As a Rangers fan, that had to be one of the longest 88 minutes of football in my life.
Mark Warburton certainly threw a few curveballs to keep the surprise factor up but it was a miracle that the score remained 1-0 and defeat seemed inevitable as the game continued. Here is a list of some key observations.
1.Containment
Rangers received some plaudits last season for deploying an aggressive, short passing style in the Scottish Cup Semi- Final against Celtic. Well this is today; Ronny Deila is gone, Celtic have strengthened, Scott Brown is injury free and Celtic have already beaten Rangers 5-1.
Containment was the aim of the game here was personified by the deployment of Lee Hodson at right back and moving James Tavernier forward to the right wing to contain Celtic’s dynamic duo of Scott Sinclair and Kieran Tierney. There was no room for luxuries in this game; this was old fashioned, backs to the wall desperate defending.
Celtic were initially restricted to profiting from mistakes and only when the containment was relaxed, by bringing on Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner towards the end, did Celtic start to ruthlessly cut Rangers apart.
2.A day for the understudy..well most of them.
Well that is not the team I, or anyone predicted. A couple of things I did get right was the selection of Matt Gilks in goal which had been typical of the Betfred Cup and Rob Kiernan deputising for Danny Wilson in central defence. I failed to predict the inclusions of Hodson at right back and Josh Windass in midfield.
Let’s start on the only negative negative; Windass is clearly in need of more game time having only featuring in both old firm games this season. He looked off the pace and was guilty of giving the ball away very easily. This wasn’t helped by Scott Brown (definitely my man of the match) having an excellent game bullying the Rangers midfield.
Hodson is a dependable defender that I would like to see given game time, especially due to his ability to keep Tierney and Sinclair mostly quiet. Kiernan produced a good performance and didn’t put a foot wrong apart from being caught on the wrong side for the goal. It seems that both Kiernan and Danny Wilson are benefiting from an experienced defensive partner in Clint Hill.
We have to end this thought on Matt Gilks. He isn’t one for the future but is a very experienced and able goalkeeper that managed to keep the score respectable. It was a composed performance consisting of a few fantastic saves, most notably from Sinclair’s free kick. Gilks went from almost gifting a goal by passing directly to Rogic to Rangers standout player.
3.Are some of the regulars struggling to make their case?
Captain Lee Wallace has been off the boil since the start of this season. This factor has coincided with a downturn in Rangers fortunes since promotion. Last season he could offer creativity and pace going forward as well as carry out his defensive duties.
Wallace didn’t have much license to attack but also didn’t always look composed which directly contributed to the Celtic goal. Lee Wallace looks like someone in need of a rest or a bit of luck to get that confidence back. Hodson has shown what he can do and Wallace may soon not be guaranteed selection.
It is easy to criticise Barrie McKay; last season he was the direct running creative player that a football fan cannot fail to love. Mckay is often singled out for opposition attention and hasn’t been making an impact at the SPFL level.
In this game, McKay was a part of the containment and for the most part he did it well. McKay didn’t got much time on the ball but still managed a few creative passes. Would McKay be better in a central Jason Holt attacking midfield style role? Does Joe Dodoo deserve a start to bring a bit more directness on the wing?
4.Rangers are a long way off from competing with Celtic
That performance was an improvement over the previous old-firm encounter but it is clear that the best Rangers can currently do against Celtic is defend for their lives. The moment Rangers try to get something from a game Celtic can rip the defence and midfield apart way too easily.
Taken in the context of Celtic coming off a difficult champions league game they were still by far the better team and were it not for bad finishing, defensive heroics and great goalkeeping it would have been another thrashing.
This can only be expected and the fact any pundit was suggesting newly promoted Rangers were title contenders in the face of Celtic appointing ,and financially backing, Brendan Rodgers was frankly ridiculous. Building sustainably on the back of European football and patience are the keys here. Unfortunately Warburton might soon find out that patience has never been one of our strong points.