In football, one week is a long time. Its been over six weeks since the last time I wrote a summary and in that time a lot has happened in Rangers season therefore I will try my best to keep this article to a decent length. Lets be honest though, the more content covering Rangers outstanding season so far the better eh?
I’ll start with the most recent. The 9-5 aggregate victory over Royal Antwerp was superb to watch. The first leg was probably the most bizarre game I’ve watched Rangers play. It started with the injury to Tav, and the news that he is only missing for weeks rather than months was excellent to hear. We then went ahead and seemed in control without playing anywhere near our best. Antwerp then score a peach of a header where the defending was very suspect, then end up going in at half time 2-1 up after the ref decided to play 27 minutes added time, and also decided that any sort of contact now means it’s a foul. I was shocked, and very angry when VAR didn’t over-turn the referees decision to award a penalty against Davis. The player was smart, and felt the contact, but I am sorry if you are giving fouls for that amount of contact then its basically a non-contact sport. There is no chance that the amount of contact merited the reaction from the player so for me it was never a penalty.
We started the second half well and deserved to draw level, then proceeded to lose another poor goal but it was a good finish from the boy. At that point I wasn’t quite sure how we were 3-2 down but the team showed excellent character to dust themselves down and go again and ended up with a 4-3 victory which I thought was deserved on the night.
The second leg continued with the goals theme and it really was a joy to watch at times. The third goal was absolutely outstanding. Alfredo Morelos was back to his scintillating best and when he is in the form he showed over both legs then he is genuinely unplayable. We looked dangerous going forward almost every attack in both legs and that bodes well for the upcoming round of 16 match with Slavia Prague who defeated Leicester. The manager said it was probably the best the front three have played as an attacking unit all season and I have got to agree with him. Ryan Kent, when on form, has you on the edge of your seat and his goals in both legs were absolutely class. I also love Janice Hagi when on his game and the way he can unlock a defence in a split second.
Without a doubt, we could have had ‘harder’ ties on paper, but Prague are in the last 16 for a reason and their fans will also be thinking they have a good draw. However, we can be cautiously optimistic ahead of the tie and what an achievement that would be if we made the quarter finals.
Although Alfredo Morelos was outstanding over the two legs, the story of the tie has to go to Nathan Patterson. Nathan, along with the four other players involved, took a major risk in terms of his own career and also on Rangers immediate results by gathering together. By most accounts they were just sitting in with their burds, but they were in the wrong and most fans expressed frustration towards them at the time and probably still do. I think McCoist hit the nail on the head on BT Sport – they have been very, very silly but Gerrard had to look after Rangers and while available for selection, with Tav injured and Balogun struggling, it was a smart move to use Patterson. Patterson must feel like all his Christmases came at once when he scored that goal. His first goal for Rangers in a massive European match, he must’ve dreamt about it for years like many of us – but how far must he have felt that was away last Thursday when he was sitting at home watching when Tav got injured.
No doubt about it, that must’ve been when it hit home and he had realised how much of an idiot he had been. Lots of fans called for them never to play again, sack them etc but at the end of the day most of the players involved are young lads. Everyone makes mistakes, this one COULD have had major consequences, but it didn’t. You can tell by the way Gerrard and the others speak of Patterson that he is very highly rated, and from what we have seen so far he looks a very exciting prospect. I would have been disappointed but would have understood if Gerrard banished them to the reserves but I am glad he has brought them back in. I hope the five players, but Patterson especially, realise how serious the mistake was and now work extra hard to make up for it – Nathan has certainly made a good start with that!
The reason we can be optimistic about progressing against Slavia is because Gerrard and his team have made us a force in Europe. All through my lifetime, probably every away match before Gerrard took over and most home matches, Rangers would approach European games cautiously and lacked belief or maybe lacked the skill to go toe to toe with teams from the continent because we assumed they were technically better and would therefore probably beat us. Under Gerrard we have our own identity, we attack at every opportunity and every player knows their own role in his system, whether that be in Europe or in domestic matches. Having no fear and expressing ourselves against European opponents both home and away is thoroughly pleasing and long may it continue.
I will never forget standing in Luxembourg having lost 2-0 to Progres under Pedro in sheer disbelief at what had just happened. We were a laughing stock. When Gerrard took the job, our co-efficient was basically zero. We went into every qualifier unseeded and for us to qualify for the group stages that first season was nothing short of remarkable if you consider what Gerrard inherited. This was a team who had just lost 4-0 and 5-0 to Celtic in the space of two weeks, and finished the league season with a 5-5 draw with Hibs to confirm THIRD place. Since then, we have progressed every season in Europe, picking up more points, more wins which ultimately means more prize money which will hopefully be reinvested on the pitch. The prospect of playing in the Champions League again next season, only four years after that embarrassment in Luxembourg, is mouth-watering.
We have also progressed domestically each season as well. I wrote in January after beating Aberdeen, when the gap was 22 points with us having played 4 games more, that I still only saw the lead as ten points. Since then we have won most league games apart from draws away to Hamilton and Motherwell. We were extremely disappointing against Hamilton and for 45 minutes the same against Motherwell. The Motherwell draw came on the back of fifteen straight victories though, so it was important that as fans we took a step back and appreciated the run that we went on because it effectively won us the league.
The fact is, since winning 2-0 at Parkhead in October to go top of the league, Rangers have been relentless. It hasn’t always been pretty, but this season we have found a way to dig out those one goal victories and our new found winning mentality, that many thought this group of players never had, has us sitting loud and proud at the top of the premiership table with only seven points required to kick off a full summer of celebrations. Even up until last week at home to Dundee United I still had a nervousness about me that somehow we could manage to not win it, and that was built on ten years of constant let downs. However, I should know by now that this season we are a different animal. What looked like a tough game after thirty minutes ended up being a 4-1 canter, and of course for us to not win the league it required the nearest challengers to win every game and who was I kidding that that might happen? Fifty five is going to happen, and it’s the inevitability of it all that we have all had to deal with before that amuses me greatly.
As we approach the ‘business end’ of the season, many have started to talk about player of the year. Id say straight away we have three outstanding candidates – Alan McGregor, Conor Goldson and Steven Davis. I think honourable mentions can be made for Glen Kamaradonna and our captain aswell, but in my opinion the three I have mentioned have performed at a higher level on a more consistent basis across the full season.
McGregor when called upon has been very reliable. I have mentioned before that he annoys me sometimes usually because of his kicking and his lack of commanding his box but for someone who is nearly forty his performance levels this season have been world class. Both in the league and in Europe, he has made numerous match winning saves and who would blame him if he decided at the end of the season to retire as a champion again? I hope he doesn’t, and fancies another crack at the champions league, but McGregor has earned the right to make that decision and whatever he chooses the Rangers fans will always hold him in very high regard.
Steven Davis has been the player we all hoped he could be when he was resigned back in January 2019. We knew we weren’t getting the player we signed in 2008, but he has absolutely strolled games domestically and also stood out on the European stage. His fitness has been unbelievable, and I like the way Gerrard has tried to manage him and rest him where appropriate. I think if Davo was awarded POTY then no one could have any complaints.
My own choice though would be Conor Goldson and that is for a number of reasons. The first is myself and probably 95% of other Rangers fans didn’t think the big man was capable of the performances he has put in this season. In previous years, fans shouted for him to be dropped as our defence leaked goals but Gerrard stuck with him, always citing his leadership qualities as one of the main reasons he was one of the first names on the team sheet every week. Goldson has surpassed all previous performance levels and it is now hard to imagine our defence without him in it. He has cut out silly errors, plays safe when he has to and whether beside Balogun or Helander he was been a rock and along with the rest of the defence and goalkeeper they have been the foundations on which this excellent season has been built. His use of the ball has also improved, and of course, he has chipped in with a few very important goals along the way. Along with Tav, he became a bit of a scapegoat for performances last season which I thought was a bit uncalled for at times, but I’m sure most are now aware of his importance to the team.
As I have mentioned before though I think it is very important to acknowledge the contribution made by the full squad this season. Goals have come from all over the park, and there seems a togetherness in the squad that can make that difference in tight games that you probably only know what I’m talking about if you have played football and experience that. Barisic interview after defeating Royal Antwerp was class when he spoke about giving the pen to big Itten to boost his confidence, then also how he had spoke with Patterson and the other covid-rulebreakers and made sure their confidence and mood also remained high. Make no mistake about it, this has been a very special season and we probably wont realise just how good it has been until we look back in a few years.
The most exciting thing about it all is the best is still to come. In the coming weeks we will be crowned champions of Scotland for a 55th time and will attempt to make the last eight of a European competition. I wrote previously that the only team who could stop us winning the league was ourselves, well that just isn’t going to happen so my message now is enjoy it, take it in, if you think you’ve gone too far in celebrations then go that wee bit further. This has been a long time coming, I don’t care if you’ve been to every match since 2012 or have been to none at all, every single one of us deserve this.
Mon the Rangers
The Referees a Goalie 