but the shape of the team remained the same, with Lundstram stepping back to sit in front of the back four, while Arfield joined Tillman in the central area.
The half started positively. Tillman forced a diving save from Gordon, but Hearts showed some purpose in attack too. Lawrence Shankland held the ball up well on the edge of the area and released a pass for Ginnelly. His low cross fizzed across the six-yard box and fortunately for Rangers, McGregor’s touch changed the trajectory of the ball and took it between the legs of Andy Halliday who seemed set to score.
Three minutes shy of the hour mark, Kent manoeuvred the ball onto his right foot and his deep cross almost picked out Arfield. Once again, though, the corner kick was wasted, another pattern we are starting to see in Rangers’ play.
The hour mark was greeted with another Rangers change. Once more it was like-for-like, with Scott Wright replacing the ineffectual Matondo. The Welshman left the fray with a passing accuracy of 71.4%, one successful dribble out of five, and only two crosses made. Not exactly the return you are looking for from a winger.
But the introduction of Wright was a turning point, and his first involvement almost carved out an opening. He linked with Arfield and when the ball reached Colak his snapshot was gathered by Gordon. The Scot divides opinion among the supporters, but there is no doubt his energy and effervescent approach stimulated Rangers into action.
‘[His impact] was very positive,’ said van Bronckhorst afterwards. ‘I think Rabbi had a very difficult game. His contribution could have been better and that’s why I changed him for Scott. He was very positive when he came in and with his first touch, he created a chance. That helped to give him confidence and the threat he gave on the right was very positive and what you want.’
That effort would be Colak’s last involvement as he was replaced by Alfredo Morelos. By then the deadlock had been broken, Tillman sliding in to divert a low cross from Barisic into the net after some wing wizardry from Kent. The roar that greeted it was one of relief more than anything else.
That little bit of magic from Kent has been conspicuous by its absence too often of late. But his performance in this match was much better. Although his crossing accuracy stood at 0% at the end of the game, he had completed 50% of his 10 attempted dribbles and executed two key passes. He remains the source of so much creativity for Rangers, but that spark needs to be produced more consistently when the action restarts after the break.
Suddenly, Rangers seemed to have been injected with confidence. The game had opened up and Morelos loped towards goal and played an inviting cross into the danger zone. It was the type of delivery you wanted to see him or Colak on the end of.
But Hearts were by no means out of the game. They forced a series of corners before Cammy Devlin dragged a shot wide of goal. The game was ebbing and flowing and after 72 minutes, Kent’s delicious delivery only just evaded Arfield and Morelos.
There was a more positive vibe about the place, and with 15 minutes to go, Tillman picked out Morelos, but Gordon was in the right place to deal with the Colombian’s effort. The stats reinforced the improvement in Rangers’ play too. The Morelos effort was the fifth shot on target from nine in the second half. In the opening half, only one of seven had done likewise.
You had the feeling that a second goal was needed as the game entered the last 10 minutes. Morelos almost created the opening too, hustling, bustling and harassing like he used to do on a regular basis to win the ball, but Arfield couldn’t control his pass. Morelos then slashed an effort high over the bar when a composed finish was the better option. Remarkably he did something similar a couple of minutes later, but on this occasion his blushes were spared by the offside flag.
There is no doubt that El Buffalo hasn’t been anywhere near the levels we have come to expect since his return from injury. He made a better fist of it during the 23 minutes he played against Hearts, but those minutes are close to his average for the season as whole thus far. He’s yet to complete a full 90 minutes, hasn’t started a league game this season and has made 13 of his 17 appearances as sub. His return of three goals equates to a goal every 189 minutes. In comparison, Colak has 14 goals in 24 appearances at an average of a goal every 121 minutes. It would appear therefore that the Rangers career of our 18th post-war centurion is drawing to a close.
The match petered out as the heavens opened. Hearts had offered little, Rangers just a little bit more. But as much as it was good to get a win, you were still left with the feeling that an era was coming to an end.
The victory only papered over the cracks. There is still a lack of cutting edge and a fragility about this Rangers side that is showing no signs of going away any time soon. Another win at St Mirren at the weekend is essential, but even if that is achieved you have to think that it will only serve to delay what seems inevitable.