Well, if we needed reassurance, we got it on Sunday.
Despite what the league table says, we are not
lightyears behind Celic. Sure, we needed a late
goal to get a draw but any fair-minded observer would
surely agree that Rangers were very unfortunate not to
emerge as the victors.
What a finish it would have been if Sebo had rattled
his injury time shot past the Polish Bigot. If
only... it had been anyone else but Sebo! I would love
to have been amongst the Subway Loyal when they heard
the roar for the equaliser. It would have been a
right GIRUY message to them (why leave early with the
game balanced on a knife edge?) and to the
neanderthals in the Broomloan Stand if our misfit
striker had gone on to do the business in the dying
seconds.
I've always been the sort of guy who is prepared to
give new players time to settle in at the club but I'm
afraid it just ain't going to happen for Filip. The
longer PLG persists with his ‘it will come' line, the
more pressure he is putting on the player and, more
importantly, Rangers are missing goalscoring
opportunities. Sunday's close-your-eyes-and-hit-it
effort cost us two valuable points and, just like last
season, we are well off the pace and struggling to get
ourselves into second place. We can't afford to wait
any longer for him to come good.
Discussing the game over a wee shandy or two, it
disappointed me to hear so many Bears enthusing over
the team's effort. I would have thought effort was
the very least we should expect from our players,
especially in an Old Firm game. I was more impressed
by the way we passed the ball on a quagmire of a
pitch, Baz and Jeremy were outstanding in midfield,
Dado and Nacho gave McManus and Balde plenty to think
about and, after an unsteady start, our defenders even
looked to be on top of the job.
I thought we were in for one of those days when Brahim
Hemdani was beaten to the ball three times in the
opening minutes (once by McGeady and twice by
Zurawski) and Karl Svensson looked like causing us as
much trouble as our opponents with his indecision.
But they settled down, the big Swede certainly posed
them plenty of problems when moving upfield for set
pieces, and although Allan McGregor didn't look too
clever for their goal, he didn't let it affect him.
When they went ahead I feared for the worst. With
Rangers pushing forward, they looked a threat on the
break and a few mates, who were closer to the incident
than I was, reckon the Lurgan Bham had a good shout
for a first half penalty. I'll be paying particular
attention to that incident and how much time is
devoted on it on Scotsport tonight. Hey, don't be
surprised to find the Daily Rebel doing a seven page
special on the pens Ra Sellick don't get!!!
Despite the frustration of seeing so many promising
moves break down, whether due to the iffy pitch or
some jammy defending, the team retained its shape,
kept moving the ball around and, ultimately, only the
clock was going to deny us some reward. So it was
with great relief and no little joy that I acclaimed
Brahim's goal and, if he got a wee bit of luck with a
deflection, it was no more than we deserved.
I've replayed Sebo's late miss over and over again in
my mind and, while I suppose you have to give the
goalkeeper some credit for saving it, I can't help
blaming our guy. A wee bit of composure is all it
would have took to let the keeper commit himself then
dink the ball over him and into the net. If the
chance had fallen to any one of half-a-dozen other
Rangers players, I've no doubt we would be celebrating
a 2-1 victory today.
Instead, we had to settle for a draw, not the worst
case scenario by any manner of means, but we dropped
two much-needed points and will find ourselves facing
a well-hyped-up sheepy shower next weekend. Every
game is a must-win game and, while we continue to miss
chances like we did on Sunday, we will make life hard
for ourselves. Waiting for Sebo to deliver can be a
very costly business.
Looking at the bigger picture, we can take a lot of
positives out of Sunday. The 16 point gap between us
and Them is down to our failure to bury Dunfermline,
Dundee United, Motherwell and Caley Thistle (12 points
dropped!) so, while our title hopes are surely over
for this season, we must refind the ruthless streak,
close the gap as much as possible and start the
preparations for next season NOW. We've got something
to get our teeth into, lets work on it, knock it into
shape and, with a wee bit of luck, a Scottish Cup win
and a real good crack at the UEFA Cup can restore the
feelgood factor.
It was good to see the players show great togetherness
in their celebration of the equaliser. If there is
some form of split in the dressing-room – and I'm a
great believer in no smoke without fire – PLG must
sort it out and, in my humble opinion, he is much more
likely to turn things around quickly if he keeps the
captain onside. Whatever PLG and Baz disagree over
must be addressed and, while there can only be one
boss, a top notch player like Barry Ferguson must be
listened to and respected. Giving the Hack Pack scope
to play on any rift will only make things worse.
I've detected a hardening of PLG's attitude towards
the liars with laptops and, if he really wants to make
a point, he should get the Rangers Snooze mob in, get
them to fill a couple of issues with good ‘we are
together' stories and expose the Hack Pack for the
scum they are. If there are any serious dissenting
voices within the dressing-room, they must be rooted
out and moved on.
If Le Gaffer is the real deal, the shrewd football man
I believe him to be, he will have recognised what has
and what hasn't worked and, if Murray and Bain are
serious about backing him, they must make the
resources available to enable the manager to begin to
put things right when the January transfer window
opens. As PLG says, maybe the right players do not
become available at this time but we have to start the
rebuilding process sooner rather than later so, when
the new season dawns, we are not worrying about a new
team gelling. We've had more than enough of that this
time around.
On the evidence of the past month or so (lets forget
Falkirk!), things are a bit better than they were but
there is still plenty of room for improvement and the
current crop of players must show they have a future
at Ibrox by improving by leaps and bounds as this
season progresses. If stepping up another two or
three levels is beyond them, they must be replaced by
those who can meet the challenge and respond to it.
And this applies as much to the manager as it does to
the players. He has had his settling in period, he
must now see that Rangers are a target in everyone's
sights and, as manager of our great club, he too is in
the firing line. Our poor form has made it easy for
our critics but I hope he has someone interpreting all
the Press Gang's scribblings, with their nudge-nudge
wink-wink innuendo being underlined. There is no
longer any hidden agenda, it is out there in the open
for all to see.
PLG must face it head-on - if you're not for us,
you're against us! – and he will find his standing as
manager of Rangers will rise considerably if he treats
our enemies with the contempt they deserve while also
tackling the not insignificant task of sorting out our
team.
LITTLE BOY BLUE