Baby, You're a Lost Cause (Jones Patterson, Part 2)

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Welcome to the second installment in the story of Jones Patterson.

The backstory to this story can be found below.

The Bleeding Hearts Show

Edited May 6, 2020 by he_2

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“What?!” I spluttered disbelievingly into the phone.

James Boyle, one of the local Edinburgh journos was on the other end of the call. “Is there any truth in the rumours that you’ve applied for the Real Madrid job?” He asked again.

A third season without winning the title had seen Zinedine Zidane’s second spell in charge of Europe’s most successful club come to a bitter end and whilst it would have been a tempting enough prospect, I was nowhere near conceited enough to think myself capable of taking that job on just yet. Besides which, I rather thought that the Madrid hierarchy’s sights would have been set rather higher than a 21-year old who had a single season’s experience at Scotland’s third best club.

“Umm, really?” I asked.

“Yes. Word on the grapevine is that you’ve applied for the job.”

“I’m not sure who’s dangling that grapevine in front of you, JB, but there’s absolutely nothing doing there, pal. My sights are set rather more realistically.” I said.

“Have you applied for anything then?” He asked, hopefully.

“Nope, not yet.” I said.

“Would you tell me if you had?” He asked.

“Nope, certainly not.” I replied.

“Ah well, can’t blame a guy for trying.”

This was the first of many phonecalls I fielded during the month following my departure from Tynecastle about my future. Some of which had some truth behind them (FC Basel) and some of which didn’t (IF Elfsborg). In the end I was pipped to the Real post by Max Allegri, incredibly – however I did wonder whether when reporters asked these questions they realised how silly they often sounded. It’s something I asked Leah one evening.

“Well, not really,” she said. “We get fed a line from a source and we investigate it. Sometimes it’s nonsense, sometimes it’s got legs even though no-one will admit it publicly, sometimes it’s common knowledge.”

“So, what would you have done if someone had told you I’d applied for the Real job?” I asked.

“Well, it would depend if the source was credible. If they were, I’d probably have done the same as JB, asked you the question.”

“Even though if you look at it rationally, the whole notion is absurd? I mean, I’d either come across as extremely conceited or at best, arrogant.”

“Well, yeah. Stranger things have happened.”

We’d developed an agreement over the summer that my professional future was taboo, we wouldn’t discuss it at all at any time. I’d agreed to grant her an exclusive interview once my destination was known, but that until then, I wasn’t going to say a word to her about my future.

In actual fact, after being turned down by Basel, it took a good few weeks towards the end of June before any jobs that I liked the look of became available. Then, within hours of each-other two jobs that appealed opened up and I applied for both. The first was at Hadjuk Split in Croatia and the other was at Feyenoord, in Rotterdam.

I was granted preliminary phone interviews for both roles, which was promising, but whilst I was waiting, another opportunity opened up rather closer to home, one that was hugely attractive to anyone and that I felt I had a reasonable shot of getting…

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“Have you seen the news?” Leah asked. “It’s just broken.”

“What’s happened?” I asked. We’d been together long enough now for her to know that I didn’t take any notice of the news, whether sports based or otherwise.

“Oh, for heavens’ sake, Jones. Just switch the damn telly on for two minutes will you? I’ll be on in a sec.” With that she rang off and I reluctantly reached for the remote control, switching to channel 405.

A glance at the on-screen ticker told me all I needed to know.

Steven Gerrard had quit his post at Rangers to take the vacant Crystal Palace job in the English Premier League. An intriguing move, looking from the outside in, one that raised more questions than it provided answers for me, anyway, as one of Stevie’s peers. I can’t say it would have been a move that I’d have made, giving up the chance for silverware and usurping my city rivals for at best, a 10^th place finish south of the border, but then Stevie’s career path was likely rather different to me.

The jobs at Split and Feyenoord were hugely enticing, but this was on a completely different level to me, a genuine shot at gaining silverware in a league I knew. Not only would that be a colossal opening for someone of my experience, or comparative lack of, but could also set me up going forward if, somehow, I was successful there.

Obviously, there was a long way to go before I could start thinking like that, the role would attract an extremely high calibre of applicant so somehow I really had to make myself stand out. I couldn’t point to an extensive CV, I couldn’t list my honours, but I could point to the progress I’d made on a shoestring at Hearts relying on coaching to create an entertaining side that exceeded expectations and that scored only four goals fewer than the free-scoring Gers had.

I spent a good while working on the CV before asking Pat Nevin, my Director of Football at Hearts, if he’d give it the once over and drop me back some feedback on where, if anywhere, I could improve it. He gave me some useful pointers and suggested that I begin to work on a little presentation, no more than half-an-hour in length, about how I’d take the club forward on and off the pitch.

“That’s the kind of thing boards at this level like to see,” he said. “You know the league now, you know a bit about the club and their players and you know what, there’s no harm in giving Stevie a wee call and getting the lowdown from behind the scenes. He’s a good guy, I’m sure he’d help you out there.”

I submitted the application on June 23^rd and had a couple of chats with Stevie during that spell. In the meantime, I had been offered face-to-face interviews in Croatia and Rotterdam, so I had arranged travel and lodgings abroad. Leah was aware of where I was going and why, meaning that she was able to put two and two together and work out who I was going to be talking to.

Both chats went well but I could tell that I probably didn’t have what it took for either job. Perhaps there was some scepticism on their side around my age and lack of experience, whilst for me, I didn’t really feel either club would have been quite the right fit for me in terms of their outlook and where I was. The rejection calls, when they came, were no surprise, but I appreciated both clubs being open enough to talk to me. I chalked them up to experience.

Meanwhile, I had been offered an interview at Ibrox by Dave King, the chairman of Glasgow Rangers. This was one that I hadn’t told Leah about. Knowing her links within Scottish football and Rangers in particular, there was a good chance she’d find out anyway, but I didn’t want to say anything. So, my trip westwards on July 3^rd was done fully in secret.

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Whilst I managed the journey okay without being discovered, that all rather unravelled upon my arrival at Ibrox. I was waiting in reception when who should came barrelling in through the main entrance, camera crew and sound engineers in tow, yup. Leah.

At first she didn’t notice me, it was only when she too was asked to wait a moment and she turned around to scan the waiting area that she noticed me, suited and booted and looking rather sheepish.

“Wait here, fellas.” She said to the crew before striding across the lobby towards me with purpose before plopping herself down beside me and looking urgently at me. “Well, this is a surprise,” she hissed. “What the actual f- are you doing here, Jones?”

I motioned at my outfit and said ruefully. “One guess.”

“Bloody hell, I can’t believe it! When was this all arranged? Why the hell didn’t you let on? I’d just resigned myself to you buggering off abroad.”

My future had been a little bit of an elephant in the room ever since I’d departed Tynecastle. When I returned from by Icelandic retreat we sat down and ‘had it out’. I’d expressed an interest in working overseas and would be looking around Europe even though I knew that at best, it would put a lot of pressure on our relationship. The chances were, we both knew, that even if we did try and long distance for a bit, it’d end up being too much of a strain.

“Well, we agreed, didn’t we, that you’d ask no questions and I’d tell no lies.” I replied. “Surely you must have had an inkling I’d want to go for the job once Stevie left for Palace?”

“I’d hoped, yes, but since you’d kept remarkably silent on the subject I guessed perhaps you weren’t interested.” She looked away for a moment. “So, this is your interview is it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Interview and presentation.”

“Well, if you don’t make a mess of that you’ll probably be favourite,” she said. “I know of two that were offered the role but turned it down.”

This was news. I wasn’t sure whether I was being encouraged or some sort of dismally back-handed compliment. Perhaps neither, Leah could be hard to read sometimes.

“Sounds encouraging,” I ventured.

“Sorry, Miss Young,” the receptionist called. “Mr McAllister is ready for you all now, I’ll show you through.”

Leah began to rise. “Is it, Jones? I’m not so sure right now.”

She strode off, purposefully leaving me gaping at her back in her wake, the verbal punch to the stomach aching somewhat.

***

I was feeling a little off-kilter ten minutes later when I was shown into the boardroom where David King, the Chairman of the club was sat on one side, flanked by a couple of directors whose names escaped me. I shook hands with all three men, firm but not overbearing, before being invited to sit down.

“Would you like some water, Jones?” King asked me.

“Yes please.” I replied.

“A jug of iced water, please Paula.” King said to the receptionist who compliantly wandered off.

“Thank you for attending, Jones. We’d like to formally interview you with a view to filling the role of first-team manager at Glasgow Rangers Football Club. We’ve been impressed with your work over the past year with Hearts and are looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the job, the role and seeing if you would be a suitable fit.” Paula returned with a tray that had a jug of iced water and a glass on it. I thanked her before pouring myself and she left the room without a sound. “The interview will comprise of some questions to see if you’d be a suitable fit with the club and then we’ve asked you to present your own vision for the future.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate you all taking some time to speak to me this afternoon,” I said. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing how we get on.”

The first section of the interview lasted around 40 minutes or so, asking me about my lack of experience, my tender years in footballing terms, never mind management. I was asked about why I’d left Hearts after less than a year, why I thought I was the man to unseat Celtic at the top of the Scottish game. The level of questioning was intense, but I felt I met their fire with my own counter-artillery.

Discussion then moved on to the structure of the club and finances. In both cases things were understandably on a different level but, if I was expecting a transfer kitty of £millions, I was sorely mistaken. As it happened, I hadn’t banked on much of a budget for transfers at all. If successful, I’d have about £450k available for transfers and around £25k in the wage budget remaining – the current limit was a shade over half a million – more than 5-times what I had to work with at Tynecastle.

After all of that, we moved onto a 20-minute slide show, comprising of eight slides that outlined why I thought I was the right man to take Rangers forward and how I would look to take them past Celtic.

The tactical plan was quite simple, Rangers had been playing with a 4-3-3 that had a lone centre-forward supported by two wide-men and a midfield three that had one man protecting the back four and two given licence to get forward.

“I know that Rangers scored plenty last season, but I think we could sacrifice the man at the based of the midfield three for an extra centre-forward, shift the wide attackers inside a little with Ryan Kent acting more as an inside forward than an out and out winger on the left and shifting the wide-right player more centrally to allow more space for the attacking full-backs to overlap into.”

“Isn’t there a danger that’ll leave us short changed defensively?” I was challenged.

“I don’t think that’d matter against most sides,” I said. “If, with Hearts, I used this kind of approach to good effect by and large, then with the extra quality available at Rangers we would be pinning most sides firmly back in their own half. Being disciplined and well organised would ensure that players would know when to launch forward and when to sit in, I really think the extra potency that extra striker and change in shape would provide would really help open dogged sides up.”

“How would you provide for the extra striker? Currently we have Alfredo Morelos on our books who is the only out and out centre forward of first-team quality.”

“You have Rhian Brewster as well for another season, don’t you?”

“Yes, but he’s more of a wide attacker, that’s where he was used last season.”

“I think he’d be really effective as part of a two up front,” I replied.

“And what about cover for injuries?”

“I’d be looking initially for a third striker to come in on-loan to begin with, look for someone else like Rhian who’s young and hungry from a top Premier League club and then blood some of the younger kids.”

Moving on, I spoke about my desire to integrate players from the youth teams into the first-team set-up. “To be honest, I know a lot of the younger lads are now out on-loan so that’ll have to wait until next summer, but I know about guys like Kai Kennedy, Josh McPake and Stephen Miller and I know that if they go well in the SPL this season, they’ll have every chance of making the grade here next year.”

“Would you promote a youngster in place of bringing someone in via the transfer market?” King asked.

“If I couldn’t find someone that would significantly improve the side for the right price and I had a promising youngster waiting in the wings, absolutely I would, yes. I certainly wouldn’t be bringing in any new face through the market just for the sake of making up numbers.”

Finally, I outlined my targets.

“I’d be looking to win one of the domestic trophies this season as an absolute minimum and aim for the Europa League group stages before next season, targeting the Champions League group stages, since Scotland gets the extra place next year, and winning the league title plus at least one of the two domestic cup competitions.”

With no further questions, I was thanked for my time and shown back out to reception by King. “We’ll let you know by the weekend,” he said, shaking my hand just inside the main entrance.

“Thanks,” I said. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

Leaving the stadium and walking around to the car park, I kept an eye open for Leah’s car and any of the Sky Sports News crew vehicles to see if she was still around. I couldn’t see anything so gave her a quick ring to let her know how things had gone.

The call went straight to voicemail.

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“Thank you for coming out this afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be able to formally announce that Glasgow Rangers Football Club have appointed Jones Patterson as first-team manager on a deal that will see him lead the club for the next 2-years through to the end of May 2022.” Dave King announced to the assembled media. The table in front of the two of us was stacked full of competing microphones and sound recorders, whilst flashbulbs went off at regular intervals and the glare of TV cameras were firmly affixed on us at the front of the press-room. There were plenty of scribes and journos in attendance including, of course, Leah. She hadn’t returned any of my calls or texts and sat there with that same look of distrust and almost dislike that she’d worn during my early days at Tynecastle.

“Whilst we appreciate Jones’ relative lack of years,” King continued, “the board unanimously felt that he was the right man to lead us forward over the next couple of years and lead us to further silverware, building on the foundations that Steven put in place before his departure. We are excited by the fresh ideas and enthusiasm Jones will undoubtedly bring to the club and I am very much looking forward to working with him as we look to take the club forward. I’ll now hand over to Jones to say a few words and then we’ll open things up for questions.”

“Thanks, Mr Chairman,” I said turning to my left to look at him, “both for the welcome and giving me the chance to work at this amazing football club. I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to work here at Ibrox and be given the challenge to, as the chairman says, build on the excellent work undertaken by Steven Gerrard over the past couple of years and look to take the club on to the next level. I understand that some supporters may be hesitant about my appointment given my lack of experience and having won nothing but a few plaudits, but all I ask is to give me, and the team, a little time. A little time to get my ideas across and the boys to understand them, a little time for them to gel and results to come. It isn’t likely to happen overnight. I can assure them that I will be looking to build on my own experiences from last season, to build a side that plays open, entertaining and attacking football but that above all else, plays winning football.”

“We have a big challenge ahead of us if we want to overhaul Celtic, they have been the yardstick in Scotland for the past decade. Every time they’ve been challenged in that time they’ve met it head on, we need to work extremely hard to go one better than them. It’s a challenge, but one that I’m very much looking forward to meeting head on. Thank you.”

I opened the cap on my bottle of sparkling water and the fizz of air escaping when the seal broke was probably very audible over the various microphones in front of me.

James Boyle: Hi Jones, congratulations on your new appointment.

Thanks, JB.

JB: I know you’ve touched on them, but can you give us a little more on your feelings taking on the Rangers job?

Absolutely, like I said I’m very honoured to be taking the reins at such a historic club, at such a huge club. I’m really excited and really can’t wait to meet the players and staff and then get started.

Leah (breathing hostility in my direction): Do you feel you can live up to the increased expectations of the fans and board here at Ibrox?

Of course, I’m an ambitious guy, this is an ambitious club. If we want to progress towards bigger and better things, everybody from me right through the players into the boardroom and every single part of the club has to be ambitious and aim for the top. That’s what myself and the chairman have begun doing this morning and that’s what we’ll all continue doing during my time here.

Kyle Connell: Jones, Kyle Connell from the Glasgow Times. Welcome to the club. You left Hearts some six weeks ago now with you choosing to resign from your post. Do you have any regrets leaving that job?

Not at all, no. I think it’s worth making it clear that my reasons for choosing to leave Hearts weren’t entirely my own. The failure to be offered a new deal at any point during my stay at Tynecastle played a big part in my leaving the club. But, I think it’s worked out well for all parties. They now have a brilliant manager in David Moyes at the helm there and I’m now sat here. So no, no regrets on my part.

KC: You haven’t spent a long time out of the game before taking the Rangers role. Was that a conscious effort to ensure you stayed active?

Absolutely, yes. I spent a few days out and recharging my batteries immediately after leaving Hearts but then from early June onwards I’ve had a few conversations with people about various jobs. As soon as I found out that Steven had taken the Palace job I knew that this one was going to be at the front of the queue.

LY: What about your backroom team. Will you be making any changes and bringing people with you from Hearts or going with what you have here?

I haven’t met the team here yet so it’d be wrong of me to make any judgements. If I feel we could achieve our aims with what is here, then I’d not hesitate in doing so. If, however, I felt that we could benefit with some fresh input then I’ll make any relevant changes.

Petar Genchev: You gained a number of plaudits for your adventurous style of football at Hearts. Is that something you’re intending to bring to Ibrox?

Very much so, yes. I have a belief in the way I want my teams to play the game and you saw that philosophy at Hearts last season. I want to use the same template here and encourage my players to express themselves, but I realise that just as they will have to adapt to a new style and shape, I’ll have to adapt to fit their strengths as well.

KC: Have you met the players yet and if so, what is the mood in the camp?

I haven’t yet, no. I will be after this press conference is over. I’ve been told that they’re looking forward to a fresh start and seeing what ideas I have, I can’t see why the atmosphere wouldn’t be one of optimism.

PG: Will you be returning to Tynecastle to bring some of your former colleagues into the backroom team here at Ibrox?

Like I said early, Pete, I don’t know. The staff here are here for a reason and deserve the opportunity to work with me. I want to help get the best out of them and it’s up to me to see how I can do that and get us collectively functioning to take the club forward on and off the pitch.

JB: How hard do you expect to work the players on the training ground?

I expect nothing more than their full commitment and attention. There’s space for banter and messing around now and again, but I need them to be focused on what we need to do to be successful. Anyone who doesn’t show that desire and attitude will not be at the club very long.

LY: So, Jones (she held my eye with a fierce stare), what attracted you to Rangers?

It’s a huge club isn’t it? I mean, who wouldn’t want to work here in amongst the history, the great facilities, the fabulous support. The whole club reeks of success.

Kara Warwick: Do you have any reservations about taking the job at all?

Nope. Absolutely none. The moment I heard I had an interview, I began to prepare myself for this moment. I’m ready and relishing the challenges ahead.

KC: Do you think the squad has the quality you need to achieve your targets, especially after falling just short last season?

I think the club should have won the title last season to be honest. Too many dropped points in the run-in cost them badly. So yes, I believe the squad has the inherent ability to achieve what I’m looking for and am looking forward to seeing how that pans out in the short term. There may be one or two tweaks here and there, we may look to bring one in just to add some depth, but there’s absolutely no need for drastic surgery here.

KC: It’s no secret that Borna Barisic has been agitating for a move given the lack of movement on a new contract. How are you planning to deal with that situation?

It’s disappointing when a player feels they need to go public over a situation that should be dealt with behind closed doors, it doesn’t help either party. At the end of the day, if Borna wants to play elsewhere then fine, I won’t force him to remain here against his will. But, I’m confident that when I sit down with him and his representatives we’ll be able to find a way forward.

KC: Do you not fear that giving in so easily to a player’s demands will lead to a lack of respect from his colleagues?

Absolutely not. Every situation needs to be judged on its own merits. From what I’ve heard Borna’s situation is very much an isolated incident and one that I’m sure we can come to an agreement on. He’s a quality player and I’m excited to start working with him.

“Okay ladies and gents, I think that’s time.” David King interceded. “I know Jones has a meeting now with the players and I’m sure you’ll all want to get back to your employers with some soundbites. Thanks for coming out and your time today.”

With that David and I left our seats and the table and a gaggle of noise began when the press-folk got up to go and collect their sound equipment from the front table. I looked over towards Leah who quickly looked up from making notes. I wanted to go and talk to her, to find out what on earth was going on but the glance she shot in my direction made me think better of it. Feeling a tinge of sadness, I took a deep breath, plunged my hands in my pockets and wandered off to find the dressing room deep in the bowels of the main stand to be introduced to my new first-team squad.

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Thursday 23^rd July 2020: Ordabasy Shymkent v Glasgow Rangers (Europa League 2^nd Qual. 1^st Leg)

Venue: Stadion Qajimuqan Munaytpasov

Att: 6,463

The twelve days after my unveiling seemed to take almost forever, the time stretched interminably onwards without a hint of any kind of competitive game to look forward to. Until, all of a sudden, there loomed an intriguing looking trip to Kazakhstan in our Europa League 2^nd Qualifying Round tie against Ordabasy Shymkent, who had beaten Georgian side Dila Gori in the previous round 5-2 on aggregate.

I knew nothing about them except what little the scouting team had been able to dredge up. It was a tie that we *should* be looking to comfortably progress through but that experience told anyone with an interest in Scottish football, that it should be treated very much as a banana skin. Celtic’s demise in Gibraltar a couple of years previously was very much at the forefront of our minds as we made the gargantuan journey to the south-eastern Kazakhstani city of Shymkent that stood so deep inside Asian territory that it was only about 600 miles from the Chinese border with Krygyzstan.  Unchartered waters for pretty much all of us.

You think Kazakhstan and you think Borat and all of the silly stereotypical nonsense his character perpetuated about that part of the world. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Shymkent was a astonishingly beautiful city, affluent and stunning to look at as we travelled through it, all of us on our travels to the stadium, firstly to train on the night before the game and then for the game itself, were absolutely beguiled by what we saw.

We’d worked hard on training and over a couple of friendly matches on the shape I wanted us to employ that was very much based on that I used at Hearts. The main difference was that I wanted Joe Aribo, in particular, to get forward from midfield into the penalty area more than Glenn Whelan and Ricci Montolivo did for me the season before and create an additional goal threat. Rhian Brewster joined Alfredo Morelos up front whilst negotiations were ongoing at home for a striker on-loan from a club south of the border who I felt would do us some good as cover up front.

I couldn’t have asked for a better start from my charges than the one I was given. James Tavernier and Ryan Jack combined well down the right flank and the former Bristol City right-back, slipped the ball inside for Brewster. The young on-loan Liverpool striker cut the ball back and although a defender should have cut the cross out, he didn’t and Morelos was left with a simple finish from about 7-yards out into the bottom corner to give us a 4^th minute lead and settle our nerves.

A great start.

Five minutes later Barisic, whose contract dispute appeared to have been blown out of all proportion by the press, surprisingly enough, sent in a peach of a free kick from the right flank towards the far post. Askhat Nesterenko in the Ordabasy goal came to claim, got nowhere near it and Scott Arfield jumped highest only to send his header over the crossbar.

Then, two minutes after that, Barisic found Aribo and his left footed cross found Brewster just inside the six-yard box, unfortunately the striker couldn’t get over the ball enough and also directed his header over the top.

Not knowing how good the opposition actually were made it really difficult to judge how well we were playing in the opening stages. Would Ordabasy have held their own in the SPL or were they equivalent to the Scottish lower divisions?

Just past the quarter hour mark and Ryan Kent dispossessed an opponent inside his own half and then went on a long, direct run that took him into the heart of the Ordabasy penalty area. On his stronger right-foot he looked to curl the ball into the far corner of the net but got it all wrong and directed his shot only into the midriff of Nesterenko, who held on well.

To the hosts credit, they managed to shake off their awful start and then begin to compete. The landslide that looked likely in the opening quarter of the hour swiftly subsided and although they created very little, so did we for the final half-hour of the first period. When the whistle came, we held the advantage but it was hard to know whether or not I should be pleased or disappointed with things.

HALF-TIME: Ordabasy Shymkent 0-1 Glasgow Rangers

I admitted as much at the interval, pacing around pensively waiting for the players to settle down with their drinks and energy refreshing packs. “Okay boys, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what to make of that first half. Opening quarter of an hour was brilliant, we should be three or four up. After that, I don’t know. I can’t tell if we took our foot off the gas or they sorted themselves out. Thoughts?”

“They definitely got a lot tighter,” Scott Arfield chipped in.

“Aye, first fifteen they were standing off us, giving us all the time in the world.” Ryan Jack agreed. “After Kenty almost ran through they suddenly tightened up enormously, got on us much quicker.”

“That’s what I was thinking watching on from the sideline and that’s what you said to me, wasn’t it Macca?” I turned to Gary McAllister, my new assistant.

“Aye, that’s what it looked like to us. But listen, lads, you played into their hands a little then too. Youse could have moved the ball a fraction quicker when you cottoned onto what was happening. Get a little sharper off the ball, create space for the man in possession. How many times did we go over that last season, eh? Youse were all here, boys. Time and time again Stevie and I got into youse about that.”

“It’s that simple, boys, you’re better than them and they’re there for the taking, I’m sure of it. But you’ve got to make something happen rather than relying on them to give you the time and space to do so. Force the tempo, up it, play around them or, like we’ve looked at in training, go vertical if you need to. Nothing wrong with going from front to back quickly if you see something on. Okay?”

Nods and murmurs of agreement.

We got a very early boost in the second half. There was less than a minute gone when Tavernier made tracks down the right hand side before riding an absolutely shocking two-footed lunge from the much-travelled Portuguese winger, Hugo Seco. Tavernier remained on his feet but the whistle went immediately and Seco was sent-off from a distance of about 15-yards, the referee immediately raising the red card as he sprinted to the scene of the attempted manslaughter.

With a man advantage there was even less excuse for the players not to really impose themselves on the tie.

For some reason, despite the width afforded us by the full-backs and the hosts playing with two ridiculously narrow banks of four, we insisted on trying to play through them. To be fair, on 57 minutes, Joe Aribo worked a little bit of space after exchanging countless passes with his midfield partner, Jack, before unleashing a terrific strike from 22-yards with his left foot. Nesterenko was beaten at full stretch, but the ball came back off the face of the post and was cleared from danger.

10 minutes later, we finally got the ball wide, Barisic played a give-and-go with Aribo and got to the by-line on the left flank. His driven cross was perfect for Brewster but once again, the on-loan Liverpool man headed over the top. He’d managed just the single goal in more than 25 appearances the previous season and on this evidence, it was easy to see just why.

In the 71^st minute a Barisic corner kick picked out the run of Jack, who had peeled off his marker and found his way to the far post, the former Aberdeen midfielder’s header was powerful but went just the wrong side of the post.

That provided a brief stay of execution for the home side as Ryan Kent dispossessed Drachenko and then sent a ball down the inside left-channel for Morelos to get onto. The Colombian slipped the ball beyond Nesterenko and saw it rebound off the base of the far post. A defender then got himself in a huge muddle trying to clear and Brewster slid in to bundle the loose ball over the line. He wheeled off in absolute delight, despite the scrappy nature of the strike, to celebrate only his second senior career goal.

The evening was finally capped 9-minutes later when an excellent move from back to front and right to left saw Jon Flanagan pick out Jack and the midfielder turn, before releasing Ryan Kent down the left. The winger slipped the ball inside to Morelos and the striker, from about 12-yards out helped the ball on its way first time with his left-foot inside the far post for his second goal of the afternoon.

There was a late rally from the hosts when Amanov was sent racing in behind Connor Goldson with three minutes remaining, the striker’s effort was on target, but the hitherto untroubled Robby McCrorie preserved his clean sheet with a fine save.

That was it, the start of my Glasgow Rangers managerial career, the second chapter, began with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 win away from home in a tricky European tie. We could approach the home leg a week later with a fair degree of confidence and a nice comfortable cushion. A clean sheet, a banana skin avoided and both strikers already in the goals, it was a very good evening’s work.

FULL-TIME: Ordabasy Shymkent 0-3 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier (Flanagan), Goldson, Katic, Barisic, Jack, Aribo (Kranevitter), Arfield (Grezda), Kent, Brewster, Morelos

[he_2]

Thursday 30^th July 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Ordabasy Shymkent (Europa League 2^nd Qual 2^nd Leg)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 48,285

In the week before the two legs of the Europa League qualifier I completed my first signing in over a year as I secured Tottenham Hotspur’s teenage Irish striker, Troy Parrott, on a loan deal until the end of the season. He fitted the profile of the kind of player I wanted to bring in. Young, hungry and talented, someone with a big future ahead of them and who needed minutes at a good level. I was delighted to get him and although he was ineligible for this 2^nd leg tie, he would be available for the league opener at the weekend against my old club, Hearts.

I shuffled the pack a little with a comfortable advantage in my back pocket from the first leg. Alan McGregor took the gloves whilst Jon Flanagan got the nod at right back. Finnish international Glen Kamara partnered Joe Aribo in the centre of midfield as well, otherwise it was as you were from the week before in Kazhakstan.

This was the first opportunity for the supporters, whose reaction to my appointment had been somewhat split, to see me and my team in action and I wanted to try and put on a bit of a show for them. To see whether the boys had a ruthless streak in them or whether they were content to take their foot off the pedal and just do what was necessary. Obviously I also had one eye on the Hearts match at the weekend, a game I really wanted to make a statement in for reasons that were various and obvious. First though, seal progression into the 3^rd Qualifying Round.

We served notice of our intensions in the 7^th minute of the game when Glen Kamara found space down the right-hand side and fizzed a ball across the face of the penalty area where it was met my Ryan Kent’s head. The winger’s header from all of 16-yards out had Nesterenko concerned, but the ball ended up wide of the post.

Just a minute later, a half-clearance found its way to Scott Arfield on the edge of the box, he knocked it wide to the left for Barisic to drive into space. The full-back did so and then picked out Kamara, who had got into the box to make a fourth man, something that never happened with Glenn Whelan and Ricci Montolivo at Hearts, and the Finn managed to strike a brilliant left-footed volley at goal sending the ball high into the top corner of the net giving Nesterenko no chance at all.

A terrific finish.

Four minutes later a flowing move down the left flank saw Barisic make a break and shuffle the ball on for Morelos. The Colombian turned and sent a lovely cross into the box where it was met by the head of Brewster, but the striker directed the header inches wide of Nesterenko’s left-hand post.

The lead was doubled in the 19^th minute, Ryan Kent cut in off the left flank and fed the ball into Brewster. The youngster held the ball up before laying it off into the path of Barisic who was arriving like a train. The Croatian full-back didn’t break stride before firing powerfully left-footed across Nesterenko and into the far corner to double the lead, another excellent finish.

8 minutes later another flowing move, this time down the right flank saw Flanagan find Kamara making tracks down the line. The midfielder’s run wasn’t tracked and as he fed the ball inside, Brewster lost his marker and was able to fire the ball underneath Nesterenko and into the corner of the net to make it 3-0 and exceed his goal tally from the previous season in doing so.

As we hit the half-hour mark, Jon Flanagan received a ball back from Kamara after a throw in and his left-footed cross from the right wing found Morelos who was able to flick a header goalwards, only to see his effort crash back off the crossbar. So unfortunate.

We were absolutely rampant at this stage, from the goal kick Ryan Kent burst forward and shifted the ball to his right where it found Kamara breaking forward again. Another burst of pace from the Finn saw him work a shooting opportunity, this time Nesterenko made a smart block at his near post. From Barisic’s corner kick, Morelos met it at the far-post but his header went too high.

Before the break, Nesterenko made another good save, this time from Kent after another surging run off the left flank from the former Liverpool man.

It had been a really good half, an excellent showing and the players received a warm and well-deserved ovation as they exited the balmy Glasgow evening for some refreshment.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 3-0 Ordabasy Shymkent

The message at the break was simple. Keep it going, don’t let up. I was delighted with the performance, the amount of chances that were being created and the quality of our finishing. As I’d hoped, having more offensively minded central midfielders was providing us with an additional dimension in the attacking third and really pinning the opposition back on the edge of the own penalty area. As half-time talks went, this was one of the easier ones I’d had to deliver so far.

As happy as I was with the first half, I was equally disappointed with the first 20-minutes of the second period. We were off the pace, languid and lax in our approach. I made a triple change just before the hour mark to try and shake things up a little, Filip Helander came on for Connor Goldson, Eros Grezda for Ryan Kent and youngster Chris McKee up front for his debut for Rhian Brewster.

The switch paid off handsomely.

In the 67^th minute Aribo swept the ball left for Barisic who advanced a dozen yards before sweeping a ball in behind the opponent’s right-back for Grezda to run onto. The substitute cut inside and then giving Nesterenko the eyes, swept the ball just inside the near post before wheeling away in absolute delight. The Albanian had struggled badly with injury problems and his pleasure at the goal belied his relief at putting all of those struggles behind him.

The goal also saw us re-find our mojo. Almost exactly a minute later, McKee’s cross from the right was headed away by Drachenko. The loose ball was picked up by Grezda and he fed it inside for Joe Aribo to pick up. The former Charlton midfielder had all the time in the world to take a couple of touches forward before firing a low strike beyond Nesterenko and into the bottom corner of the net to make it 5.

With 17 minutes remaining, Ordabasy received a double boost as they looked for their first goal of the tie. Roger Canas made progress down the right flank and sent a cross into the box. It found Samat Islmailov and as the attacking midfielder took the ball down, Jon Flanagan unceremoniously bundled him over. It was a clear penalty and Flanagan, who had already been cautioned, left the arena earlier than he might have liked. Kyrylo Kovalchuk took responsibility for the penalty and sent it low towards the bottom corner. McGregor did outstandingly well to get down low to his left and with a big left-hand, palm the ball around the post for a corner kick.

I shuffled Filip Helander a little further right but kept the three at the back for the final quarter of an hour and didn’t ask the boys to sit in any further but to try and keep going forward.

With five minutes remaining a Barisic corner was well claimed by Nesterenko, however he had to hurdle over a prone blue shirt on the floor when doing so. Eros Grezda had been pushed to the ground and the referee decided that it was worthy of a penalty kick. No arguments from us at all. Barisic stepped up and coolly sent Nesterenko the wrong way to make it 6-0 and grab his second goal of the evening.

Grezda then put the icing on the evening by latching onto a long ball out of defence from Nikola Katic and galloping through on goal. His right-footed finish was neatly measured, beating Nesterenko and ending up in the back of the net.

That was in the 2^nd minute of stoppage time, a minute later the tie was over and our shattered opponents put out of their misery.

It had been a thumping win, mostly an excellent showing and an extremely comfortable progression into the next round. We were given another generous level of appreciation as we all exited down the tunnel, which was refreshing, I felt that we’d done ourselves justice and could look ahead to the visit of Hearts in a good and positive frame of mind.

It was so good to be back.

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 7-0 Ordabasy Shymkent (10-0 on aggregate)

Team: McGregor, Flanagan, Goldson (Helander), Katic, Barisic, Kamara, Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Grezda), Brewster (McKee), Morelos

[he_2]

Sunday 2^nd August 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Heart of Midlothian (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 50,817

This was one I was really looking forward to, for obvious reasons. Almost a year ago to the day I’d begun my league career taking charge of Hearts hosting Rangers at Tynecastle. Now the roles were reversed, I was once again at home but this time I was leading Rangers into battle against my old charges from the capital.

Obviously much was made within the media of the fact that my old team were visiting and I really tried to play it down as best I could. Whilst I was really looking forward to catching up with the lads, with Pat Nevin and JD and Foxy and Karen who were still at the club, even saying hello to Ann Budge and hopefully putting the past behind us after the game, before hand I was focused only on one thing.

Winning.

I was also looking forward to meeting David Moyes for the first time. When he’d taken the job at Tynecastle I gave him a ring to congratulate him and offer to help him if he had any questions at all about the players. We ended up speaking for a good hour or so which, I found, enlightening. I always thought that since leaving Everton and taking up a string of poisoned chalices, David hadn’t gotten the credit or respect he deserved. He was a man of dignity and returned the favour of calling me when I took the job at Ibrox to wish me well. That was a nice touch.

Like ourselves, Hearts were going into the game on the back of a European fixture. They’d just hosted Dynamo Moscow at Tynecastle at the same stage of the Europa League having overcome SJK of Finland in an earlier round. After losing 3-2 in Moscow in the first leg, they’d been undone 4-1 at home to lose 7-3 on aggregate and suffer an exit. Unlike the previous season under my stewardship, they were now looking to begin the league campaign on the right foot.

Robby McCrorie returned in goal and James Tavernier at right-back, whilst in a change I really ummed and ahhed about, Mattias Kranevitter come into midfield in place of Glen Kamara. I wanted to keep things a little tighter in the middle of the park than I had in midweek, knowing the quality possessed by Glenn Whelan and Ricci Montolivo and knowing that David was favourite a 5-4-1 formation with two attacking midfielders and attacking wing-backs in Aidan White and new signing from Chelsea, Tariq Lamptey.

Celtic had laid down an early marker with a 4-1 win at newly promoted Dundee United to begin the campaign, so I was very keen to serve notice of our own intentions. Predictably enough heavy rain greeted our start to the season but within the first minute, Kranevitter had won possession inside the Hearts half and released Brewster. The youngster’s effort was powerful but slammed into the side netting at Zdenek Zlamel’s near post.

The rain soon eased, but we struggled to match that early fluency, the four-man midfield providing us with problems. So, with only the one man up front to deal with I asked Tavernier and Barisic to tuck-in a little ahead of the centre-halves when Hearts had the ball and to try and stretch their midfield when we had it by hugging the touchlines.

When we did create something else, it was only a half-chance but all about the quality of Alf Morelos. Receiving a ball forward from Goldson into his chest, he then turned his marker, burst away from a second challenge with a searing burst of pace before jinking past a third. It was a crying shame then when he rushed his effort at the end of all of that and sent a powerful strike a long way wide of the target.

In the 22^nd minute, Sean Clare won the ball down by the corner flag in his own half on the left-hand side and chipped it forward. Conor Washington won the header against Connor Goldson and spun in behind to get onto his own flick on. The Northern Irishman who had enjoyed such a goal-laden first-half to the season under me streaked clear before driving a low shot that Rob McCrorie did well to get down to and gather.

11 minutes before the break, we were awarded a free-kick wide on the right touchline. Borna Barisic trotted over with his wand-like left-foot and swung the ball into a congested penalty area. It missed everyone except Goldson who had watched the delivery like a hawk, peeled off to the far post and simply nodded the ball from just inside the 6-yard box into the gap between Zlammy and the upright to give us the advantage.

As much as I wanted us to be free-flowing in attack, I was also keen for us to make the most of as many set-pieces in the attacking third as we could, so this was a real feather in the cap of Macca who had worked so hard in the few weeks since my appointment on the training ground on set pieces.

Three minutes later the trick had worked again, this time Barisic’s delivery was much more central, as was Brewster’s header. Zlamel got a touch to the ball as it looped over him, but he was unable to keep it out of the net. As the young Liverpool man trotted off in celebration of his first ever league goal, sadly the assistant’s flag was raised and the goal chalked off. He had strayed offside and would have to wait to break his league duck.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-0 Heart of Midlothian

“That’s a good half, lads, you’ve overcome a tough start and in the last 20-25 minutes began to outplay them a little. There’s no harm in going a little more direct to bypass their midfield four at times,” I said at the break, “They’re a tough nut to crack. Keep the tempo high when we have possession and stretch the game as much as you can, Borna, James,” I looked at my two full-backs, “that’s how we’re going to find gaps. Then, when they’re in possession tuck back in and let Ryan and Scotty deal with the wing-backs if they come forward. Okay?”

Murmurs of assent.

“Anything to add, Macca?” I asked Gary. He had a couple of pieces which he went through whilst I got myself a drink, all very encouraging stuff on the whole.

Less than a minute after the restart we found ourselves very nearly undone by a set-piece against us. The free-kick wide on the right was delivered to our far post and in almost a carbon-copy of how Connor Goldson had found space to score for us, John Souttar did the same for the visitors, but couldn’t keep his header down and it drifted just over the top.

Again, we had to fight and battle our way into the game, to earn the right to impose our style on the encounter and watching on, although it wasn’t particularly pretty, I was really pleased to see that we were able to graft as well as play some lovely football.

In the 62^nd minute, Rhian Brewster chipped a ball into the heart of the penalty area. Ryan Kent was beaten to the header by Christophe Berra but the ball fell nicely for Joe Aribo just outside the penalty area. The midfielder took a couple of touches to manoeuvre himself into space before striking a low shot left-footed across Zlamel and into the far corner of the net. A really well taken goal again from a player who was looking as though he had a lot of quality about him.

That second goal was greeted with a mixture of elation and relief and allowed us to begin to dictate things.

With 14 minutes remaining we were very nearly caught out, Nikola Katic lost out in a challenge to Washington, whose turn saw him streak into space towards goal. As he shot, out of nowhere Goldson appeared to block. The ball broke nicely for Lamptey who advanced on goal before taking the wrong option. His effort was comfortably saved by Rob McCrorie, if he’d had the presence of mind to look up and square the ball, Washington had a tap-in to an empty net. Had I been on the other bench this time around, that would have absolutely driven me mad.

Ten minutes later, Scott Arfield chipped a lovely ball forward into the path of Ryan Kent, he used a stepover to get beyond Michael Smith before toe-poking the ball beyond the dive of Zlammy and watched on as it bobbled into the net for his first goal of the campaign.

Three minutes remaining and the game was completely sealed. It had been a tough encounter where we’d been made to work all the way by Hearts. A clinical edge in front of goal plus a little bit of individual quality had given us the edge and we were able to look back on a job very well done.

I spent a little time mixing with the visiting players after the game, seeing how they were getting on, and did get the chance to have a quick word with Ann Budge too. It seemed as though there were no hard feelings, which was good, we were both able to move on and look to the future with optimism.

There was still no such thaw in relations with Leah, who continued to blank me outside of the professional environment. I sent her one final text message that evening explaining that I couldn’t really understand what I’d done wrong after our agreement in the summer, but that I would be open to talking it through if she wanted. If not, I’d assume our relationship moving on was to be purely professional.

I didn’t want that to be the case, I’d really enjoyed getting to know her over the previous 8 months or so and loved her company. There was little else I could do, I wasn’t going to begin harassing her, that really wasn’t my style. Trying to put it out of my mind, as soon as I began the drive back to Edinburgh from Glasgow, my mind moved on to the tricky challenge of overcoming Hoffenheim in the midweek European qualifier.

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 3-0 Heart of Midlothian

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Barisic (Durmisi), Kranevitter (Ross.McCrorie), Aribo, Arfield, Kent, Brewster, Morelos (Parrott)

Edited May 12, 2020 by he_2

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 2^nd August 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	1	1	0	0	4	1	3	3
Glasgow Rangers	1	1	0	0	3	0	3	3
Motherwell	1	1	0	0	3	1	3	2
Aberdeen	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	1
Invernes Caledonian Thistle	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
Livingston	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
St Mirren	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
Kilmarnock	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
Hibernian	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	-1
St Johnstone	1	0	0	1	1	3	0	-2
Dundee United	1	0	0	1	1	4	0	-3
Heart of Midlothian	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	-3

 

Saturday 1^st August

Dundee Utd	1	4	Celtic
Kilmarnock	1	1	Inverness
Livingston	1	1	St Mirren
St Johnstone	1	3	Motherwell

 

Sunday 2^nd August

Rangers	3	0	Hearts
Hibs	0	1	Aberdeen

[he_2]

Thursday 6^th August 2020: Glasgow Rangers v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Europa Lge 3^rd Qual 1^st Leg)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 48,690

This one felt like a real European night. Even though it came so early in the season, the fact that we were playing Bundesliga opposition in a knockout tie really felt like something else. The atmosphere around the ground felt charged more than it had for the games against Ordabasy and Hearts, even if there were a couple of thousand fewer in the ground than there had been at the weekend.

The German side were coached by the effortlessly cool Danish legend Michael Laudrup and had just finished a very respectable 7^th place in the 2019/20 season. They’d overcome Belarussian side Dinamo Brest in the previous round and this game marked the watershed between their pre-season campaign and the start of their regular season. Sandwiched between the two ties against us, they kicked of their Pokal campaign against Hansa Rostock.

I named an unchanged side from that which had beaten Hearts so comfortably in the league opener but on the bench there was a first call up for Jordan Jones in place of the ineligible Troy Parrott.

And we should have gone ahead just ten seconds into the match. The ball was worked back to Joe Aribo from the kick-off and he immediately sent the ball over the top for Rhian Brewster, who had sprung the offside trap. Oliver Baumann came out to narrow the angle and got it just right, making a superb save to block Brewster’s effort and deflect it away from the danger zone. That would have been the dream start.

That woke the visitors up and the next fifteen minutes was a feisty, entertaining contest with both sides committed to attack. In the 14^th minute, disaster struck when Barisic dallied on the left edge of his own penalty area and found his pocket picked by Pavel Kaderabek. As so often happens in those situations the defender reacted with a clear tug of the shirt and the Hoffenheim wing-back went down just inside the penalty area.

It was a particularly idiot piece of defending and one that left me absolutely seething. All the more so when Hoffenheim’s former Leicester misfit Andrej Kramaric stepped up from the spot and smashed the ball beyond McCrorie to give them not only the lead, but a ‘valuable away goal’.

The remaining half an hour of the first half was abject. We created some vague openings and opportunities but never got going. Hoffenheim were so well organised and in control that it was almost as if they had us on a piece of string.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 0-1 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

We continued in the same vein after the break, not even the addition of the more attacking Glen Kamara for Mattias Kranevitter could prompt us to get in around or behind our opponents who were producing the perfect European performance away from home.

McCrorie had to make a fine save ten minutes from time to keep us in the tie as Kramaric was played onside by Reza Durmisi, who had replaced Barisic at left-back early in the second half. As performances went, it was one of the most humbling of my career to date.

There was no hint of complacency following our goal-laden start to the season, absolutely none. The effort was there and we looked confident. We defended well too, but we were never really in the contest once Hoffenheim had scored their goal. It wasn’t so much that we’d suffered a reality check as shown me just how far we had to go to even match a reasonably good continental side. They were strides ahead of us and looked unbelievably comfortable sitting back and countering. None of the 1000mph gegenpressen stuff that was so in vogue in German football, just a well organised, well balanced performance.

I spent a long while after the game talking with Macca, Nino and Mikey Beale about where we’d fallen short and what we needed. Ross Wilson, the Director of Football was in on the conversation as well. Of course, we had to be mindful that we weren’t out of the tie by any stretch and that we could snatch something over in Germany, that was true, but I felt that we’d fallen short and that if we played Hoffenheim ten times, they’d probably beat us 7 or 8.

It came down, I felt, to craft and guile. Our midfield, for all their excellent attributes, didn’t really have that eye for a killer pass that can unlock very good sides. Someone like, for want of a better example, Michael Laudrup, playing in behind the strikers and who could just pick a through a ball at will.

There was plenty for us to work on ahead of the return leg, then, and also a focus there for Ross to take away for the recruitment side of things. Try and find me that weaver of magic.

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 0-1 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Barisic (Durmisi), Kranevitter (Kamara), Aribo, Arfield, Kent, Brewster (Grezda), Morelos

[he_2]

Sunday 9^th August 2020: Aberdeen v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Pittodrie

Att: 20,961

Managerial Record v Aberdeen: P 4 W 1 D 1 L 2 F 7 A 6

Oh my goodness, they were coming at me and coming at me hard. After the limp midweek display the papers were already questioning my future at the club. As I’d done at Hearts, I ignored social media, the print media and the screen media but even then, things penetrated through the shield. The disappointment on behalf of Scottish Football as a whole was palpable, we’d let everyone down with our showing against Hoffenheim, I was left in no doubt about that on Friday morning.

Then, in the Sunday morning previews Celtic had done very little to help matters with their 7-0 demolition of Hibs at Parkhead the previous afternoon. That, along with my winless record at Pittodrie since first visiting almost a year ago to the day with Herts, led those with their poison pens to suggest that failure on my part to lead my lads to three points, would invite serious questions about my suitability to steer a ship as big as Rangers onwards.

I did my best to ignore all the chatter and picked a side that showed two changes from midweek. Lazio’s on-loan Danish left-back Reza Durmisi came in for his first start in place of Borna Barisic whilst Glen Kamara returned to give the midfield a little more attacking edge in place of Mattias Kranevitter. Ryan Jack was fit enough to return to the bench after a spell out through injury whilst Troy Parrott missed out through food poisoning. Zak Rudden enjoyed his first call up to the first-team squad and was named on the bench.

The performance against Hoffenheim had set my relationship with the fans back a bit, I needed to get them onside as soon as I possibly could. Clearly, the best way to manage that was to get the three points here and then mastermind a heroic against-the-odds fightback in Germany. I had to take that one step at a time, starting with getting a performance at Pittodrie. We hadn’t dwelt too much on the midweek performance during training, instead looking ahead to ways in which we could beat the Dons on their own patch, something I’d yet to experience.

We started as if we were suffering a bit of a hangover from Thursday evening. Durmisi picked up a second minute caution and the hosts looked rather fresher than we did, showing boundless enthusiasm and peppering the goal with shots. Niall McGinn, a quarter of an hour in, went closest when he cut inside James Tavernier onto his right foot and curled one from distance towards the far post. Had it gone in, it would have been an unbelievable strike, as it was Robby McCrorie was alert to it and at full stretch produced a fine save.

Shortly afterwards, a long ball forward saw Alan Forrest getting in behind the back-four yet the angle was against him, McCrorie blocked the initial effort and when the rebound fell to Sam Cosgrove, who’d scored a hat-trick against me last time we met, Nikola Katic was on hand to make a smart block and then clear the danger.

It took us until about the midway point of the first half to blow away the cobwebs and begin to impose ourselves on the game. A throw-in from James Tavernier saw him receive the ball back from Arfield and then knock it infield to Joe Aribo. The midfielder shifted it forward to Arfield who had now found a pocket of space to run into. He turned, moved 10 yards infield before chipping a delightful ball into the gap between the centre-half and right-back. On it in an instant was Ryan Kent and after taking a touch to gather the ball into his stride, he slipped it beyond Joe Lewis with the outside of his right foot and into the bottom corner of the net to open the scoring.

There we were. That’s what I had been looking for.

Less than 90 seconds later, a Brewster cross was headed clear as far as Aribo. The midfielder exchanged passes with Durmisi to his left before sliding it into the box for Alfie Morelos. The Colombian’s strike was repelled but it fell perfectly for Kent who, with the minimum of backlift, drilled the ball high and hard into the roof of Lewis’ net leaving the goalkeeper with absolutely no chance.

After more than 20 minutes of dire struggle, within six minutes we were 2-0 ahead. The benefit of having that level of quality up front in comparison to what I had available at Hearts – and indeed, Aberdeen - was there for all to see.

It should have been three at the break, Arfield won possession just inside the Aberdeen half and he released Brewster. The youngster was clear, but with a defender coming across to cover him, he slipped the ball to his left for Morelos. The striker, on the edge of the area took his strike early, with Lewis still setting himself, but he drilled it no more than 6-inches wide of the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

A third goal then would surely have clinched the three points, as it was we were very much odds on favourites at the interval.

HALF-TIME: Aberdeen 0-2 Glasgow Rangers

At the break I praised the boys’ resilience, the way in which they’d weathered the early storm, continued to work hard and slowly gotten themselves not only a foothold in the game, but got to the point where they were fully on top.

“That’s the difference at this level, boys” I began enthusiastically, “taking your chances when you’re beginning to get on top. That’s what Aberdeen didn’t do, that’s what we didn’t do against the best sides at Hearts. You’ve got that quality here at this level to make pressure count and score goals. They’ll be wanting an early goal back in the second period, you’ll probably have to defend again. That’s fine, we can’t be attacking for the full-90. Just remain compact out of possession, well organised and make it hard for them.”

A promising attack down the Aberdeen left-flank broke down thanks to a Connor Goldson intervention and he fired the ball down the line for Brewster. A neat turn and spark of pace saw him outpace his marker and then send a delicious cross in for Morelos. The striker had the option of taking the ball down and shooting on the edge of the box, instead he elected to volley first time and whilst Lewis was completely beaten, the ball fizzed just over the top and thumped into the stanchion behind the goal.

After that, Aberdeen had the spell of being on top that I’d talked about at the break and Cosgrove, twice, went very close. Firstly, he latched onto a lazy backpass from Katic only to be denied by an outstanding recovery tackle from the same player and then his second effort did see the striker get a shot away at goal but Robby McCrorie made a fine save before Durmisi completed the clearance.

As they ramped up the pressure, looking for a way back into the match, Dean Campbell seized on a loose ball outside the penalty area and unleashed a sizzling strike from 25-yards that flew beyond the post and into the advertising hoardings at the front of the stand, McCrorie wouldn’t have had a prayer if the effort had been on target.

They found their way in with 20 minutes remaining, a long-ball forward from Mikkel Kirkeskov was headed away by Filip Helander, however the header fell for Scott Wright in the space vacated by Ross McCrorie, who was caught upfield. Wright immediately put his head down and ran directly towards the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable drive from 18-yards that beat Rob McCrorie all ends up, thundering into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

That set up a barnstorming final 20 minutes, full of high-octane running, blood and thunder tackles, enormous levels of passion flowing down from the stands and yet, precious little goalmouth action. Even so, it was thoroughly entertaining to watch and enjoyable to be part of.

With four minutes remaining, as we chased the third goal, possession was lost and a ball played in behind Reza Durmisi for James Wilson to run onto. Although he had Cosgrove in support, the route for the simple square ball was cut-off. The on-loan Manchester United man had to go himself and shot, low, left-footed. Thankfully, Robby McCrorie showed lightning quick reactions to get down to his left and make a smart block before the ball was hacked clear.

Then, from the throw-in, the ball was delivered into the penalty area from the left by Kirkeskov. It was headed away by Helander but fell for Lewis Ferguson to powerfully head goalwards from a long way out, yet with McCrorie at full stretch and nowhere near the ball, it thankfully flew just over the top of the net and behind for a goal kick.

In the fourth minute of added time, and with us resorting to running down the clock at every opportunity, a ball into the penalty area from Aribo really should have been cut out by one of two red-shirted defenders or claimed by Lewis. Neither happened so Jordan Jones, on as a sub for Ryan Kent, nipped in and from an improbably acute angle slid the ball home at Lewis’ near post.

3-1, points clinched and, in truth, a flattering score-line. I felt a point apiece wouldn’t have been unjust and said so to Derek McInnes at the end. His shrug was rueful. “You took yer chances, we didn’t, simple as that.” And it was.

FULL-TIME: Aberdeen 1-3 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier (Ross.McCrorie), Goldson (Helander), Katic, Durmisi, Kamara, Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Jones), Brewster, Morelos

[he_2]

Table as at 9^th August 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	2	2	0	0	11	1	6	10
Glasgow Rangers	2	2	0	0	6	1	6	5
St Mirren	2	1	1	0	4	2	4	2
Kilmarnock	2	1	1	0	2	1	4	1
Motherwell	2	1	0	1	3	2	3	1
Aberdeen	2	1	0	1	2	3	3	-1
Dundee United	2	1	0	1	3	5	3	-2
Heart of Midlothian	2	1	0	1	3	5	3	-2
Livingston	2	0	1	1	3	4	1	-1
Invernes Caledonian Thistle	2	0	1	1	2	3	1	-1
St Johnstone	2	0	0	2	2	6	0	-4
Hibernian	2	0	0	2	0	8	0	-8

 

Friday 7^th August

Inverness

1

2

Dundee Utd

 

Saturday 8^th August

Celtic	7	0	Hibs
Heats	3	2	Livingston
Motherwell	0	1	Kilmarnock
St Mirren	3	1	St Johnstone

 

Sunday 9^th August

Aberdeen

1

3

Rangers

[he_2]

“Boss, sorry to disturb you, can I have a word please?” We were on the flight to Germany for our second leg match against Hoffenheim and were in the skies somewhere over the North Sea when I was aware of a towering figure casting a shadow over me. I looked up and saw Nikola Katic, phone in hand and, unusually for a footballer, without any headphones in sight.

“Sure thing, Kats,” I said, shifting over to take the window seat. “Take a seat.” The giant Bosnian took his seat next to me, stretching his long legs into the aisle. “What can I do for you?” The centre-half, who was a rarity in football in so far as he’d won an international cap for Croatia before committing to his home nation afterwards and had won his first Bosnian cap the previous November.

“Well,” the heavily accented and surprisingly light voice began. “I wanted to talk about my future. You see, boss, I think I want to move to a new team, abroad.” The words took me aback somewhat. He’d enjoyed an excellent start to the season, not only as an ever-present but also aside from the occasional slip in concentration, looked to be building a formidable partnership with Connor Goldson alongside him.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “What’s brought this on, and why now?” I knew by now how this kind of thing worked, I’d been through it with Aaron Hickey at Hearts. His agent would have been having conversations, perhaps whilst negotiating and just mentioning that amongst his clients he represented an international and at a top club in their nation, but not amongst the elite leagues planting a seed and see if it germinated.

“I think I am now 24 and I love Rangers but also I want to try and test myself in a club that is in a league that has more competition,” he said. “I think I can be at a bigger league and do well. If I can do that, I can improve my chances in the national team.”

I looked at him. “You’re part of the national team, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes, but I sometimes on the bench, sometimes I start. I want be key man for Bosnia and I think this I can not do unless I play in more competition league.”

I could understand his concerns, they made a lot of sense and I was never going to be one to hold a player back if they really wanted to leave and if the move made sense for both parties, ourselves and the player. That was contingent on a few things, firstly making sure the money was right, secondly that I had enough cover in the position (in this case centre-half) and thirdly that I felt the player was making a step up. If, for example, Everton were to come in with an acceptable bid then I’d be happier to let him go there than, say, Salzburg in Austria where they were pretty well completely dominant.

“Do you think regular European football would help?” I asked.

Katic thought for a moment. “Perhaps,” he replied. “I think only group stage football.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “that’s what I was thinking as well.” I paused for a moment, thinking. “Listen, I understand your concerns. We’re not out of this European tie yet, I think we can turn it around and progress. If you can wait and see how we go tomorrow evening, then we can pick things up at the weekend and work out the best way forward for you and the club.”

“If we lose, you will agree to sell me?”

“If we get an offer that’s right for us, and that I feel is right for you, then we’ll give it consideration.”

“Thank you boss, that is fine for me.” Katic replied.

“You’re going to be starting tomorrow, Kats, I expect you to give everything for the cause.”

He made a face, putting his hands over his heart. “Boss, of course, I never give less than everything.”

“Good,” I said. “That’ll help us forget this conversation ever happened.”

The defender’s face suddenly dropped. “Huh? But why?”

“We’re going to win aren’t we?!” I exclaimed.

Katic grinned broadly. “Haha, yes boss, we win and take on world.”

I immediately reached for my phone and dropped a text over to Ross Wilson, our Director of Football, explaining the conversation I’d just had and what I’d promised Katic.

Sound sensible?

Aye, disnae sound unreasonable.

Can you think about what we should be thinking of asking if the worst happens?

We have him valued at 11m right now.

£11million? How long is left on his deal?

It expires June 22

And cover? We have Helander and Edmundson

Aye, not much in the age groups. Plus neither is a ball player like Nikki

I like a ball player at the back.

Any ideas?

If he goes a couple of options spring to mind

Affordable?

Aye, one of them would be within our budget for sure

Oh? Name?

Someone you know well

???

John Souttar…

[he_2]

Thursday 13^th August 2020: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim v Glasgow Rangers (Europa Lge 3^rd Qual 2^nd Leg)

Venue: PreZero Arena

Att: 24,373

We saw absolutely nothing of Hoffenheim the place on our visit to Germany. The club was actually based in the nearby town of Sinsheim, only a 10 minute or so drive to the south-east from the village from which the club took its name and where the PreZero Arena was located. A fully modern multi-purpose stadium only 11 years old, it was an impressive facility very different from a ground steeped in history like Ibrox was, comparing the two was a bit like comparing apples and mutton.

Two changes, Ryan Jack returned to provide energy and industry in midfield alongside the slightly more prosaic talents of Joe Aribo whilst Borna Barisic returned from his weekend rest to take over from Reza Durmisi at left-back.

With only the one goal deficit to overturn, I had been urging the boys to really give everything, go with as high a tempo as possible, work as hard as they could. If it wasn’t to be enough then so be it, but I really didn’t want us to go down with a whimper.

There was real appetite for destruction about our start, the midfield went hunting in packs to win the ball back early, the two front men hustled and harried the Hoffenheim back-four in possession and it was through that level of intensity that Barisic picked up a loose ball just inside his own half and sent the ball for ward for Kent, who had come in off the left flank to find space. The winger turned, advanced and then chipped a lovely ball over the top for the onrushing Morelos to take into his stride with a neat first touch. Oliver Baumann came out, the Colombian skipped around him and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to square things up on aggregate.

The perfect start, I was absolutely delighted.

For the next seven or eight minutes we continued to buzz around with oodles of enthusiasm, the game plan seemed to be working! Then we were caught by a sucker punch just past the halfway point of the half. Firstly, Barisic and then Kent lost possession in the right-back area of the Hoffenheim half and Florian Grillitsch launched it down the line where Robert Skov was in space. He shifted the ball from right foot to left foot as Katic came across to cut his route down the line off and sent the ball instead in behind the Bosnian for Kramaric to run onto. Goldson came across but couldn’t get near the Croatian striker who from 12-yards out fired the ball wide of Robby McCrorie and into the bottom corner of the net to pull the hosts level on the night and put them back in front on aggregate.

We had it all to do again.

Three minutes after conceding, some lovely one-touch football involving Tavernier, Aribo and Morelos saw the latter send the ball left on the half-turn where Barisic as he always did, was barrelling forward on the overlap. Kent stepped over the ball which allowed the left-back onto it, also taking Grillitsch out of the equation. The Croatian full-back had worked himself an angle to get a shot away at goal, but Baumann had got his angles spot on and was able to make a good save at his near-post.

I was really delighted with the levels of belief the boys were showing though, it was much improved from seven days previously when they seemed to lack any belief whatsoever.

Ryan Jack typified things with an outstanding challenge in midfield, the ball ran to Brewster. He returned the favour for Jack and the ball was fed forward for Morelos. Again, he swung a beautiful pass out wide for Kent and suddenly we had 5-on-3 converging on the penalty area. He went down the outside, but the move appeared to have petered out when he tried to cross the ball into the 6-yard box on his weaker left foot. Incredibly, what looked like a routine claim for Baumann was anything but as the keeper spilled the ball. Brewster was on hand to steer the loose ball home from four or five yards out and ran off to celebrate with the fans behind the goal, scarcely able to believe his luck.

Nor could I, for the first time we were in the box seat.

For all of five minutes! Over-exuberance suddenly got the better of us, Ryan Jack joined Scott Arfield and Morelos in chasing down a back-pass and left a gap in behind him which was exploited when Kostas Stafylidis found himself in the space vacated by Jack. Connor Goldson was left in a quandary as to whether to go to the man or hang back and cover Kramaric, in the end he was caught between the devil and the deep blue ocean. The Greek midfielder slipped the ball through, the Croatian striker ran onto it and again made no mistake with a fine finish beyond McCrorie into the bottom corner of the net to once again give the hosts the advantage.

HALF-TIME: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2-2 Glasgow Rangers (3-2 on aggregate)

“You’ve done it twice already,” I urged at the break, “you can do it again. You can do it twice if you need to, you’ve just got to believe. They’re not bad going forward, but they can’t defend when you fellas in the final third are in that kind of mood. Jacko,” I turned to Ryan Jack, “you got caught out there for their second goal. Just hold your position a little more in front of the centre-halves, if we’re in possession, they by all means support, don’t go chasing lost causes – that’s what these boys are there for.” I pointed at Rhian and Alfie.

“Keep going boys, keep believing, keep working and if it turns out to be not enough then don’t let those behind that goal come away accusing you of not giving it absolutely everything you’ve got.”

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start after the break. Tavernier conceded a free kick wide on the left, perhaps 10 yards inside our half, so no great danger. The delivery by Skov was excellent though and Grillitsch won the header inside the box, nodding it towards goal. It was heading wide but there, totally unmarked, was Kramaric a yard from the by-line and nodding past McCrorie from the acutest of angles into the back of the net.

The arms of each and every Rangers man in and around the penalty area went up in appeal for offside, but the Assistant was already scooting up the touchline ready for the restart. We were to a man convinced that at least two men were offside when the ball was headed back across goal but with no VAR available for the qualifying rounds there was nothing we could do. The goal stood and we had to use any sense of injustice to fire us up and spur us on, back into the game. We’d scored twice already, we could do the same again.

Except that now with an aggregate lead of two clear goals, Hoffenheim could allow themselves to sit back and soak up the pressure, much as they’d done after going ahead at Ibrox. Once again, it made it very hard for us to get close to breaking them down.

With just over a quarter of an hour remaining, Barisic finally spotted space in behind the hosts’ back-three and released Brewster with a ball over the top. The young striker drew Baumann before slotting the ball beyond him and… agonisingly wide of the post. Had that gone in, we’d have been in for a grandstand finish. As it was, we had to continue to press and increasingly leave gaps at the back. Credit to the home team, they defended well and Baumann was outstanding behind them.

The game was out of our reach already when, in the fourth minute of stoppage time Steven Zuber was released down the left flank after Tavernier had been caught in possession upfield. The Swiss substitute tried to beat McCrorie at his near post, but the goalkeeper made a good save, the rebound though fell nicely for the wing-back and he coolly slotted it into the empty net to complete what looked like a comfortable win for the German side.

The boys were crestfallen at the end, but they’d been given a good ovation by the travelling faithful as they came off the pitch. I was content with their efforts even if disappointed by the result which I knew would redouble the focus on me. Nothing left for me to do but to focus fully on domestic pursuits instead.

On the plane back to Scotland, I called Nikola Katic forward for a quick chat.

“Okay, Kats, I’m not going to make you available for transfer, but if between now and the end of the transfer window we receive an offer for you that meets our valuation of you and if we feel that the move would be a step-up then we will not stand in your way.” I told him. “I don’t want to lose you, and I expect that if nothing is received that you continue to be as committed as you have been so far.”

“Thank you, boss. Of course, you have my word. I give best to Rangers but appreciate your understanding.”

Now it was just a case of waiting and seeing.

FULL-TIME: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 4-2 Glasgow Rangers (5-2 on aggregate)

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Barisic, Jack (Kamara), Aribo, Arfield (Jones), Kent, Brewster, Morelos

[he_2]

Sunday 16^th August 2020: Alloa Athletic v Glasgow Rangers (Scottish League Cup 2^nd Round)

Venue: The Indodrill Stadium

Att: 3,100

It felt like a lot longer than 13 months to the day (give or take 24-hours) since I’d opened my competitive managerial career at Tynecastle against the same side in the same competition when we made the short trip to Alloa to take on the Scottish Championship side in the 2^nd round of the League Cup. It was a competition I wanted to do well in, still being haunted somewhat by my early exit at the hands of Motherwell the previous season, and this felt like a good opportunity to make progress into the last-16.

I also took the opportunity to change things around a little, give minutes to some of those that hadn’t played much so far, give them a chance to impress and keep some of those that had been heavily used so far back for the visit to Livingston in the league the following week.

All of which saw first starts of the season for Ross McCrorie, Filip Helander, Greg Docherty, Jordan Rossiter, Jordan Jones and Troy Parrott, whilst Reze Durmisi also came as did Glen Kamara and Alan McGregor. Only Nikola Katic and Alfie Morelos remained from the starting XI that took the field in Germany in midweek. The change in personnel saw a change in shape as well, with Docherty, Rossiter and Kamara making an authentic 3-man midfield but with Kamara being given licence to push forward, Jordan Jones took on the ‘Kent’ role wide on the left.

In the 7^th minute, a free kick from the left flank was delivered into the box by Durmisi and met by the head of Katic no more than 8 yards out, even for the giant Bosnian defender though, the ball in was a shade too high and the header was unable to be directed underneath the crossbar.

Five minutes later, Glen Kamara returned the ball to Ross McCrorie, in an unfamiliar attacking right-back role, and although his cross was headed away, it fell for Docherty. The former Shrewsbury man burst into the penalty area and it looked as though he’d badly scuffed his shot, somehow Troy Parrott got onto it but fired his effort just over the top.

That chance aside, which to be honest had begun from a throw-in, we really struggled to create much in open play, our best opportunities in the first half were being created from set pieces. Another Durmisi free-kick, this time delivered to the far post was headed over from an acute angle by Helander before another delivery from the left-back eventually fell for Jones, but his effort was straight at Neil Parry in the Alloa goal.

HALF-TIME: Alloa Athletic 0-0 Glasgow Rangers

I was really unhappy at the break. “This simply isn’t good enough, boys.” I said. “They’re working hard and they’re defending well, but jeez, we are so ponderous in possession it’s like watching Formula 1. Just meaningless, tedious possession. Let’s start dictating, let’s start making them run, don’t let them just sit in two banks of four, start moving them around. I want much better. Get it done.”

My words had absolutely no impact, I might as well have been talking Portuguese. With a dozen minutes of the second half gone, I made a couple of changes, withdrawing Katic (who deserved a rest) and Durmisi, who had worked really hard, bringing on Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic. It was the latter who created the first clear opening of the second half, predictably from a free-kick delivered from the left, met by Goldson at the far post, but the other substitute was stretching and could only find the side netting with his header.

There was still no great improvement in our performance, Morelos came off and Brewster replaced him with the instructions to ‘at least run around and try and make something happen, for heaven’s sake!’ ringing in his ears.

With fifteen minutes remaining, a free kick crossed the halfway line for Yannick Loemba to come infield, he laid it off to Steven Hetherington and he chipped a lovely ball in between Helander and Goldson for Kevin Cawley to run onto. The former Celtic man wasted no time in drilling the ball low beyond McGregor into the bottom corner sending the place into absolute raptures. I stood there, hands thrust deep in my trouser pockets, staring at the ball in the back of the net, players in blue shirts turning on eachother in recrimination. It was then, and only then, that I noticed dismay spreading amongst the home side, the flag was up, Cawley had been caught offside.

Jeez, if we’d felt hard done by in Germany, we’d properly got away with one here!

Even that didn’t spark us into action, the final quarter of an hour equally as soporific as what had gone before.

FULL-TIME: Alloa Athletic 0-0 Glasgow Rangers

I gathered my team in the penalty area just in front of where our fans were congregated and sat them down.

“Right, perhaps if you f-ers aren’t going to listen to me then you’ll listen to them!” I pointed at the 500 or so supporters in blue. “Because each and every one of them would love to be where you are now, giving everything for the cause.” I turned around to the supporters and approached them “Eh, what do you lot think about what you’ve seen?” I shouted. My words were met with a tumult of abuse. Boos, jeers, any number of swear words and threats. Some directed at me personally, some at the gaggle of players behind me. I turned around. “You hear that? That’s what they think of us. You, me, each and every one of us individually and collectively. If we’d played well and not scored, that’s one thing, but we haven’t. We’ve been lazy from back to front. You have half an hour to sort it out. Show what you’re capable of. Not for me benefit, but for those folk there,” I pointed behind me again, “they’re who you’re doing this for.”

Finally, we created something semi-worthwhile out of open play when Scott Cuthbert’s headed clearance fell for Glen Kamara and his header into the path of Docherty invited the midfielder to attack the penalty area and even if his shot was straight at Parry, at least it was something.

That was in the second minute of the additional half-hour. Less than a minute later Docherty exchanged passes with Kamara who turning, sent a beauty of a pass beyond Jordan Jones where Barisic was steaming up on the overlap. As the ball dropped, the substitute didn’t break stride as he fired a venomous volley across Parry and into the corner of the net to finally break the deadlock. The first piece of genuine invention all afternoon and it had been rewarded by the first goal.

Or first legal goal, anyway.

From the restart, a long-ball forward caught out Ross McCrorie and suddenly Kevin O’Hara was clean through. McGregor got his angles spot on and made a decent save low down, pushing the ball behind for a corner. No sooner was he back on his feet and he was absolutely bawling out those in front of them, and rightly so.

A couple of minutes before the half-way point of extra time, Parrott received a throw-in from Barisic, turned his man and skipped into the penalty area. The angle was rather against the teenage on-loan striker from Spurs and his effort fizzed into the side netting.

ET HALF-TIME: Alloa Athletic 0-1 Glasgow Rangers

At the turnaround as the boys were taking on fluids, I was back on at them. We’d been marginally better in that first period but were still riding our luck. I needed more. Much more. Again.

In a complete carbon copy of what happened just after we scored, from the restart a simple long ball forward saw us absolutely sliced apart and Jamie Gullan couldn’t believe his luck as he raced in on goal with no Rangers defender in the same postcode. Thankfully, for us at least, McGregor used his experience to stand up and make a fine save.

Once again, scorn flew from the Rangers faithful on the terraces.

Four minutes later, a ball into the box from deep by Barisic was met by the head of Brewster, but he was unable to keep his effort down.

We moved into the final ten minutes and it looked as though at best, we were going to fluke our way to a 1-0 win before Jones headed clear an Alloa corner and suddenly Parrott had the chance to lead a counter attack, gathering the loose ball, opening his legs and powering over halfway, onwards, deep into Alloa territory until he reached the edge of the penalty area and slipped in Brewster, who had motored up in support. From 8-yards out, Brewster fired emphatically beyond Parry in the Alloa goal and as much as in relief as anything else, went to celebrate with the Rangers support behind the goal.

You could almost see the Alloa players wither on the spot at that sucker punch.

Five minutes later, another Barisic free kick into the box was met by a Rangers head, this time by Helander and he looped his header narrowly over the top.

From the goal kick, Brewster won the ball, he took a touch and then sent the ball into space for Kamara to run onto. As the Finnish midfielder was about to gather the ball in his stride he was completely taken out by two-footed by Tyler Adamson. It wasn’t a clever challenge and the red card was inevitable.

The free kick, from fully 35-yards out, was taken by Barisic and he chose to go for goal. Left footed he caught the ball perfectly and it singed its way beyond Parry into the top corner of the net to make it 3-0. A goal quite out of keeping of the rest of the performance and one that gave the scoreline a sheen that was so far beyond flattering as to be nothing short of embarrassing.

“I feel for Peter Grant and Alloa today,” I said after the game in the press conference. “They were magnificent, I thought their goal should have stood and they should have beaten us.”

“And your performance?”

“Nothing short of a shambles,” I responded before getting up and leaving.

Shambles didn’t even begin to cover it.

ET FULL-TIME: Alloa Athletic 0-3 Glasgow Rangers

Team: McGregor, Ross.McCrorie, Helander, Katic (Goldson), Durmisi (Barisic), Rossiter, Kamara, Docherty, Jones, Parrott, Morelos (Brewster)

[he_2]

Sunday 23^rd August 2020: Livingston v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Tony Macaroni Arena

Att: 8,176

Managerial Record v Livingston: P 3 W 3 D 0 L 0 F 10 A 2

I really wanted significantly better from our visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena than we’d served up the week before at Alloa. I had quietly seethed for a couple of days after that performance, upped the intensity of training and made it abundantly clear that I wouldn’t stand for a repeat. I didn’t know if it was complacency or a lack of match sharpness that had contributed to our lazy showing, but I was going to be damned if the travelling fans were going to be treated to seeing that again.

Livingston were keen to kick off their home campaign in style after a point at Kilmarnock and narrow defeat at Tynecastle. They’d appointed Gordon Strachan as manager in the summer after caretaker boss David Martindale had led Livi to safety after the sacking of Gary Holt. 11 points from 6 matches had seen them survive and chairman Robert Wilson had made a real statement of intent in appointing the former Celtic, Southampton and Scotland boss. There was a real feeling of optimism around the place when we arrived that hadn’t been there the year before. I wanted us to puncture that balloon.

The side reverted to a much more familiar look, only Ross McCrorie retaining his place, deputising for the injured James Tavernier would likely have missed out if everyone else was fit. Outside of the eighteen-man squad that I’d named, Eros Grezda had been given leave to fly out to France and discuss personal terms with Toulouse ahead of a deal that would end up slightly less than £1million in transfer fees. I felt a little overloaded in the wide attacking places and although he’d done well for me in his couple of substitute appearances, I felt it was best for both parties if he moved on.

We kicked off with showing far more appetite than we had in the match at Alloa, although Livingston were very well organised. Fifteen minutes in, Morelos twice got in down the inside-right channel to send balls into the danger area. The first was well defended and the second picked out Brewster whose effort at goal was superbly blocked by a defender.

A couple of minutes later Ryan Jack neatly intercepted a ball on the edge of our box to set us moving forward swiftly. Katic sent the ball forward for Morelos whose first touch took him away from a defender and second sent Ryan Kent scampering through. He cut inside the defender onto his right foot inside the penalty area and fired a shot at goal. Ross Stewart dived to his left and made a superb save, pushing the ball well wide of the post for a corner kick.

As the half approached its midway point, Kent picked the ball up deep from a Barisic throw-in. He turned, then a shuffle of the hips saw him beat his marker, feinting to go outside but switching back infield and then accelerating towards the penalty area. He then slipped the neatest of balls in between the centre-halves for Morelos to run onto, the Colombian striker needed no second invitation to simply fire first-time powerfully past Stewart and into the corner of the net to open the scoring in fine style.

Four minutes later we switched off a little and conceded a little space in midfield. That allowed Scott Pittman to weave a lovely ball through for Steven Lawless in behind Ross McCrorie. Lawless did everything right, but thankfully for us, Robby McCrorie got his brother out of jail with a good save to his right, turning the ball behind.

Immediately we showed the fine lines involved between success and being the nearly-men in football. Katic cleared the corner emphatically and Kent won the duel with Sidnei Tavares just inside our half, taking the ball down on his instep, skipping over the challenge and then racing forward over halfway cutting infield towards the heart of the penalty area before slipping the ball sideways for Morelos. The striker stopped for a moment, foot on the ball, waited for Scott Arfield to overlap him, played the former Burnley man in with a lovely little pass and the finish was perfectly measured beyond Stewart, opening his account for the season. Another well worked goal and within a minute of almost being pegged back to 1-1 we had doubled our lead.

The cruelty of football.

A couple of minutes before the break we went mighty close to finishing the game as a contest, neat build-up down the left saw Aribo play Barisic in on the overlap. He feinted to cross it into the box, but instead cut it back for Kent. The winger cut inside again, onto his right foot before striking an angled drive that beat Stewart all ends up but ended up going just the wrong side of the post.

HALF-TIME: Livingston 0-2 Glasgow Rangers

I was infinitely happier with things at the break, this had been arguably our most assertive performance so far, one where we looked almost fully in control of the game, yet with another gear to go into if we needed it. There really wasn’t much for me to say aside from preaching watchfulness and to make the most of our opportunities going forward. If we did that, it was hard to see a way back for the hosts.

They nearly found one five minutes after the restart in bizarre circumstances when Katic looked to clear a ball into the box yet drilled it against Khanya Leshabela’s back. The ball rebounded back at quite a pace but again Robby McCrorie was alert and made a smart reaction save, throwing out an arm and pushing the ball away.

Aside from that, we exerted our control on proceedings again and in the 65^th minute Ross McCrorie fed Arfield and he chipped a ball forward into the edge of the penalty area. Kent tried to get up and challenge for the ball but was beaten by Devlin. The Livi man had been adjudged to have been using my man as a pogo stick though illegally and the referee pointed to the spot. It felt at first glance like one of those decisions you get disproportionately if you’re a top side and never get if you’re a side that’s more akin to struggling. Nothing I’ve seen since has dissuaded me of that.

Borna Barisic stepped up from the spot and in his best Stuart Pearce style wellied it down the middle as hard as he could to take him back clear of Morelos and Rhian Brewster at the top of the goalscoring charts with 5.

That truly was the three points sealed.

I really don’t want to sound patronising, it’s not meant to in any way, but Livingston really deserved a lot of credit for the way they kept plugging away and trying to entertain. With 20 minutes remaining some good build up saw Pittman played in again, his first touch to beat Katic was outstanding but once again Rob McCrorie was equal to the effort and made another good save to preserve his clean sheet.

With 7 minutes remaining he got another work-out making a good, if slightly unorthodox save from Lyndon Dykes after a long free kick from Pittman beat our defensive line before Goldson headed the ensuing corner clear.

As the game entered stoppage time, a lazy ball forward from Goldson after a short goal-kick only found Pittman, his ball forward into Scott Robinson saw the Livi sub in plenty of space, our back four in gentle disarray. His low shot finally beat McCrorie but not the base of the post. As the ball rebounded back for what looked like a tap-in for Dykes, Goldson appeared from nowhere to intercept and thump the ball clear.

We’d taken our foot off the gas after the third goal and even though Livi had created a number of openings, I was still perfectly happy with our performance. I’d much rather that happen at 3-0 up than 0-0 or 1-0.

Three points, a job well done and some really warm words from Gordon after the game. I spent a good hour or so talking to him in his office afterwards with a drink – I wasn’t going back to Glasgow afterwards, it seemed silly when I was so close to home – so I could indulge in a couple of glasses of decent wine and listen to someone who knew what it was to taste success in Scotland whilst keeping an eye on Celtic v Aberdeen on the telly.

The Bhoys won that one 2-0 to return to the top of the table, for me it was nice to head home feeling much more contented.

FULL-TIME: Livingston 0-3 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Ross.McCrorie, Godlson, Katic, Barisic (Durmisi), Jack (Kamara), Aribo, Arfield, Kent, Brewster (Parrott), Morelos

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 23^rd August 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	3	3	0	0	13	1	9	12
Glasgow Rangers	3	3	0	0	9	1	9	8
Motherwell	3	2	0	1	7	5	6	2
Heart of Midlothian	3	2	0	1	6	5	6	1
St Mirren	3	1	2	0	5	3	5	2
Kilmarnock	3	1	2	0	3	2	5	1
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3	1	1	1	4	4	4	0
Dundee United	3	1	0	2	6	9	3	-3
Aberdeen	3	1	0	2	2	5	3	-3
Livingston	3	0	1	2	3	6	1	-3
St Johnstone	3	0	0	3	2	9	0	-7
Hibernian	3	0	0	3	1	10	0	-9

 

Friday 21^st August

Kilmarnock

1

1

St Mirren

 

Saturday 22^nd August

Dundee Utd	3	4	Motherwell
Hibs	1	2	Inverness
St Johnstone	0	3	Hearts

 

Sunday 23^rd August

Livingston	0	3	Rangers
Celtic	2	0	Aberdeen

[he_2]

Saturday 29^th August 2020: Glasgow Rangers v St Johnstone (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 48,864

Managerial Record v Livingston: P 3 W 2 D 1 L 0 F 8 A 4

We returned to Ibrox after a 3½ week absence to take on a St Johnstone side that had yet to win so much as a point so far in the season. In the run-up to the game there was frenzied speculation regarding the future of Nikola Katic with ‘sides from the continent’s biggest leagues poised to swoop’ before the window ‘slammed shut’ on August 31^st. To be fair to Kats, he’d kept me up to date with conversations he’d had with his agent. He was expecting something to materialise but so far nothing had come into the club officially. That said, my side of the bargain remained if anything did come in in the final 48-hours or so.

I’d had a conversation with him after training on Friday to check he was fully focused on the game ahead, he’d signalled he was and so would continue at centre-half alongside Connor Goldson. The two changes to the side saw James Tavernier pass a fitness test and return at right-back in place of Ross McCrorie, who missed out with a cold whilst Troy Parrott came in for his first start in place of Rhian Brewster alongside Alfie Morelos.

A tepid opening ten minutes or so suddenly sprang into life when Barisic was found by Morelos on the right hand side, he switched back onto his left foot and curled the ball over to the far post where Ryan Kent arrived on cue to seamlessly guide the ball between Elliott Parish and the post to open the scoring and get us underway in the best way possible.

The Saints’ set-up seemed to be focused on damage limitation, although set on paper in a 4-3-3 formation, two of the central midfielders were sitting very deep shielding the back four whilst the two wide men were tucked in very narrow making it very hard to play through them. When we did get wide, they were so well organised with effectively a six-man defence that we were outnumbered in the penalty area and they dealt with out threat well.

In an attempt to try and stretch things I took off James Tavernier midway through the first half, he wasn’t looking himself at all, and brought on Brandon Barker to replace him and asking him to play a more advanced role down the right flank and leave just the three men, Goldson, Katic and Barisic in defence. When Barisic flew forward as he continued to do, that often left us with just two men at the back, although Ryan Jack would often just sit in to shield a little, but even with that slightly risky strategy we were in total control of the ball, we just needed patience to warrant the second goal.

That paid off just past the half-hour mark when we broke quickly from a Saints free-kick in their attacking half. The ball fell for Katic who knocked it inside for Barisic and the left-back sent a lovely ball down the left flank for Ryan Kent to get in behind. The winger made straight for the penalty area with acres to run into and then with the outside of his right foot nonchalantly slipped the ball past Parish and into the bottom corner of the net for his 5^th of the season, drawing him level with the man who assisted him at the top of the goal charts.

Three minutes later, a Barisic free-kick towards the far post saw Parrott bounced out of the way illegally by Jason Kerr. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. With Kent on a hat-trick, usual penalty taker Barisic handed the ball to the winger giving him the chance not only to complete his treble, but also go ahead of the left-back in the goalscoring charts.

Kent stepped up right-footed and although his effort wasn’t badly directed, Parish dived to his left and at full-stretch made a superb save pushing the ball firmly away from danger. Kent couldn’t believe it but I swear I saw a hint of a smile cross Barisic’s face which led to me to surmise that he was a genius at the art of reverse psychology.

Thankfully at 2-0 up and with the Saints still showing now compunction to open up and get back into the game at all, I was able to laugh the failure off a little. Had we been at 2-2 my reaction would have been somewhat less charitable.

Kent was the main danger man and showed few ill-effects of the spot kick miss when he was sent clear again down the inside-left channel, again he looked to slot the ball across Parish and into the far bottom corner, this time opening his body Thierry Henry-style but couldn’t quite get the required bend on his effort and it ended up going just the wrong side of the post.

Now we were looking irrepressible, a Barisic corner kick was delivered to the far post where Troy Parrott rose highest. He couldn’t quite get over his header though and the ball ended up over the crossbar, marginally. I really hoped the coming of the half-time interval would interrupt our mojo too much.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 2-0 St Johnstone

“Hey, this has been great, lads,” I said as I bounced around the dressing room. “You’re beginning to really bully them, they’re on the ropes, they wanted the ref to intervene, call it off. Half-time’s come at a good time for them, just go out there after the break and give it more of the same. There’s more goals out there for you, remain patient, move the ball around and enjoy yourselves.”

Ten minutes after the restart the game was truly put to bed. The source of the goal was predictable – Borna Barisic and his wand of a left-foot delivered a perfect corner kick into the heart of the danger area where Alfie Morelos rose highest to head unchallenged high off the underside of the cross bar and into the back of the net beyond Parish to make it 3-0 and also join his assister and Kent on 5 goals for the season.

Then as we had at Livingston the week before, with a three-goal advantage we took our foot off the gas, continued to dictate and dominate the game entirely, but without the level of urgency we’d shown in the hour or so before. That was fine by me, many of the boys were heading off on international duty and wanted to make sure they arrived as fresh as they could, not risk any unnecessary and silly injuries.

In stoppage time, Joe Aribo very nearly made it 4 when he dispossessed Kerr on the edge of the penalty area and then fired a lethal daisy cutter inches wide of the post from 20-yards out with Parish beaten. That would have been the icing on the cake. But, it was sweet enough without the garnish a fourth goal would have provided and we were able to celebrate another job very well done, leap-frogging Celtic in the process and heading to the summit of the table for the first time in my managerial career – albeit potentially only for 24-hours.

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 3-0 St Johnstone

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier (Barker), Goldson, Katic, Barisic (Durmisi), Jack, Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Jones), Parrott, Morelos

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 30^th August 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	4	4	0	0	16	2	12	14
Glasgow Rangers	4	4	0	0	12	1	12	11
Motherwell	4	3	0	1	8	5	9	3
Heart of Midlothian	4	3	0	1	7	5	9	2
St Mirren	4	1	3	0	5	3	6	2
Kilmarnock	4	1	2	1	3	3	5	0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	4	1	1	2	5	7	4	-2
Livingston	4	1	1	2	4	6	4	-2
Dundee United	4	1	1	2	6	9	4	-3
Aberdeen	4	1	0	3	2	6	3	-4
St Johnstone	4	0	0	4	2	12	0	-10
Hibernian	4	0	0	4	1	11	0	-10

 

Friday 28^th August

Motherwell

1

0

Hibs

 

Saturday 29^th August

Aberdeen	0	1	Livingston
Hearts	1	0	Kilmarnock
Rangers	3	0	St Johnstone
St Mirren	0	0	Dundee Utd

 

Sunday 30^th August

Inverness

1

3

Celtic

[he_2]

The international break, which left me with a much smaller squad to work with than it ever did at Hearts, began in a slightly sad but unsurprising manner. The day after the win over St Johnstone I was locked in negotiations alongside Ross Wilson and Dave King with our counterparts at Sevilla over finding a deal for Nikola Katic.

We were initially looking for somewhere in the region of £15million for the defender whilst the La Liga’s side opening gambit was a shade under £10million. This led to a number of offers and counter-offers going to-an-fro across the continent’s phone lines and cyber-waves as we sought common ground. Nikola, meanwhile, had been granted leave from the Bosnian squad to try and complete any deal if the two clubs came to any arrangement and was waiting at Prestwick airport for the green light to fly out to Andalusia.

It took a good four or five hours before we managed to land on a deal that would see us bank a cool £13million from the deal and as soon as that was agreed, Nikola was airborne and on his way to Spain.

This was exactly the right kind of deal that would suit every party. Sevilla would be getting an excellent centre-half, Kats would be making a step-up and testing himself at a higher level as well as getting regular European football in the Europa League – a competition they’d got to the last-8 in the previous season before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Arsenal – as well as competing for domestic silverware in Spain (they’d lost 3-1 to Barca in the Copa del Rey Final as well). That could only boost his prospects at international level.

Meanwhile for us, the £13million would see around half be made available to reinvest in the squad, provide an opportunity for the patiently waiting Swedish international Filip Helander to partner Connor Goldson and offer 23-year old former Oldham Athletic defender George Edmundson the chance to step up. In addition, we would be heavily monitoring John Souttar’s situation. Although I knew that with his release clause I wouldn’t be able to afford him just yet, but I was happy to bide my time.

Instead, I was hopeful that the money could potentially help me onboard a young Croatian attacking midfielder in January, Lovro Majer. He was at Dinamo Zagreb having joined them from Lokomotiva Zagreb in 2018. He was highly rated, thought of as someone in the mould of Marcelo Brozovic, who I thought was a pretty unsung member of the Croatian midfield during the 2018 World Cup. Anyway, Majer had spent part of the previous season on-loan at Granada in La Liga and put in some impressive performances. Without a pot to relieve themselves in, however, the Spanish side had been unable to activate the option they had on the player so he returned to the Croatian capital.

Ross had heard good things about the player and was heading off to watch the Croatian Under-21 side take on Scotland at St Mirren in midweek before opening discussions with his club. He’d done a little bit of digging and thought that they’d probably be happy for us to take him on-loan in January with an option to buy in the summer and he didn’t think that he’d cost the earth.

On Monday 31^st August news reached me that Nikola had agreed terms with Sevilla and would have signed a 4-year deal before the end of the day. Usually I’d have rung Leah straight away to give her a head start but, since she had continued to show me absolutely no signs of wanting to talk, I left that. The squad was a hefty centre-half lighter but the transfer budget had swelled.

Since I had little else to do, on Thursday 3^rd September I accompanied Ross to Love Street and watched on as the young Scots put in a superb performance to overcome their Croatian counterparts 2-0. Our 20-year old wing-back Jordan Houston put in a steady performance at right wing-back, whilst in midfield Stephen Kelly, who was on-loan at Inverness Caley Thistle from us, alongside Chelsea’s young maestro Billy Gilmour, put in assured performances.

Of course, my eyes were mainly on Majer, who had been handed a role just behind the lone Croatian striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He impressed, he was able to find space, used the ball well, looked to get up in support of his centre-forward, wasn’t afraid to shoot and was always looking to create when on the ball. He played with his head up, something that was always the mark of a good footballer and to top it off, stroked the ball around with impunity left-footed. A purist’s wet dream.

After the game, we had a chat with Jordan and Kells and both spoke effusively about the Croatian number 10, so much so that the following day Ross and I set the recruitment team the task of monitoring him further and we’d look to make a move in January if that level of performance wasn’t simply a one-off.

[he_2]

Saturday 12^th September 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Dundee United (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 49,797

We returned to action with the club having a taken a little heat from the supporters over the sale of Nikola Katic so I’d had to try and work to assuage their fears in the lead-up to the home game with newly promoted Dundee United. “We have a plan in place,” I said during the press conference. “Of course we hate to see a player of Nikki’s quality leave the club, but he’d expressed a desire to move onto a new challenge and the deal is good for all parties. We believe in the quality of the boys we have to reach our targets and are actively pursuing options to further strengthen the squad.”

All of which meant there was one change to the side that I had to make, Filip Helander making the step-up to partner Connor Goldson at the back whilst George Edmundson filled the vacancy on the bench and Rhian Brewster returned in place of Troy Parrott who dropped to the bench. Ross McCrorie was also named amongst the substitutes, Glen Kamara the man to miss out.

Summer appeared to be very much over as the heavens poured forth their precipitately scorn in the form of a torrential rainstorm, our visitors for the day bringing with them a record of four points from their opening four matches in their first campaign back in the SPL after an absence of four years. Lots of fours, would that provide us with an omen?

In only the second minute Tavernier intercepted a ball down the Dundee United left-flank and came forward before giving the ball away to Jamie Robson. The full-back then tried to swing it back to Benjamin Siegrist in goal, but the pass was horrifically misjudged and all he succeeded in doing was playing in Brewster, who had begun to advance to close the goalkeeper down. The ball reached him on the edge of the box, one touch with his left foot to control and then he used his right foot to thrash the ball low beyond the stranded Siegrist and into the bottom corner of the net.

It was the young striker’s first ever league goal in his 27^th appearance and he sure left no-one in any doubt as to the level of delight he felt at finally breaking his duck. I felt pretty certain it wasn’t going to be his only league goal.

We settled into a nice rhythm, helped by that early goal, with Dundee United like St Johnstone had been before the international break, sitting back and looking to contain, even at a goal down. A couple of half chances came and went before the overlap provided down the left by Barisic once again paid handsome dividends in the 29^th minute.

Some neat build-up down the right saw Scott Arfield turn on a six-pence before switching the ball left. Barisic’s run, which let’s face it, was hardly a state secret at this point now, wasn’t tracked and as he got into the penalty area he unleashed a superb strike at goal. Siegrist did well to even get a hand to the effort but the power simply took his breath away and beat him, the ball ended up in the back of the net and Barisic had his 6^th of the season already from left-back as he doubled the lead.

Five minutes before the break, with us still in total control, the visitors did manage to fashion a decent effort at goal, Paul McMullan tucked in off his right-midfield position received the ball 30-yards from goal, made a couple of yards progress before fizzing an excellent low effort narrowly wide of McCrorie’s left-hand post. The goalkeeper probably had any effort on target covered, but he was right not to take and chances. Had it gone in, my interval team-talk would have taken on a different slant.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 2-0 Dundee United

I was delighted at the break and had to try and find a way not to sound like a broken record. Simply to ask the boys to keep it going. End of.

Start of the second half and a simple ball down the left flank very nearly did for us, Jamie Robson taking James Tavernier out of the equation and releasing Jonny Hayes. The winger, who has a turn of pace on him, outpaced our back four before shooting low across McCrorie, the goalkeeper making a fine save to his left before Barisic completed the clearance.

Normal service was resumed shortly afterwards when a Frimpong corner was headed clear by Filip Helander and Ryan Kent picked the loose ball up. He immediately set off over halfway, using his pace to get away from the Dundee United defence, skipping past one despairing tackle and getting into the penalty area. He could have gone himself but had Alfie Morelos up with him in support and so, with a cheeky Rabona found the Colombian unmarked and he slotted the ball home into the empty net to make it 3-0 and celebrated his 6^th goal of the season.

That was the points sealed, the question was whether we were going to let up or keep going.

In the 59^th minute a left-wing corner was headed clear and picked up by Connor Goldson. After some neat passing involving him, Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack, Goldson worked the ball back to Arfield and he unleashed a strike from just inside the D. It came through a ruck of bodies so Benjamin Siegrist did well to block, however the rebound fell and Brewster pounced first to drive the ball home past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

For the first time in the season, we’d broken the three-goal barrier, which was pleasing, and with more than half an hour to play, it felt like there could well be more on the cards.

That also took Brewster to half a dozen goals for the campaign, equal with Borna and Alfie, and with Ryan Kent just one behind on five, I was able to sit back on my seat in the dugout and quietly marvel at the amount of goalscoring potential I had in the side. It’d take a good side, I felt, to keep us quiet domestically this campaign.

After the fourth goal came the lull, understandably before our danger on the break was underlined again. Louis Appere was denied inside our penalty area by an excellent Goldson challenge, the ball then came out for Kent to bring the ball over half way and then play in Brandon Barker, who had literally just come on for Scott Arfield. The English winger went on the outside of Ian Harkes inside the penalty area and the Dundee United man lunged in. Barker stayed on his feet, didn’t go down, but the referee saw sufficient contact to point to the spot and award the penalty. Again, it felt like one of those decisions you get as a bigger club.

Barisic again deferred responsibility, this time allowing Brewster the opportunity to complete his hat-trick from the spot. The penalty was struck hard and true, destined for the bottom corner of the net but Siegrist guessed right and at full stretch produced a quite magnificent save at full stretch to turn the ball around the post. Brewster stood, hands in his head, gawping in amazement, it had been a magnificent save.

From the corner kick, Troy Parrott, who had replaced Morelos, got a good run on his marker and powerfully met the cross on the full, Siegrist was in the right place to hold onto the ball before trying to calm things down a little.

With three minutes of the 90 remaining, Hayes – who had been the visitors’ main threat, giving Tavernier a real test – drifted inside the full-back and got into the penalty area, but McCrorie got his angles correct and saved comfortably.

That was pretty well that, we held out and didn’t really force the issue any further. A comfortable and emphatic win kept us in-line with Celtic, who won 4-0 at St Mirren, with a 100% record and three goals behind them. There was only three weeks until the first Old Firm derby of the season at Ibrox, it felt like that was going to be the first time either side might be forced to blink. Still, there was plenty of football to be played between now and then.

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 4-0 Dundee United

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Jack, Aribo (Ross.McCrorie), Arfield (Barker), Kent, Brewster, Morelos (Parrott)

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 13^th September 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	5	5	0	0	20	2	15	18
Glasgow Rangers	5	5	0	0	16	1	15	15
Motherwell	5	4	0	1	10	6	12	4
Heart of Midlothian	5	4	0	1	8	5	12	3
Kilmarnock	5	2	2	1	6	4	8	2
St Mirren	5	1	3	1	5	7	6	-2
Aberdeen	5	2	0	3	4	6	6	-2
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	5	1	1	3	6	9	4	-3
Livingston	5	1	1	3	5	9	4	-4
Dundee United	5	1	1	3	6	13	4	-7
Hibernian	5	0	0	5	1	12	0	-11
St Johnstone	5	0	0	5	2	14	0	-12

 

Friday 11^th September

Aberdeen

2

0

St Johnstone

 

Saturday 12^th September

Livingston	1	3	Kilmarnock
Motherwell	2	1	Inverness
Rangers	4	0	Dundee Utd
St Mirren	0	4	Celtic

 

Sunday 13^th September

Hearts

1

0

Hibs

[he_2]

Sunday 20^th September 2020: Kilmarnock v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Rugby Park

Att: 13,440

Managerial Record v Kilmarnock: P 4 W 2 D 1 L 1 F 7 A 4

Were we a freight train? Were we a juggernaut? Of course not, we were a football team. Just one that found itself in a very sweet spot in terms of form. Since the showing in the League Cup at Alloa we’d put in three first class performances, generally good defensively but irrepressible going forward and, by and large, with the feeling that there was much more still in the locker to come.

Borna Barisic dropping out and being replaced by Reza Durmisi was the one change to the starting line-up, my rampaging Croatian left-back having tweaked his groin in training and not being deemed worth the risk. Instead I’d let my on-loan Danish left-back scoot up and down the left touchline in support of Ryan Kent and see where that got us.

We started well, in the 7^th minute a spell of crisp and precise passing saw the ball worked to Ryan Jack on the edge of the penalty area and after digging the ball out from under his feet, he fired a shot that beat the goalkeeper but crashed down off the crossbar, Stuart Findlay then just beat James Tavernier to the rebound and thumped it away from the danger zone.

Nine minutes later, Jack found himself played in down the inside left channel, the angle was against him as he tried to use his right-foot, though, and only found the side netting. He had three players to his right who were waiting for anything played across the face of goal, but he elected to go it alone and rather fluffed his lines.

In the 21^st minute, Durmisi, who had assumed dead-ball duties in Barisic’s absence, swung in a free-kick from the right-hand side. Antonio Santurro came to either collect or punch clear, completely misjudged the flight of the ball and got nowhere near it leaving Connor Goldson with the simplest of tasks to head the ball home from close range and open the scoring. Not a goal the Killie keeper would have wanted to look back on.

Three minutes later another Durmisi delivery from a dead ball, this time a left-wing corner to the far post was met by the head of Joe Aribo who, rather than going for goal, simply nodded the ball down for the arriving Ryan Jack to, at the third time of asking, hit the target and send the ball into the bottom corner of the net, leaving Santurro absolutely helpless this time. It was the former Aberdeen man’s first goal of the campaign.

Another four minutes later and a swift attack from our own goal-kick from back to front saw Tavernier come over halfway and allowed to cut infield before sending a sweet ball into the path of Ryan Kent. The winger’s first touch was beaten only by his second for sweetness, cushioning the ball on his instep before, as he’d already done a couple of times before during the season, steering the ball with the outside of his right-foot past the exposed Santurro and into the bottom corner of the net.

Three goals inside 7 minutes and one felt that the game was over as a contest. Kent joined three others on half a dozen goals for the season and yet the Ibrox faithful were baying for more goals.

On 31 minutes, another Durmisi free-kick delivery found the Kilmarnock defence at sixes and sevens and Santurro unsure whether he was coming or going. He did neither, Brewster rose highest yet somehow headed over the top from no more than 3-yards out when he should have the net ripple.

The hosts then began to recover from the hammer blow of conceding three, and nearly four, in such a short space of time. Dom Thomas found himself played in behind Durmisi by Bruno Pereirinha and got to the by-line, his cut-back found Leonardo Candellone inside the 6-yard box, however the winger fired his effort against the body of McCrorie. It fell for Thomas who this time cut the ball back for Abukar Mohamed and although the Finnish midfielder scored, the flag had already gone up against Thomas and the goal was disallowed.

HALF-TIME: Kilmarnock 0-3 Glasgow Rangers

Once again, the half-time message was extremely simple. The only thing that was going to see us come undone was our own sloppiness and complacency, if we could avoid that, we’d win the game. That was our biggest enemy, ourselves. So far the boys had been excellent on the whole attitude wise, I didn’t know how easy it would be to maintain that so I used the threat of losing their place in the side as the stick to keep them grounded and focused.

Ten minutes after the restart, another Durmisi free kick caused plenty of consternation in the Kilmarnock penalty area, Joe Aribo rose highest at the far post but headed disappointingly wide of the target.

Three minutes later, a patient move from the back saw the ball shifted from right to left and back again before Tavernier injected some pace into things down the right-hand side. He exchanged passes twice with Scott Arfield before the Canadian midfielder sent a cross towards the far post. It should have been dealt with by Pereirinha, but the Portuguese full-back got underneath the ball. Waiting, preying on the error was Ryan Kent who unleashed a searing left-footed strike from the corner of the 6-yard box across the helpless Santurro and into the corner of the net.

The hour mark came, the hour mark went, however it was not long left behind when George Edmundson, making his first league appearance of the season as a substitute for Filip Helander, sent a long ball forward for Kent to get in behind Pereirinha. The winger once again showed his pace getting into the penalty area before this time opening his body to caress the ball past Santurro and into the back of the net. The goalkeeper should have done an awful lot better than he did but Kent didn’t care in the slightest, running off to celebrate his first career hat-trick with his team-mates and us on the bench, and making it 8 goals in 10 matches for him so far.

5-0, our first domestic five-fer and then we hit cruise-control for the final half an hour of the game. We kept the ball nicely, not taking the mickey, but certainly exerting control and dominance. After the game I was absolutely delighted with the boys and promised a number of them some resting time in midweek when we were to take on Ross County in our League Cup quarter-final tie.

For now, we could bask in the reflection of another league job well done.

FULL-TIME: Kilmarnock 0-5 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander (Edmundson), Durmisi, Jack (Docherty), Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Barker), Brewster, Morelos

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 20^th September 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	6	6	0	0	23	2	18	21
Glasgow Rangers	6	6	0	0	21	1	18	20
Heart of Midlothian	6	4	1	1	10	7	13	3
Motherwell	6	4	0	2	10	9	12	1
Aberdeen	6	3	0	3	7	6	9	1
Kilmarnock	6	2	2	2	6	9	8	-3
St Mirren	6	1	4	1	6	8	7	-2
Dundee United	6	1	2	3	8	15	5	-7
Livingston	6	1	1	4	5	10	4	-5
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	6	1	1	4	6	12	4	-6
St Johnstone	6	1	0	5	3	14	3	-11
Hibernian	6	0	1	5	2	13	1	-11

 

Friday 18^th September

St Johnstone

1

0

Livingston

 

Saturday 19^th September

Dundee Utd	2	2	Hearts
Hibs	1	1	St Mirren
Inverness	0	3	Aberdeen

 

Sunday 20^th September

Kilmarnock	0	5	Rangers
Celitc	3	0	Motherwell

[he_2]

Tuesday 23^rd September 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Ross County (League Cup Quarter-Final)

Venue: Ibrox

Att: 29,287

Managerial Record v Ross County: P 3 W 3 D 0 L 0 F 6 A 2

The last eight of the club’s defence of the Scottish League Cup saw us paired with another Championship side, Ross County who had finished bottom of the pile in the SPL the season before. Despite the relegation, the club had kept faith with Stuart Kettlewell, which was heartening to see, and they’d breezed through their group in the opening stage, winning all four matches – including a 2-0 win over Dundee United – and then beaten Greenock Morton 4-2 in the last 16.

I chose to make eight changes to the starting line-up for the tie, bringing in fringe players once again, giving Steven Davis his first taste of action of the season and also giving a debut to young Nathan Young-Coombes, who had been at Chelsea and before that Crystal Palace before travelling north of the border as a 16-year old, now, as a 17-year old he made his debut just behind the front two in place of Scott Arfield. Others to come into the side were Alan McGregor, Ross McCrorie, George Edmundson, Greg Docherty, Jordan Jones and Troy Parrott.

We were playing in front of a ground that was disappointingly half-full, I’d asked if we could drop prices to encourage folk that perhaps weren’t able to often get to Ibrox but that idea was met with short shrift, so I had to make do.

We very nearly got off to a dream start, only 14 seconds were on the clock when Docherty drove through the heart of the pitch from midfield and tucked a lovely ball through for Troy Parrott to run onto. The teenage Irishman took his effort early and his strike looked destined for the bottom corner. Credit then to Ross Laidlaw who got down low to his left at full stretch and just managed to divert the ball wide of the post for a corner kick.

From the corner, delivered by Durmisi, Parrott won the header but the ball deflected off his marker’s shoulder and behind for another corner. This one was overhit and Parrott went to retrieve out to the left before passing it back to Filip Helander who was now on the edge of the penalty area. The Swedish defender returned the ball to Parrott who jinked inside one challenge before powering his effort goalwards. Laidlaw stood up well, put a strong arm into the air and pushed the ball over the top of the bar for a corner kick. 75 seconds on the clock and my on-loan Spurs striker had seen three decent opportunities for his first Rangers goal denied.

Into the fourth minute and Ross McCrorie from the right wing sent a cross into the box that was headed away by Marcus Fraser, as it fell Docherty appeared from nowhere and without breaking stride strike a fabulous volley from just inside the penalty area which, had it been on target would probably have burned a hole in the netting. Sadly, it flashed just inches wide of the post and into the stand behind the goal.

The breakthrough felt like it was inevitable and so it proved just two minutes later. Steven Davis swung the free kick over from the right hand side to the far post where Rhian Brewster had snuck around to stoop and divert his header just inside the post beyond Laidlaw to give us a well deserved lead, even so early into the game.

From the restart, we got a little sloppy, gave the ball away and allowed Aymen Souda time to pick the ball up, advance without anyone putting a challenge in and then from more than 25-yards unleashing a strike that beat the dive of McGregor but curled just wide of the post. Desperately unlucky for the Frenchman and a warning that we weren’t going to have everything our own way.

We regained the initiative in the 12^th minute when a ball forward found only Helander, he found Docherty who once again burst forward from midfield. He sent a lovely ball over the Ross County right-back into Jordan Jones who took the ball down before striking from a narrow angle. The ball beat Laidlaw but thudded back off the near-post and was cleared from danger.

Half a dozen minutes later and another Davis free kick caused carnage in the penalty area. Helander headed it back across goal where Edmundson was able to knock the ball down inside the six-yard box where again, Brewster reacted quickest to lunge in and force the ball over the line. 2-0, and it could have been five. This was much better than the Alloa debacle had been.

In the 28^th minute, yet again from a dead-ball situation, we created a clear-cut chance, this time it was Parrott at the far post who sent his header looping just over the top. The number of chances we were creating from set pieces was immense, almost every time we looked dangerous, sides were struggling to cope with us both in open play and from dead-balls.

Three minutes later, a break down the left by Jones saw him outpace his man and then get a cross in to the near post, Parrott met it on the volley, just trying to help it towards goal, however Laidlaw’s positioning was spot on and he made a good block before the ball was hooked clear.

The respite lasted only a minute as we showed our prowess from open play. The ball was won in midfield and then fed down the right-hand side for Brewster to open his legs and show his pace. His cross found its way to the edge of the penalty area where it was met first time on the volley, right-footed by Jones, striking the ball on the half-turn and flashing it beyond Laidlaw into the corner of the net.

We clearly decided that was enough before the break. 3-0 up – it should have been 5 and could have been 7.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 3-0 Ross County

The message was the same, keep going, stay focused and don’t get complacent. It had been largely followed over the previous few weeks and I had no reason to expect any different this time. “Make my job on Saturday really bloody difficult,” I said. “Give me a reason not to pick those fellas in the stand or warming up now.”

We began lazily. Too lazily by half and were made to pay. 19 seconds into the second half, those of us in blue shirts had barely moved, only Ross McCrorie, with a clearance touched the ball. It fell for Conor McGrandles who advanced 10 yards with the midfield nowhere and neither centre-half engaging him, so he tried his luck from fully 30-yards and saw his strike fly beyond McGregor and thunder into the top corner of the net. A quite brilliant goal and all of a sudden the visitors had their tails up whilst those in blue shirts were stood around looking at each-other. I was simmering away on the dugout and sent Macca out to gee the troops up.

Five minutes later and Lee Erwin picked up a loose ball outside the penalty area, waited for Blair Spittal on the overlap. The winger arrived on cue and sent a ball across to the far post. Bill Mckay had peeled off Edmundson’s shoulder and first time sent a brilliant volley back across goal and just inside the post beyond McGregor’s despairing dive.

All of a sudden it was 3-2 and make no mistake, we were rocking badly. I was up off the bench, absolutely furious, patrolling my technical area like a bad-tempered ibex. I sent out Goldson, Barisic, Morelos and Kent to warm up, hoping that the warning would buck the ideas up of those on the field of play.

Only three minutes later, in the 53^rd minute, a free kick from wide on the left taken by Josh Mullin beat everyone in a blue shirt on its way to the far post where McGrandles was on hand to steer the ball home inside McGregor’s post and bring the visitors level in sensational fashion. Less than 9 minutes it had taken for the visitors to draw level and I was getting totally out of my tree on the touchline.

Suddenly, I was tapped on the shoulder by McAllister as I was hurling words I shouldn’t have hurled at my players and saw the official cautioning Mckay.

“What the f- has happened?” I asked, incredulously.

“The kids gave Helander a shove, it’s not counted.” Macca replied.

“F-ing hell! That’s f-ing fortunate! What the f- is going on out there?”

I called over Goldson, Barisic and Kent and prepared them for action. I’d seen quite enough of the second half. For the second League Cup tie in a row, we’d been given a Get out of Jail Free card by the officials, Napoleon would have loved me!

Finally, with the changes made we began to exert a little control again. Greg Docherty once again broke forward and fired wide from distance, but that proved to be short lived as a break down the left saw a superb cross delivered into the box by Joe Chalmers where Mckay found himself in front of Goldson. He rose and directed his header well, McGregor was beaten but thankfully for us, the ball thudded off the crossbar and Goldson was able to smuggle the ball clear.

With a dozen minutes of the 90 remaining, a ball in from Brewster on the right flank was headed down by Kent and then met on the half-volley by Davis, he was unfortunate to me just leaning back slightly and his effort went over the top before play flowed to the other end, once again Ross McCrorie – who to be fair wasn’t a natural right-back, was once again caught out as the ball was worked across from the left hand side for McGrandles again, but this time his shot was narrowly wide of the post with McGregor once again beaten.

In the 87^th minute a ball forward caught out the hitherto much improved Ross County back-four and set Troy Parrott, who was carrying a knock, in on goal. Laidlaw came out to narrow the angle but Parrott’s effort from 22-yards beat him. Unfortunately for him, the ball struck the base of the post and rebounded out for Chalmers to clear and the wait for his first Rangers goal went on. Had he scored, it would have given the scoreline an unbelievably flattering look. From the corner to the far post he won the header again but Laidlaw was again in the right place to make the save.

In the final minute of the additional 5, Young-Coombes who had been steady, if unspectacular on his debut, struck the outside of the post from an acute angle before the ball was fed back into him and his effort was once again well saved by Laidlaw.

The final whistle went, I commiserated with Stuart Kettlewell, told him that his side deserved much better for the character and quality shown. Despite our late rally in the final five minutes or so, I was most unhappy once again with our overall performance. The second half had been abhorrent, something which was expressed to the boys in no uncertain terms.

We were into the last four of the competition where we’d meet St Johnstone, who had overcome Hibs on penalties, yet we had been very lucky indeed on our way to this stage of the competition. Lots of work to be done amongst those on the fringes of the first-team, God willing I wouldn’t have to contend with an injury crisis!

FULL-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 3-2 Ross County

Team: McGregor, Ross.McCrorie, Edmundson (Goldson), Helander, Durmisi (Barisic), Docherty, Davis, Young-Coombes, Jones (Kent), Brewster, Parrott

[he_2]

Sunday 27^th September 2020: Hibernian v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Easter Road

Attendance: 20,421

Managerial Record v Hibernian: P 5 W 2 D 2 L 1 F 9 A 5

Interestingly, or perhaps not, the same fixture was played on the same Sunday of 2019 with Rangers coming out on top by 3 goals to nil. With Celtic having won the day before, this was another must win ahead of the first Old Firm derby of the season due a week after this game. I wanted to be going into that tie neck and neck.

Since it was my Mum’s 50^th birthday, I’d invited her and the old man up for the weekend and gotten them tickets to the game. It was the first time they’d been to watch one of my matches and I’ll be honest, it added quite a nice touch to things. Not that Mum really gave a damn how we got on, she was much more interested about spending the morning wandering around Edinburgh, finding a few shops and having some lunch on the Royal Mile.

Before the game I spent a good 20-minutes or so chatting with Jack Ross, my opposite number. I really liked the guy, we’d gotten on really well when we were facing each-other over the Edinburgh divide and it was really difficult seeing him having such a hard time at Easter Road. Up until our last encounter the previous season which Hearts had won 4-1, we’d been pretty evenly matched. Of course, I wanted very much to put one over him on this occasion and then for Hibs to dig themselves out of the mire, he was definitely one of the good guys.

I’d reverted back to a far more familiar line-up after the midweek battle against Ross County in the cup but any hopes of a return to normality quickly were dashed, there seemed to be a little bit of a hangover even though only two starters had played in midweek.

A throw-in from the left was played into Paul Hanlon, he shuffled it inside for Nicklas Bendtner who fired an angled shot at goal and was desperately unfortunate to see the ball rebound back off the woodwork. Thankfully, Conor Goldson was able to get the ball clear.

That had both myself and Macca out of our seats quicker than if they’d been made of molten rock strongly suggesting that the boys might want to liven up and sort themselves the f- out.

The rocket delivered, the boys started to play a bit. Tavernier found Morelos with a throw in and the Colombian turned inside, skipped past a challenge and surged into the box. Giving the keeper the eyes, he tried to nudge the ball inside the near post but even though the keeper did dive the wrong way, the ball ended up in the side netting.

On the quarter hour, the ball was worked out to the right-hand side by Aribo for Tavernier. He used the space in front of him to surge at the Hibs left-back, found half a yard of space and sent a cross into the far post. Lurking there was Ryan Kent who unleashed a superb first-time volley, Ofir Marciano in the home goal reacted like lightning by plunging to his right and making a brilliant save.

Much more like it from our point of view, we were beginning to exert our dominance.

Hibs defended well for the next ten minutes or so before disaster struck – from their point of view, anyway, when a ball hung up into the box by Kent was headed clear and fell nicely for Daryl Horgan. He then looked to pass it back to Ki-Jana Hoever but was too casual. All he ended up doing was playing the ball into the path of Morelos who said thank you very much, took two touches and fired across Marciano into the bottom corner of the net.

Ross had told me before the game that individual errors were killing him, here was one more to add to the list.

10 minutes later and we were fully back in the groove. A free kick was delivered by Barisic from the right-flank towards the far post where Helander rose highest to nod back across goal. Waiting inside the 6-yard box was Rhian Brewster who stooped to head into the net, between the goalkeeper and defender covering the line for his 9^th goal of the season, taking him a goal clear of Ryan Kent at the top of the goalscoring charts.

We controlled the remainder of the half, defending well and not giving the hosts a sniff whilst attacking with purpose, even if we didn’t really threaten Marciano and the Hibs goal as much as perhaps we might have liked. Aside from those opening couple of minutes, it had been a very satisfactory first half.

HALF TIME: Hibernian 0-2 Glasgow Rangers

There was little more to be said at the break aside from “keep doing what you’re doing, boys”. But, fully aware of the impact that message had garnered in midweek I added a little caveat that they needed to be mindful of exactly that and not lessen their tempo or efforts. “I won’t hesitate to give those boys out there that are currently warming up a chance to unseat you, okay? Get the job done, guys.”

Within 30 seconds of the restart we’d very nearly added to our tally, Barisic and Kent combined well down the left and the ball was shuffled inside for Brewster. He struck a powerful effort from about 10-yards out, on the angle, but could only find the side netting when he really ought to have hit the target.

Within ten minutes Tavernier made excellent tracks down the right from deep inside his own half to midway inside the Hibs half, knocked the ball inside for Aribo who swung the ball left. Kent, aware of Barisic getting beyond him down the left, deftly nodded it into the Croatian’s path, his cross back to the edge of the penalty area was met first time on the volley by Arfield and his shot flew into the top corner of the net. It was a magnificent goal, he had both feet off the ground when he struck the effort, the technique was unbelievable. It had everyone out of their seats, you could hear the sharp intake of breath as the ball left his foot.

In the 59^th minute, not long after going 3-0 down, Hibs responded with their best move of the afternoon down their left flank. Hanlon released Horgan in behind Tavernier who found himself caught ball-watching a little. The winger cut in across the by-line and looking up, cut it back to the edge of the box where it was met on the half-volley by Stevie Mallan. Robbie McCrorie didn’t have a prayer, the ball had hit the net before he’d been able to move. Given what had gone just before, Mallan – who had scored spectacular goals against my sides previously, was unfortunate. Usually, this would have been a goal fit to crown any game, unfortunately for him, Arfield’s crown remained just about undimmed.

That said, Hibs sensed a bit of a comeback, Bendtner rushed to get the ball from the net and run it back to the halfway line for a quick restart, there was just over half-an hour remaining so anything could happen.

90 seconds after grabbing a goal back, a corner kick was cleared and the loose ball picked up by Rafal Wolski, he ran forward and then played a wonderfully judged through ball between our two covering defenders for Horgan, who was scampering clear. Tavernier was vainly trying to get back to cover the winger, but Horgan was too quick. His left footed shot from just outside the area beat McCrorie’s dive, but went inches past the post as well. He sank to his knees in despair whilst I looked to the heavens and said a silent prayer. If they’d scored, lord only knows what mayhem would have been unleashed.

It was mayhem anyway, end-to-end stuff, Tavernier had a snap-shot from just outside the box rebound off the same post Bendtner had previously rattled, Marciano just getting a touch before the ball was shifted down field and Hibs’ Danish target man played in Horgan again. The winger spun to collect the ball into his stride but found his shot saved by McCrorie. We badly needed a fourth goal to kill off this Hibs revival.

The opportunity came in the 63^rd minute, Troy Parrott – on for Morelos – collected a ball inside the penalty area and was headed away from goal when he was caught by Barreto. Down he went, the referee pointed to the spot and James Tavernier stepped up. He took a deep breath as he waited for the whistle, composed himself and then stepped up to thump the ball into one corner whilst Marciano dived the other way. A first goal of the campaign and a return to our 3-goal advantage.

Brewster then twice shot wide when in a good position in the next five minutes to really put the icing on the cake, before Horgan, who had switched flanks, got the better of Barisic and was only denied by a decent block by McCrorie.

Things then settled back down to some sort of normality for the next fifteen minutes before, with four minutes of the 90 remaining, Wolski brought the ball clear for the hosts after a corner had been headed clear. He played it on to Bendtner who in turn shuffled it on for substitute Kazaiah Sterling. The on-loan Tottenham man outdid his still goal-less club-mate at the other end and from 20 yards, thumped an unstoppable strike high beyond the startled McCrorie and into the back of the net to once again reduce the arrears to two.

To be fair, it was no less than Hibs deserved for their second half performance.

The only issue was that my players didn’t agree and in stoppage time, Barisic swung in a free-kick from the left where Aribo rose highest to head goalwards. Marciano blocked well, but Aribo reacted quickest to slam the ball home from close range and complete our second five goal tally in the league in the space of a week.

I was more than happy with our effort – a little loose defensively perhaps at times and that was something we could look at improving in training. But going into the Old Firm week, we were absolutely neck and neck with a completely identical record to our cross-city neighbours. After the game I wished Jack Ross all the best with his ongoing fight to turn things around at Hibernian, sadly within a month he had been sacked by the powers that be and replaced by Paul Lambert. Such was the perilous life of a football manager.

FULL TIME: Hibernian 2-5 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Kent (Ross.McCrorie), Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Jones), Brewster, Morelos (Parrott)

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 27^th September 2020

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	7	7	0	0	26	3	21	23
Glasgow Rangers	7	7	0	0	26	3	21	23
Motherwell	7	5	0	2	12	10	15	2
Heart of Midlothian	7	4	1	2	11	10	13	1
Aberdeen	7	3	0	4	8	8	9	0
Kilmarnock	7	2	3	2	7	10	9	-3
St Mirren	7	1	4	2	7	10	7	-3
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	7	2	1	4	8	13	7	-5
Dundee United	7	1	3	3	8	15	6	-7
Livingston	7	1	2	4	5	10	5	-5
St Johnstone	7	1	1	5	4	15	4	-11
Hibernian	7	0	1	6	4	18	1	-14

 

Saturday 26^th September 2020

Celtic	3	1	Hearts
Dundee Utd	0	0	Livingston
Inverness	1	0	St Mirren
Kilmarnock	1	1	St Johnstone
Motherwell	2	1	Aberdeen

 

Sunday 27^th September 2020

Hibernian

2

5

Rangers

[he_2]

The run-up to the Old Firm was nothing like I’d ever experienced before. I know every football fan wants to think that their big rivalry is the most intense in the world and that any other pales into significance by comparison and the divide in Glasgow, which is obviously fractured by more than just football, is enormous. The entire city comes to a standstill for the week. Offices become places of extreme tension where Gers and Bhoys otherwise mix with a degree of friendliness and good-natured ‘bantz’ as nothing mattered more than one half of the city grinding the nose of the other side firmly into the cinder-ash and asphalt. Yet, having been involved in a few other cross-city derbies over the years I’m not sure that the Old Firm rivalry necessarily is any more fiery than, say, one in Buenos Aires between River and Boca, or the Rome derby, or El Classico, or the Belgrade derby. Each one is different, each one is unique and each one matters greatly to those involved.

Believe it or not, relations between Celtic and Rangers are pretty good. My relationship with Neil Lennon had been friendly enough during my time at Tynecastle and that had continued into my days at Ibrox. We talked a couple of times a week and helped each-other out with upcoming opponents and such like. At boardroom level too, the two clubs were in constant contact to try and ensure that every derby day went off without significant incident but ensuring that the fire and passion (ugh! Such a loathsome term!) was sanitised in any way. When the former Celtic legend Tommy Burns passed away all too early, Rangers heroes Ally McCoist and Walter Smith acted as two of the pall-bearers at the funeral, alongside dyed in the wool Bhoys like Danny McGrain and Peter Grant.

Although not just another football match in the eyes and minds of many, in the lead-up to the game that was very much what I was trying to keep in focus. Not just for myself, but for the players as well.

The press spotlight was infinitely stronger than I’d experienced before. Neil was used to this having been involved in countless Old Firm derbies. Gary Mac was invaluable for me, helping to keep me grounded and counselling me along the way. ‘You’ll get asked some utter nonsense this week,’ he’d told me on the Monday morning before the game. ‘Play a straight bat, dinnae get drawn into a war of words and dinnae comment on anything that relates to anything off the field. Always bring it back to the game.’

Perhaps the fact that both sides were going into the game with a completely identical record magnified the focus somewhat. ‘Something has to give’ people kept remarking, ignoring the fact that a draw would see the two sides maintain that identical record. There was a lot of focus on the fact that I’d not beaten Celtic or Neil Lennon in four attempts.

‘True,’ I replied. ‘But they’ve only beaten one of my sides once which, given the gulf in resources between the two sides at the time, is not the worst of records from my point of view. What happened last season, whether between myself and Neil’s teams, or Rangers and Celtic, counts for nothing on Sunday. What matters is what happens once the whistle goes and the game gets underway. Everything else is ancient history.

All of that said, myself and Gary Mac spent an awful lot of time working on the mental side of the contest as well as the tactical side. The atmosphere would be febrile, there would be hatred pouring from the stands over the heads of the players and we had to make sure we kept our heads. Play the game, not the occasion.

I tried to keep the players sheltered from a lot of the press noise around the clash. Scott Arfield and James Tavernier did a couple of interviews each ahead of the fixture, they’d both been in this pressure cooker a number of times in the past and knew how to handle it. For myself, each and every day saw interviews with press from across the globe. I didn’t measure but I wouldn’t have been surprised if in the week leading up to the match I didn’t spend more than 24-hours talking to pressmen, being on camera or even at one stage being interviewed in a radio car for TalkSport whilst on my way to take training. They didn’t offer me a lift home that evening, I had to take a cab – luckily, the driver was a Gers fan.

The Bhoys were coming into the game on the back of an 11-match winning steak that dated back to a 2-1 defeat in the 3^rd qualifying round of the Champions League to Red Start Belgrade in mid-August. Although their talismanic striker, Odsonne Edouard – 35 goals the previous season and 7 in 7 for Celtic this – had been sold to Benfica for a fee in excess of £20million, they were still scoring goals galore both at home and in Europe with Leigh Griffiths and Ivan Cavaleiro in particularly spritely form. Yet, in spite of that, the key man as far as I was concerned was the on-loan Barcelona midfielder, Riqui Puig who was the absolute fulcrum of everything good that Celtic did. Whether that was weighing balls through for Griffiths to run in-between the centre-halves onto, sweeping the ball wide for Cavaleiro or James Forrest out wide or simply doing that Barcelona thing of passing and moving in tight spaces and keeping the ball moving. We spent a lot of time with Ryan Jack watching video clips of him and working on a plan to try and stifle the Catalan’s influence.

As it happened, all that planning was largely done in vain. For some reason, Lennon used Puig from the bench introducing him only 18 minutes from time. By then the tempo had been set and he struggled to do what I felt he did best, which was dictate the pace himself.

It was unusual for me to spend so much time focused on a single individual on the opposition, but something that I would come to do more as time went on, understanding the value of it from time to time, particularly in matches where fine margins might prove decisive. Our overall plan was to attack Celtic just as we had attacked every other team we’d come up against, just as I’d looked to take the game to every opponent, eventually, in my time at Tynecastle. Although that had resulted in us receiving a 4-0 chastening at the hands of Celtic at one point, I really couldn’t see that happening with this crop of players.

If I had been in any doubt as to just what the fixture did mean to the fans, that was swiftly put to bed each and every time I walked out of Ibrox Park to the car during the week. The club-shop had been doing a fine trade, as one would expect, and I’m pretty sure supporters were spending time just hanging around outside the ground hoping to be interviewed as one of those talking heads on Sky Sports News. Leah had been largely conspicuous by her absence until the Friday afternoon when, after the pre-match press conference, she had – with obvious reluctance – spent half-an-hour or so interviewing me for a pre-match feature that would form part of Sky’s live build-up. The number of supporters that came to shake my hand, pat me on the shoulder, have a selfie and wish me luck, in their own indomitably Glaswegian manner, was incalculable. I simply couldn’t let them down, if I did then I would be making life very hard for myself.

The day before the big game I ventured back to old waters to have a little look at my next opponent, newly promoted Inverness Caley Thistle, who were at Tynecastle, and lost to David Moyes’ side only due to two goals in the last 10-minutes. Forewarned is forearmed, it was refreshing to take my mind off what lay immediately ahead for a couple of hours and to catch up with one or two friendly faces, each of whom wished me well ahead of entering the Lion’s den a day later.

[he_2]

Sunday 5^th October 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Glasgow Celtic (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox Park

Attendance: 50,817

Managerial Record v Glasgow Celtic: P 4 W 0 D 3 L 1 F 4 A 8

I slept surprisingly soundly, all things considered, and made my way across the midriff of Scotland in time for a 10am arrival at Ibrox. Already supporters were congregating in little clusters three hours ahead of kick-off and I received a very warm reception as I made my way in my suit from the car into the main entrance. I stopped to sign a few autographs and have a handful of selfies with some kids – both grown and younger ones – before heading into the ground.

My intention was to keep my personal build-up to the game exactly the same as I did for any other home game. I wandered around the place, said hello to as many members of staff as I possibly could and wish them well for the game ahead. I really wanted everyone, from the youth team players and staff right down to those that wiped down tables and ran hoovers along corridors to feel as though they were as important to the club and myself as Alfie Morelos or Connor Goldson.

By the time I’d finished my tour the players had all congregated together ready to hear the line-up. As a rarity, I’d kept the exact same 18 that had beaten Hibs so handsomely the week before. Gary Mac provided a quick recap on the tactical points we’d been over again and again during the week and my final words before letting them begin their own personal preparations was simply about the need for them to keep their heads, to focus on the individual battles ahead and to work for each-other. ‘They’ll be coming here thinking they’ve got you beaten already, all because they beat you twice here last season.’ I said. ‘That ain’t the case. Remember the two cup final wins last season, remember beating them at Parkhead last season, remember they haven’t beaten you in the last two meetings. You’ve got this, boys. Get the crowd behind you, inspire them to put the fear of god into them. Show up, work hard, battle, get a couple of challenges in early and hey, boys,’ I paused for a moment. ‘F*ing enjoy it, yeah?!’

Ryan Jack took my words to heart, clearly, as at the first possible moment he swiped away the legs of Leigh Griffiths just inside the Celtic half pretty unceremoniously and rightly received a yellow card from Nick Walsh. At that point, you’d have probably received fairly long odds on Jacko lasting the full-ninety especially as not ninety seconds later he nibbled away at the ankles of Olivier Ntcham.

The first opening of the match fell our way, Scott Arfield picking up a headed clearance by James Tavernier and skipping away from Callum McGregor over halfway. He made his way down the right flank, tracked all the way by the Celtic midfielder before, level with the edge of the penalty area, cutting inside and sending the ball infield to Jack. He found Aribo who became aware of an express train thrashing its way past him over his left shoulder on the overlap. Laying the ball into the path of Borna Barisic, the left back took the ball in his stride, two touches at pace into the penalty area before firing a shot at goal, straight at the Celtic ‘keeper Marko Malenica who held on well.

Ten minutes later, after James Tavernier had joined Jacko in the book, a clearance downfield by Boli Bolingoli found Tavernier well out of position. Leigh Griffiths nodded the ball down on halfway into the path of Ivan Cavaleiro who then ignited the afterburners, drew Goldson towards him and then slipped the ball inside into the gap where Griffiths galloped into. Filip Helander tried to cut off the Scottish international but Griffiths took one touch before unleashing an absolute tracer shell from his left foot – all of 30 yards from goal (maybe nearer 35!). Robbie McCrorie didn’t have a hope of getting anywhere near the ball as it flew beyond him and into the very top corner of the net. Loathed as I was to admit it, it was a magnificent strike.

The ground was absolutely struck-dumb except for the large pocket of visiting faithful who were joyously bouncing up and down and goading those nearest them clad in blue. I’m going to have to be completely honest and not particularly endear myself to any Rangers fan reading this but I could only watch on in admiration.

However, not to colour myself as a turncoat or Celtic fan-boy, our response was as impressive. Perhaps not in aesthetics, although that wasn’t bad either, but certainly in terms of character. Even more so since we were down to ten men at the time with Tavernier receiving treatment on the sideline.

Joe Aribo collected a pass from Alfie Morelos and threaded an eye of the needle pass into the penalty area for Ryan Kent to run onto. The angle was acute and with everyone expecting a cut back for Brewster or Morelos, the former Liverpool winger sneaked the ball inside Malenica’s near post leaving the goalkeeper with egg on his face and him wheeling away in celebration of his 9^th, cheekiest – and arguably most important – goal of the campaign so far.

Three minutes later and a Barisic free-kick from the right hand side was met by a towering header from Filip Helander, unfortunately the Swede was only able to direct the ball over the top and then it was Celtic’s turn to find themselves on top again when a spell of neat build-up play ended with Ntcham sending a ball in-between Goldson and Helander for Griffiths, this time the Celtic marksman was denied by a fine save from McCrorie who had stood up well and spread himself to push the ball away to his left.

HALF-TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-1 Glasgow Celtic

It had been an even half between two well-matched sides. Both goals had owed plenty to skill and opportunism but whilst Celtic’s would go down as a rightly lauded magnificent strike, ours certainly had the element of defensive mis-happen assisting it.

Half-time was pretty calm, the boys sat down and we relayed a couple of things to them via video. Firstly the level of success we were getting by pushing the full-backs on whilst being wary of the need for Ryan Jack in particular to sit in and cover to make sure we weren’t too susceptible to the counter-attack whilst defensively we really needed to narrow the gap between the centre-halves as Leigh Griffiths was managing to find space in that little pocket far too often. Gary Mac and I had considered going with three centre-halves briefly but to be honest, I was loathed to put in a system that we were unsuited to playing and pretty well untested playing in such a key match. It was down to Connor and Filip to squeeze the space Griffiths could find to operate in.

The opening quarter of an hour of the second half was frantic and almost totally devoid of quality. It was harum-scarum end to end school playground stuff with almost everyone drawn towards the ball. It was like watching an Under-9s match on a Govan playing field.

The first coherent piece of football came from our corner – overhit by Barisic and retrieved by Helander who found his attempt to recycle the ball into the box blocked – and a long pass forward from Moritz Bauer found James Forrest scampering forward, one-on-one with Tavernier. He showed fleet footed skippery to outpace the former Bristol City man and once again McCrorie was required to narrow the angle and make a smart block to deny the Bhoys’ winger a goal.

A minute later a similar break from the ensuing Celtic corner saw Forrest this time cynically trip Troy Parrott about 10-yards outside the Celtic penalty area as the young Irish striker looked to launch a break from deep.

One could feel the tension rising, both on the pitch and in the stands. Neither side was giving an inch and although the spectacle suffered as a result, I’d wager it was still an absorbing and intriguing watch for the neutral.

At the midway point of the half Griffiths once again found a pocket of space, this time on the shoulder of Helander, spinning in behind and finding himself clear on goal. For a third time Robbie McCrorie made a very good stop, this one low to his left to palm the strike at full stretch wide of the post and behind for another Celtic corner.

With just over three minutes remaining the visitors very nearly snatched the points. A free-kick from the right wing was swung into the heart of the danger area by Ryan Christie and met by a header from substitute Dimitris Limnios. For once McCrorie was beaten and just as the ball looked the be heading in, it thankfully glanced off the underside of the crossbar and down where it was gratefully hacked clear by a prudently positioned blue shirt.

I don’t mind admitting that I breathed a fairly hefty sigh of relief when the whistle finally blew to bring proceedings to a close. An honest man would have made a good case for Celtic to have been worthy of the three points and when Leah asked me whether or not I felt as though we’d escaped with a point I had this to say.

“If you look at the statistics you’d think we had the better of things. What was it, 54% possession? 27 shots on goal? Yet, I think if we’re honest, this just proves that judging a game purely by looking at the numbers is misleading. If I was in Neil’s shoes right now I’d be sorely disappointed that we hadn’t managed to get that second goal and come away with three points. I’m thankful that Robbie was able to make a few good stops and that the crossbar intervened at the end there. There’s an argument that we were worth a point, I think, but it’s not as compelling as the one that could be made for Celtic to have won the match.”

“That was mighty magnanimous of you, Jones,” Lennon said to me in my office as we shared a glass of wine. “I don’t know that I’d have been as generous had you had those chances.”

I laughed. “I know we got away with it a bit today, Lenno, we need to be better next time we meet you. And I think we will be.”

“You learned a bit today then?”

“I learned a bucket load, yes.”

We shook hands and wished each-other well for until we would meet again, a game that was due to take place just before Christmas at Parkhead. Whether or not we’d still be level-pegging at the top of the table by then remained to be seen. There was a heck of a lot of football to be played between now and then. First though, the unbridled misery supplied by the disruption of another international break.

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-1 Glasgow Celtic

Team: Rob McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Jack, Aribo, Arfield (Young-Coombes), Kent, Brewster (Parrott), Morelos

[he_2]

T

Table as at Sunday 4^th October 2020

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	8	7	1	0	27	4	22	23
Glasgow Rangers	8	7	1	0	27	4	22	23
Motherwell	8	6	0	2	17	10	18	7
Heart of Midlothian	8	5	1	2	13	10	16	3
Aberdeen	8	4	0	4	10	9	12	1
Kilmarnock	8	2	3	3	8	12	9	-4
Dundee United	8	2	3	3	10	16	9	-6
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	8	2	1	5	8	15	7	-7
St Mirren	8	1	4	3	7	15	7	-8
Livingston	8	1	3	4	6	11	6	-5
St Johnstone	8	1	1	6	5	17	4	-12
Hibernian	8	0	2	6	5	19	2	-14

 

Friday 2^nd October

St Johnstone

1

2

Dundee Utd

 

Saturday 3^rd October

Aberdeen	2	1	Kilmarnock
Hearts	2	0	Inverness
Livingston	1	1	Hibernian
St Mirren	0	5	Motherwell

 

Sunday 4^th October

Rangers

1

1

Celtic

 

[he_2]

The international break and 2-week period without a game saw us working hard, as ever, on the training pitch. The schedule really didn’t begin to ramp up for another six weeks or so, just the one midweek match was scheduled for October and that a trip to Paisley before we had just three fixtures to play in the whole of November. That was before the insanity of seven league matches in December – plus the potential of the League Cup Final if we got past St Johnstone at the end of the month.

Whilst the coaches and I worked hard with our skeleton squad and we had a couple of behind closed doors friendly matches to try out a couple of different things, I also spent a lot of time with the recruitment team to try and put in place some contingencies both for the January transfer window and the end of the season. I’d identified two key areas that we definitely needed to recruit for plus another couple of ‘nice to haves’ if we could.

A few sessions were spent in the scouting hub with Ross Wilson, the Director of Football, and Chief Scout Andy Scoulding to try and flesh out some areas to target.

‘There’s been a lot of noise around Borna,’ I said to open the first session. ‘I’m pretty sure his agent is touting him around the Chinese market which, if true, could see us coming in for a pretty significant windfall financially. As you know, we’re not exactly flush with money, even with the funds from the sale of Nikola (Katic), so if, in the next window or the one after that, we receive a bid in excess of £12-15million then we’ll be forced to take it. He’s been great for us on the field but I know that unrest can develop quickly if an agent begins to sow the seeds of discontent in the mind of his client.’

I took a sip of water. ‘So, with Reza (Durmisi) only here until the end of the season it would be useful to have two strategies. A short-term one that would tide us over for the rest of this campaign if Borna does go and then a longer-term one that we’d need to pursue either way in the summer to replace Reza and / or Borna.’

The other two men nodded. ‘Any ideas of who we could look at, Andy?’ Ross asked.

‘A couple,’ Andy replied. ‘Beginning with the shorter-term fix if we need it, English Premier League sides are usually willing to lend us players to get some competitive action as we’ve seen with Rhian and Troy this season. There’s a host of decent players in the 18 to 21-year old category that will be itching to get some experience and action. There are one or two promising players in the Championship up here but nothing that I’d be tempted to throw in at the deep end.’

‘It might be worth a chat with someone at West Ham and see whether Aaron Hickey might be available on a temporary basis.’ I ventured. ‘Obviously I know him from having him at Hearts last year and he was just beginning to break into the team on a regular basis when January came and the Hammers signed him. He’d be ideal for us if they were amenable.’ Andy and Ross both made a note. ‘But otherwise, I’m comfortable with that approach for January. What about longer term?’

‘Well, we’ve already scoured the market for players who will be out of contract this summer and 75% of those that would probably improve the team are likely to be out of our price range.’ Ross said.

‘That said,’ Andy went on, scanning through a folder until he hit upon the right page. ‘There’s an Algerian lad at Groningen, Holland, Amir Absalem. Only 24, has Dutch citizenship and good in the tackle. He’s worth looking at more closely. Alfonso Pedraza is around the same age, currently at Villareal.’

‘Spanish?’ I asked.

‘Aye,’ Andy replied. ‘Uncapped, gets forward well and highly thought of. He’d be more expensive than Amir but probably a better all-round option. Then there’s a couple of Dutch players, one of which would be a cheaper option, Robyn Esajas who is at Feyenoord currently. 19, really highly thought of but is likely to need to move to get a breakthrough and the other one could be a bit of a budget buster but would be the best left-back in the league is Jetro Williams.’

‘The international?’

‘That’s the one. Sounds like he’s running his deal down at Frankfurt. He wouldn’t be cheap but he’d be a heck of a signing, particularly looking towards European football next season.’

I gave the green light to begin to look at each option in more detail and to keep eyes and ears open for other options. ‘Even if there is a fee involved, if you think it represents decent value then we’ll look at it.’

Other positions I wanted to have covered were centre-half, where I felt we were probably a body short, and up-front where we were desperately short and over-reliant on loans to cover. I only had one Premiership quality striker of my own in Alfie Morelos and although early signs were that Liverpool might be happy for Rhian Brewster to extend his stay north of the border into a third season, which would be great, but no long-term option. The problem, of course, as was pointed out by Andy and Ross, was that to find goalscorers I needed big money and big money was something I didn’t have a surfeit of.

‘We need to be creative,’ Andy pointed out, ‘but there are ways and means of doing that.’

‘Aye,’ Ross agreed, ‘leave it with us and we’ll come up with some ideas over the next few weeks. There’s less pressure on this one isn’t there? I mean, we’re looking longer-term here and at the summer aren’t we?’

‘Assuming we don’t suddenly pick up a couple of bad injuries, yes.’ I replied. ‘But it’d be worth having some shorter-term options available for January if I need them though.’

With the wheels of recruitment beginning to spin and players drifting back in ones and twos from international duty ahead of our visit to the highlands and a first ever trip for me to Inverness, I was gratified that everyone who did return did so without any injuries to speak of meaning that for a third consecutive game I had the option of naming an unchanged side.

[he_2]

Sunday 18^th October 2020: Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Caledonian Stadium

Att: 7,148

And take that option I did. The same 18-man squad travelled north from Glasgow to take on the newly promoted outfit under the stewardship of former Hearts legend, John Robertson who was now into his 4^th season in his second spell as manager at the Caledonian Stadium. I knew all about Robbo as a player from my time at Tynecastle where supporters and staff alike spoke about him in awed tones. Aside from a brief spell at Newcastle, he spent 18 years in the capital winning 16 caps for Scotland and scoring 3 times for the Tartan Army and scoring more than 200 league goals in more than 500 appearances for the Jambos. He is rightly revered at Hearts and afforded the kind of status that I could only wish for at any of my clubs.

Caley were coming into the clash on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Tynecastle, however they had won their previous home match thanks to a 2-1 win over St Mirren. They were lying in 9^th place, a couple of points above Hibs who were in the relegation play-off spot after they’d finally got their first win of the campaign under their belts, and three points above bottom of the table St Johnstone. Survival, clearly was the key for Robertson and his charges, largely made up of players from the lower divisions both sides of the border, this season. I wasn’t expecting an easy ride and I warned my players not to either.

We opened proceedings looking confident and the better side, although Caley were well disciplined, kept their shape and with 9 men behind the ball made it difficult for us to break down. I’d told the boys that they’d need to be patient but to trust in the process and keep moving the ball to wear them down. We weren’t ever going to draw them out so we needed be clever with the ball to break them down.

The breakthrough came on 19 minutes just as Robbo had been up to praise his lads on a job well done in the first-twenty minutes. For the first time Tavernier found himself in a little space on the right hand side and used it well to attack the Caley left-back. Teasing him by going past him and then checking back, he then picked out the run of Ryan Jack who was steaming up towards the edge of the penalty area, collected the ball in his stride and unleashed a well-directed low drive beyond Mark Ridgers’ dive and into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-0.

Robbo was apoplectic that no-one had picked up the run of Jacko, whilst on our side we were delighted that something we’d been looking at exploiting during the break had paid dividends. It was a second goal of the season for the former Aberdeen midfielder and one that he had clearly very much enjoyed.

Two minutes later and with Caley in some degree of disarray, we got in behind them for the first time when a clever lofted pass over the top released Morelos clear on goal. Ridgers made a fine save from the Colombian’s effort but any respite was short-lived as from the corner, swung in by Barisic towards the far post, Rhian Brewster peeled off his marker and found himself totally unmarked to rise and head the ball back across goal from about 5 yards out and into the top corner of the net. 2-0 and it looked as though the floodgates had opened, as though the banks hadRi burst and we were going to run up a glut of goals.

It didn’t materialise, Robbo was on his feet and proverbially getting hold of his men and giving each one a good shake by their knackers. They regained their shape, they grew in confidence with each minute that they kept us at bay and began to play some nice stuff themselves. All too often though, their neat approach play foundered when they got into the final third and about ten minutes before the break, one of their attacks was broken up by Aribo who then turned the Caley back-four with a quick ball forward that Brewster latched onto. The youngster got into the penalty area and with no support went for goal himself, forcing a fine tip over the top from Ridgers to preserve the 2-goal deficit.

Ridgers was then called upon to make another fine save before the break, this time from a fiercely struck and curling free-kick from Barisic that was headed just under the bar into the top corner. The goalkeeper did really well to push the ball onto the crossbar and as it fell for Connor Goldson to try and turn home the rebound, the flag went up – not that it mattered anyway since Goldson’s effort was blocked behind.

On the stroke of half-time the home goalkeeper made a third excellent save, this one after a Caley attack in which they had committed more men forward than usual broke down and we countered to good effect. Filip Helander stepped in to pick up the loose ball and then Aribo sent the ball forward for Brewster. The striker’s first touch was sublime, taking him away from the challenge of Terry Taylor and then he found himself clear on goal. Ridgers came out to narrow the angle and as Brewster looked to slide the ball beyond him, he’d got his angles right and did very well to deflect the ball wide for a corner.

HALF TIME: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0-2 Glasgow Rangers

The half-time message couldn’t have been simpler. Just keep doing the right things. I was pleased with our first half showing. Not blown away by any stretch but content enough. With Celtic having netted five the day before they’d significantly boosted their already impressive goal difference. If we put our minds to it we’d be able to match them, perhaps exceed them, but I urged the boys to keep their focus and professionalism high.

In the 53^rd minute, with conditions being made rather trickier by sheeting rain piling in off the mountains, Brewster once again found himself in behind after a neat ball over the top that we were continuing to get a lot of success with. This time the striker probably took one touch too many and as he shot he was denied by a terrific recovery challenge by Taylor which not only smothered the shot but also won the home side the goal kick.

A minute later and as another Caley attack broke down with a poor final ball, Goldson released Morelos in behind with a route-one delivery forward. He should have scored, but seemed to lack a bit of confidence, perhaps overthinking things a little rather than acting on instinct. Credit though to Ridgers who once again made a good save, staying tall for as long as he could before diverting the ball away from danger with a strong right hand.

The home side’s best sight of goal came just past the hour mark when an excellent ball by Olly Lee saw Aaron Doran in behind Barisic. He stood his cross up to the near post where it was met by the head of Jordan White but he couldn’t divert his effort on target. A little warning shot across our bows, nonetheless.

For the next fifteen minutes or so we seemed to go to sleep, to stop doing what had brought us so much success and go longer than we needed to. That played into Caley’s hands and they grew in confidence as a result. With 15 minutes remaining we failed to deal with a Doran free kick into our penalty area. The ball fell for Terry Keatings and fortunately for us, despite having been largely a spectator for the first 75 minutes of the game, Rob McCrorie got down superbly well to push the ball behind for a corner.

We did manage to regain a modicum more control after that to see the game out but what had threatened at half-time to be a very impressive performance ended up being little more than workmanlike. I wasn’t entirely happy at the end, particularly with our final half an hour and just quietly told the boys that we needed to go for the full 90 minutes, not just switch it on and off as we wished, unless, of course, we just wanted to play second fiddle to ‘those hooped b*tard across the city again.’

Point made, I did the post-match press rounds and then enjoyed a very pleasant 45-minutes with Robbo, talking football and mostly about Hearts. It was clear that he was a Jambo through and through and that he wanted more than anything else to end his career back at Tynecastle. ‘I had a wee look at the job in the summer,’ he confessed, ‘but once I heard Moyesey was in for it I backed off. Besides,’ he continued, ‘I dinnae if I could’ve left here after getting them up last year.’

I liked Robbo, he was a football man and doing a great job with Caley. I could learn a lot from him and certainly planned to after he offered me an open invitation to ring him any time I needed for a chat or some advice. Great club, outstanding hospitality, I couldn’t wait to visit them again.

FULL TIME: Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0-2 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander (Edmundson), Barisic, Jack, Aribo, Arfield, Kent (Jones), Morelos (Parrott), Brewster

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 18th October 2020   P W D L F A Pts GD Glasgow Celtic 9 8 1 0 32 4 25 28 Glasgow Rangers 9 8 1 0 29 4 25 25 Motherwell 9 7 0 2 21 11 21 10 Heart of Midlothian 9 5 1 3 14 14 16 0 Aberdeen 9 4 0 5 11 11 12 0 Kilmarnock 9 2 4 3 8 12 10 -4 Dundee United 9 2 4 3 10 16 10 -6 St Mirren 9 2 4 3 9 16 10 -7 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 9 2 1 6 8 17 7 -9 Livingston 9 1 3 5 6 16 6 -10 Hibernian 9 1 2 6 7 19 5 -12 St Johnstone 9 1 1 7 5 19 4 -14   Friday 16th October 2020 Motherwell 4 1 Hearts   Saturday 17th October 2020 Celtic 5 0 Livingston Dundee Utd 0 0 Kilmarnock Hibs 2 0 St Johnstone St Mirren 2 1 Aberdeen   Sunday 18th October 2020 Inverness 0 2 Rangers

[he_2]

Saturday 24^th October 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Motherwell (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox Park

Att: 50,588

Managerial Record v Motherwell: P 5 W 4 D 0 L 1 F 16 A 6

I’d enjoyed some of my best managerial days so far in my fledgling career. Whilst at Hearts I’d beaten ‘well 4-1, 5-1 and 6-3 in the SPL all of which coming after they’d knocked us out of the League Cup last season. Yet, this season Stephen Robinson had led the North Lanarkshire club to a highly impressive start to the campaign. 7 wins from their opening 9 matches saw them on the coattails of the Old Firm, an early defeat by the only goal to Kilmarnock was added to by Celtic at Parkhead. Otherwise their record had been impeccable and they were coming into the game on the back of 3 straight wins – including a 5-0 stuffing of St Mirren and the weekend before a hugely impressive 4-1 tonking of Hearts.

Throughout the week I’d been at the boys to get the mental side of the game right, to shake off that nonsensical last half an hour at Inverness. Any hint of complacency or lethargy would be pounced upon by a side full of confidence. ‘Get it right from the off, get into them and impose yourselves. Pass the ball sharply and take your chances when they come. You’ve seen how confident and clinical they are in front of goal, any chance they get they’ll hit the target. You have to match that, boys, okay?!’ These we my final words to the lads before I sent them out into a near capacity crowd with a very healthy away following having made the short journey north-west.

For a fourth consecutive match we went out with an unchanged 18 and after a pretty even opening quarter of an hour in which we had more of the ball, more of the territory and a couple of half openings go begging we created our first clear-cut opening of the afternoon. James Scott had done brilliantly to pluck a ball forward out of the air on his instep but then found his route forward blocked by Connor Goldson who simply stepped across to dispossess him. A long ball over the top from the skipper saw Morelos released in behind. The bouncing ball wasn’t the easiest to strike but I fully expected the Colombian to blast the ball into the roof of the net from just inside the penalty area. Instead, somehow, he thumped it fifteen yards too high of the target and the ball was still rising as it flew high into the stand behind the goal, provoking howls of derision and mirth from the visiting support clustered at the other end. He seemed to be badly short of confidence and in need of a goal again even though it had only been three matches ago he last scored.

On 24 minutes a Barisic free-kick from the left was met by the head of Helander but the towering Swede nodded a yard wide of the post with Trevor Carson rooted to the spot. The Northern Irishman certainly wasn’t rooted a few minutes later when Scott Arfield cut the ball back for Tavernier to gather in his stride and larrup an effort towards the roof of the net, showing outstanding agility to move his feet and dive to his right, pushing the ball over the top of the bar with a very strong arm. From the corner Morelos managed to get above his marker but under pressure could only head quite a distance over the top.

That earlier Helander header served as something of a range finder when, on 34 minutes, it was he that rose highest and most confidently to meet another Barisic free-kick – this time from the right flank – at the far post. This time his contact was true and thumping, the ball flying beyond Carson from 6-yards out and into the back of the net for his first strike of the campaign. 1-0 and to be honest, it was no less than our efforts so far had warranted.

We continued to push forward, Ryan Jack did extremely well to break up a Motherwell attack, bring the ball forward and then ping the ball in behind for Brewster to stretch his legs and get onto. The young striker was clear on the goal, took a couple of touches to get into the penalty area before shooting. He hit the target okay, but again Trevor Carson was up to the challenge, showing sharp reflexes to dive to his left and firmly push the ball behind.

A couple of minutes before half-time, a corner from Barisic was headed clear but collected by Jack on the edge of the Motherwell penalty area. Sweeping it to his right he found Goldson in acres of space just outside the penalty area. The centre-half’s first touch set himself nicely, his second fired a low angled drive inches wide of Carson’s right-hand post, the goalkeeper at full stretch and beaten if the effort had been directed six-inches the other way.

Agonising.

HALF TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-0 Motherwell

Once again, my half-time message was largely the same as it had been before the game. To keep playing the way we’d been playing, keep moving the ball, keep looking for the ball in behind and to be that little bit more clinical in front of goal. ‘They couldn’t complain if they were 3-0 down,’ I said pointing at the away team’s dressing room. ‘But whilst it’s only 1-0 they’ll feel they’re in with a chance. A dead-ball, a strike from distance, a deflection, anything like that. It’s a lot more difficult for them to believe at 2-0 down, so let’s get at them early and get that second goal.’

Motherwell came out after the break like a different outfit, heavens only knows what my opposite number said to them at the break but they suddenly began to deny us space, pressed us much higher up the pitch and not allowing us to dictate. I’ll be honest, that caught me pretty unaware and I spent the first quarter of an hour of the second period trying to react on the bench.

With Scott Arfield struggling with a knock, I sent on Nat Young-Coombes for only his second league appearance and with instructions to pull out wide as often as he could from his more central role when we regained possession in an attempt to stretch the visitors a little more than we’d been able to up until that point.

Before he’d been given the chance to do so Chris Long played a lovely one-two with Andy Halliday and was scampering in behind Goldson inside the penalty area to get onto the return. Goldson turned, clearly tugged Long’s shirt and down the Motherwell man went. The referee immediately blew and pointed to the spot and we could have no complaints. Connor knew he’d been done and to be fair to him accepted the yellow card without any hint of dissent.

David Turnbull took responsibility in front of thousands of home fans all roaring at him to miss, trying their combined best to put him off his stride. He stepped up and put the ball low to McCrorie’s right. The goalkeeper guessed correctly and at full stretch got a firm hand to the ball to push it away before Tavernier completed the clearance. We’d survived the let-off still ahead.

A couple of minutes later we looked to take advantage of our good fortune, Barisic found Morelos with a luscious pass, the striker taking the ball down just as beautifully before unleashing a decent effort from just inside the penalty area. Carson once again had gotten his positioning spot on and was able to make a good save, holding onto the ball as Morelos followed up, sniffing for any rebounds.

As the half approached its midway point, Rhian Brewster wasted an absolute gilt-edged opportunity to give us the lead. Barisic’s dead-ball delivery was once again right on point from a right-wing corner. It was swinging in and found the Liverpool loanee totally unmarked inside the 6-yard box, bang central, somehow contrived to direct his header wide of the upright. Before the corner had been taken I’d swapped Parrott for Morelos and after this miss I was wishing I could have taken a mulligan and removed Brewster instead.

With fifteen minutes remaining, and once again from a dead-ball, this time swung into the far post by Ryan Kent, Young-Coombes managed to get his distinctively red-head to the ball under pressure. He was much more unlucky than Brewster had been as he saw his effort cannon off the upright, rebound onto his shoulder and end up in the side netting.

Less than two minutes later we were made to pay for our profligacy, just as I’d feared we would.

The defending was absent. Horrendously absent as Allan Campbell picked up a pass in centre-field. I don’t know where Joe Aribo and Ryan Jack had wandered off to as the midfielder had so much space to run forward into. Neither centre-half came out to engage him and so, probably unable to believe his good fortune, once he’d reached the edge of the D he struck a perfect low effort that skipped off the surface and into the bottom corner beyond the dive of McCrorie. It was an equaliser they probably deserved simply for hanging in there when a more ruthless and efficient side would have been well out of sight.

It took us a few minutes to shake off the after-effects of being pegged back and were handed a golden opportunity to regain the lead 7 minutes from time. Connor Goldson went up to try and get onto Ryan Kent’s free-kick into the box and received the gentlest of nudges from James Scott. Whilst it was enough to put the centre-half off, it certainly didn’t seem enough to warrant a penalty kick, yet that’s what the referee chose to award. Stephen Robinson was going galactic at the fourth official who did that infuriating thing of placatingly shrugging and spreading his hands and to be honest I couldn’t blame him. I’d have been bereft it such a soft decision had gone against one of my teams.

James Tavernier stepped up once the fuss had died down and I fully expected him to score. He looked confident enough as he approached the ball – too confident as it turned out as he inexplicably stroked the ball wide of Carson’s left-hand post. The goalkeeper hadn’t even bothered to move until the ball thudded into the advertising hoardings, Tavernier still stood on the penalty spot staring disbelievingly at the target that he’d somehow managed to miss. Whilst that was justice served, I was fuming at yet another lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.

In stoppage time another Barisic corner kick delivery caused panic in the visiting defence, despite the furious, frantic and lunging efforts of Joe Aribo, he was unable to get a clear effort at goal and Carson gratefully fell on the ball to collect and then kill some valuable seconds for his side. That wasn’t it, though, from Carson’s throw out, somehow we found ourselves at sixes and sevens defensively as Campbell once again found acres of space to run into. Rather than shooting this time, he chipped the ball wide to the left for Halliday who in turn knocked it inside for the run of Simon Murray. The substitute’s powerful effort was on target and he would have snatched the three points were it not for the crucial intervention of McCrorie low to his right, turning the ball away with an excellent save.

I was furious after the game, keeping the players locked in for 25-minutes whilst going over the catalogue of missed chances and embarrassing defending that almost cost us the single point that we ended up just about hanging on for. I made it abundantly clear that a huge improvement was needed in midweek when we made the short journey to Paisley to play St Mirren. There would be changes for that one, no question.

What had annoyed me most about the loss of two points was the fact that with Celtic playing bottom club St Johnstone the day afterwards, I couldn’t see them dropping points. We’d missed a golden opportunity to put them under a bit of pressure by getting three points and laying down a bit of a marker that they’d need to match. Sure, we’d gone above them with the point but I fully expected us to be going into the midweek matches two points off our city rivals.

Football though, can be a funny and unpredictable mistress at times, can’t it?

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-1 Motherwell

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Jack, Aribo, Arfield (Young-Coombes), Kent, Morelos (Parrott), Brewster

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 25^th October 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	10	8	2	0	32	4	26	28
Glasgow Rangers	10	8	2	0	30	5	26	25
Motherwell	10	7	1	2	22	12	22	10
Heart of Midlothian	10	6	1	3	17	15	19	2
Dundee United	10	3	4	3	13	16	13	-3
Kilmarnock	10	3	4	3	10	13	13	-3
Aberdeen	10	4	0	6	11	14	12	-3
St Mirren	10	2	4	4	10	19	10	-9
Livingston	10	2	3	5	8	17	9	-9
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	10	2	1	7	9	19	7	-10
Hibernian	10	1	2	7	8	21	5	-13
St Johnstone	10	1	2	7	5	19	5	-14

 

Friday 23^rd October 2020

Kilmarnock

2

1

Hibs

 

Saturday 24^th October 2020

Aberdeen	0	3	Dundee Utd
Hearts	3	1	St Mirren
Livingston	2	1	Inverness
Rangers	1	1	Motherwell

 

Sunday 25^th October 2020

St Johnstone

0

0

Celtic

[he_2]

Wednesday 28^th October 2020: St Mirren v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: The Simple Digital Arena

Att: 8,023

Managerial Record v St Mirren: P 3 W 2 D 1 L 0 F 5 A 1

True to my word I made three changes to the side for our visit to Paisley to take on St Mirren. Each one was designed with two things in mind. Firstly, to freshen things up a little after keeping the same side for four matches on the spin and secondly to try and give us a little more in the final third. It’d be wrong to say that we were looking stale, but I felt we were missing a little something in the final third and that shaking things up a little, giving a couple of players a rest and bringing in some fresh, enthusiastic legs to try and reinvigorate our approach.

I brought in Troy Parrott for Alfie Morelos up front, he’d bided his time well and had earned another chance to start whilst I wanted to give Alfie a rest, he had seemed jaded over the past couple of matches and I felt would benefit from a break, particularly ahead of the weekend League Cup semi-final.

In addition, young Nat Young-Coombes made his first career start in place of Scott Arfield who was still feeling the after-effects of the knock he picked up against Motherwell. Nat, who had joined the club in 2018 after leaving Chelsea brought with him an excellent first touch, plenty of pace from just behind the front two and a certain unpredictability and rawness. His role was slightly different as well to that played by Arfield, who was very much a get the ball and play it type of playmaker in that I felt Nat could provide us with a little more directness.

Finally, in the heart of midfield alongside Joe Aribo I brought in Glen Kamara for Ryan Jack. Whilst Jacko was probably a little way of full-fitness, Glen had been champing at the bit to get some game time. Technically, he was probably the best player at the club, his first touch was like molten Galaxy chocolate whilst although primarily a deep-ish lying midfielder, we were working to try and develop him into more of a threat in the opposition penalty area by arriving late and trying to get on the end of things.

I’d made it clear that I wanted a lot more, particularly in terms of our finishing, than what I’d seen in the two previous matches and for the boys to show me that they were serious contenders in the title race and not mere pretenders. ‘We got away with Saturday because Celtic couldn’t beat St Johnstone but people are already beginning to question our bottle. Now, I’m up for the fight show me you lot are as well!’

Our start was much better and with more intensity than the previous couple of matches had. In the 3^rd minute Young-Coombes displayed that directness and pace to attack the Saints’ penalty area only to find his progress stopped by a fine challenge by Coll Donaldson which, if he’d got wrong, would certainly have seen a penalty and potentially a very early red card.

The ball was swiftly recycled and worked out wide for Tavernier whose cross was begging to be put in the net – Rhian Brewster very nearly obliged running in to thunder a header against the crossbar that left it rattling for a good period of time after it had been struck.

On 10 minutes, Troy Parrott found himself played in behind the Saints’ back four. His first touch was pure elegance and as he made his way into the penalty area he was unfortunate to be denied by a magnificent low save by Dean Lyness.

The respite for the home side lasted only a few minutes. Helander headed a lofted ball clear and found Ryan Kent who had come in off the left flank. He drifted forward and found Young-Coombes, his ball left found Brewster who nodded it back to Barisic. The Croatian full-back drifted past Kyle McAllister and found half a yard in which to get the ball across. Meeting the ball near the penalty spot was none other than Glen Kamara who rose unchallenged and glanced a lovely header into the far corner of the net to break the deadlock.

Three minutes later another Barisic cross created our second goal, this one was met at the far post by Troy Parrott. The teenager rose well, unmarked it has to be said, and planted his header across goal, across Lyness and into the back of the net for his first ever senior goal. You could tell how much it meant to the lad as he sprinted off like a dervish in celebration, meanwhile I was able to sit and savour an early 2-goal advantage and a performance that so far had been right on the money.

Before the half had reached its midway point, in the words of the Spice Girls, almost, two became three. An unbelievable ball in behind from deep swung in early by Tavernier saw Brewster run in behind and as it dropped, unleash a thunderous half-volley from about 8-yards out that left Lyness utterly helpless to make it 3-0.

Three minutes after that another Barisic delivery, this time from a free-kick deep on the right was swung into the box and again, it was a black-shirt (non-fascist) that met the ball full-blooded on their forehead. It was Filip Helander who outjumped his marker but was unable under pressure to quite direct his header on target.

We were in full control of the contest, although understandably the intensity did drop slightly as the half went on. Five minutes before the break Troy Parrott once again showed a superb first touch to bring the ball down out of the sky and into his stride to get into the penalty area. With the confidence of a goal behind him he got his shot away early this time but was denied by a very fine stop from Lyness diving to his right to push the ball away.

HALF TIME: St Mirren 0-3 Glasgow Rangers

There was little to say at the break except to implore the boys not to let up and keep it going throughout the second half. I wanted a much stronger second half than we’d seen against Motherwell and Caley Thistle, something that was made abundantly clear.

After Jonathan Obika saw an early shot well blocked by Goldson in the opening couple of minutes of the second period, we swiftly found ourselves back on the front foot. A Barisic free-kick from the right-hand side into the far post was met by a combination of Goldson’s head and Parrott’s shoulder, with the ball ending up drifting wide of the post before on the hour mark I decided to change by full-backs. Both had been excellent and deserved a rest, so on came Ryan Jack for Tavernier at right-back whilst Borna was replaced by Reza Durmisi at left-back.

The changes did nothing to stifle our attacking threat and a couple of minutes after the introduction a sweeping move from front to back and left to right saw Nat Young-Coombes pick up a cross-field pass from Ryan Kent and lay it forward into the path of Brewster. The striker, 35-yards from goal had plenty to do, but do it he did as he turned, broke into a sprint and from around 22-yards unleashed a magnificent low strike across Lyness and into the bottom corner of the net to make it 4-0. A superb team goal finished in wonderful individual style.

Kent was the third and final man to be rested, being withdrawn in favour of Jordan Jones and within a couple of minutes of his own introduction the substitute had gone desperately close to a goal that would have been reminiscent of George Weah’s solo goal for AC Milan against Verona or Saeed Al-Owairan’s for Saudi Arabia against Belgium in the 1994 World Cup. Picking the ball up on the edge of his own penalty area after Helander had headed clear a corner kick he then ran the entire length of the field, outpacing everyone in a white shirt yet, unfortunately, when he found himself clear on Lyness, the goalkeeper made a superb save to his left to push the ball away for a corner and deny the young winger the goal of a lifetime.

From the corner Brewster headed wide across goal at the far post, denying himself a hat-trick and a couple of minutes later, at the midway point of the second period, Young-Coombes dragged his shot wide when he found some space just inside the Saints’ penalty area.

Brewster wasn’t to be denied for long. Latching onto a pass from Goldson, the striker showed excellent control to take the ball down and then outpaced his marker before impudently rounding Lyness and tucking the ball into an empty net. It completed a first career hat-trick for the promising young striker and took him up to 13 goals for the season, nine of which had come in his last 8 matches.

This had been an emphatic performance and I really didn’t mind the foot coming off the pedal for the last 20 minutes or so. Instead we kept the ball nicely, probed and created one or two minor chances but concentrated on conserving energy with the semi-final just a few days away. Ilkay Durmus went close to a consolation for the hosts with five minutes remaining but was denied by a very good save from the alert McCrorie – once again showing his levels of focus and concentration having been barely called upon before then – before the referee brought proceedings to a close.

Although I was delighted with the manner of the win, I did feel a little for my opposite number Jim Goodwin who, on his way down the tunnel was subjected to some pretty vile comments from his own fan. After conceding 5 at home to Motherwell at the beginning of the month and 5 again here, any credit from his time as a popular centre-half over six years a decade or so before at Love Street was swiftly running out. It’s never nice seeing a counterpart having to put up with that kind of thing but to Jim’s credit, he fronted up after the game and produced a witheringly honest appraisal of his side’s performance.

The boys had earned themselves a day off after that performance after which we had a day to prep for the League Cup Semi-Final at Hampden against a St. Johnstone side that had followed up their highly impressive point against Celtic with three at Inverness to drag themselves off the bottom of the table. Although clearly heavy favourites this would not be a walkover. Once again, I had to make sure the boys’ minds were right.

FULL TIME: St Mirren 0-5 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier (Jack), Goldson, Helander, Barisic (Durmisi), Kamara, Aribo, Young-Coombes, Kent (Jones), Brewster, Parrott

[he_2]

Table as at Wednesday 28^th October 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	11	9	2	0	35	4	29	31
Glasgow Rangers	11	9	2	0	35	5	29	30
Motherwell	11	7	2	2	23	13	23	10
Heart of Midlothian	11	7	1	3	21	18	22	3
Dundee United	11	3	5	3	14	17	14	-3
Kilmarnock	11	3	4	4	10	16	13	-6
Aberdeen	11	4	0	7	14	18	12	-4
Livingston	11	2	4	5	9	18	10	-9
St Mirren	11	2	4	5	10	24	10	-14
St Johnstone	11	2	2	7	7	20	8	-13
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	11	2	1	7	9	19	7	-10
Hibernian	11	1	3	7	9	22	6	-13

 

Tuesday 27^th October 2020

Aberdeen	3	4	Hearts
Hibs	1	1	Dundee Utd

 

Wednesday 28^th October 2020

Celtic	3	0	Kilmarnock
Inverness	1	2	St Johnstone
Motherwell	1	1	Livingston
St Mirren	0	5	Rangers

[he_2]

Saturday 31^st October 2020: Glasgow Rangers v St Johnstone (League Cup Semi-Final)

Venue: Hampden Park

Att: 30,082

Managerial Record v St Johnstone: P 4 W 3 D 1 L 0 F 11 A 4

This was my first taste of managerial life at a neutral venue, my first taste of managerial life at Hampden Park. Of course, I’d been here the season before in a media capacity as part of the studio set-up for the Old Firm derby in the League Cup Final but this was my first taste of being down on the famous hallowed turf where legends of Scottish Football had created so much history in the past. Not to mention a couple of thrilling European Cup Finals as well and that volley from Zidane in 2001 against Leverkusen. Whilst the boys were having a look at the pitch after we’d arrived I took ten minutes to wander around the great arena and get a bit of a feel for it. It was no bigger than Ibrox and smaller than Parkhead, but places like this have an aura of their own.

I’d not slept so well the night before as I mulled over my team for the match-up with St Johnstone. As I’ve already mentioned, they were in rather better shape than when we beat them 3-0 in the league back in August so I certainly wasn’t taking them likely. That said though, I wanted to give some minutes to some other lads, as I had done throughout the competition so far. Joe Aribo was missing after tweaking a calf in training, so I kept him out as a precaution and paired Ryan Jack with Glen Kamara. I decided to leave out both first choice full-backs and give some minutes to Ross McCrorie and Reza Durmisi.

Nat Young-Coombes continued in the attacking midfield role whilst Jordan Jones came in for his third start of the season down the left, Ryan Kent dropping to the bench to have a well-earned break. Up front Alfie Morelos returned alongside Troy Parrott with Rhian Brewster, fresh from his hat-trick in midweek stepping down. I won’t lie, that decision took some explaining to the Liverpool man who was devastated to be missing out. I tried to explain the bigger picture to him – the need to get minutes into other players and keep those that had been playing so much in recent weeks as fit and fresh as possible for upcoming challenges, I’m not sure he was quite able to see things my way.

The message to the boys before the game was very simply. ‘I don’t want this to be my final visit to Hampden this season. I want to be here in a few weeks in the final in front of a full-house, not when it’s a third empty like it is today. We know all about the Saints, there won’t be any surprises from them. Be professional, work hard and let’s get the job done.’

That was the one disappointment of the day, the fact that there was only 30,000 or so in the ground rather than the 50,000 it could hold at capacity. Those that were in the crowd though did their level best to create an atmosphere and we swiftly hit our stride. Less than 5 minutes were on the clock when Morelos should have hit the target from inside the penalty area when a ball bounced off a St Johnstone body from Young-Coombes’ cross and although he was stretching a little as he fired over the top, it was a good early chance wasted.

Then, with a dozen minutes on the clock, Ross McCrorie made excellent progress down the right flank before cutting the ball back in-field for Glen Kamara. The Finnish midfielder laid it across the face of the penalty area for Ryan Jack, who was in plenty of space, and the former Aberdeen man took a touch before firing a low shot at goal. It had plenty of power and it was that which probably did for Zander Clark, the Saints’ goalkeeper. He’d gotten down well but was only able to get a hand to the strike, helping it into the bottom corner of the net rather than being able to keep it out.

An early goal was just what the doctor ordered and settled any nerves we might have been feeling.

Five minutes later clever play from Parrott saw him shift the ball left for Jordan Jones who took the ball into the penalty area. With the angle a little tighter than perhaps he’d have liked, the winger could only drive his effort into the side-netting at the near post rather than finding the angled drive he was looking for.

Then, just before the half-hour mark, Reza Durmisi cut inside off the right flank onto his left foot after a free-kick routine had initially broken down and the ball switched back right by Young-Coombes. A one-two with Helander saw the Dane work the angle for the strike but Conor Shaughnessy covered brilliantly and blocked the strike at source. Seconds later after building a new attack, Kamara swung the ball left for Jones who cut back onto his right foot, delivered a peach of a cross into the near post where it was met by the head of Morelos who once again was unable to find the target, this time with his header.

The game then settled into a nervy edgy affair in which we were in full control but unable to break down a dogged Saints side who had decided to sit in and ensure they got to half-time no worse off than being a single goal down. It worked, they threatened very little aside from a couple of half chances that either dribbled wide or were easy fodder for Rob McCrorie.

HALF TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-0 St Johnstone

At the break I implored the boys to remain patient. ‘At some point they’re going to have to come out and try and get themselves back into the game,’ I said. ‘It may be straight after the break, although I doubt it, it might be after an hour or more likely, I suspect, in the final 15-20 minutes of the game. That might be when the chances come again. Stay patient, keep working the ball. They’re well organised, they’ve done their homework but we have the quality to beat them. You have to keep believing though.’

I was right, the first 25-minutes of the second period was no better than the final quarter of an hour of the first. It was staid, turgid stuff and we lacked with wit or guile to open them up. I did consider making a change but whilst the Saints looked no more likely to score than we did and with a goal advantage I thought this would be a worthy test for the boys, see if they would be able to overcome it or not.

They were, with a little help from the opposition’s defence, with 18 minutes remaining. Durmisi got himself forward down the left flank and sent a low cross into the box. It was cleared comfortably by the Saints back four but in amongst all of that, Troy Parrott had gone down under a challenge from Ali McCann and the referee had seen enough to award us a spot kick.

With Borna Barisic and James Tavernier on the bench, Alfie Morelos showed character to take responsibility. He placed the ball on the spot, took a deep breath to set himself, stepped up and as Clark dived to his left, simply placed the ball where he’d originally been standing to double our lead.

The Saints did show a little more adventure after that but failed to create anything of note. Our back four were excellent and never stretched. Indeed, the closest either side came to scoring in the final 20 minutes or so was when we countered with purpose and Durmisi sent Parrott scampering clear. The striker did everything right but was denied by a brilliant block from Clark, parrying the powerful effort firmly away from danger to prevent the Spurs man from adding to his midweek strike.

The final whistle brought a poor match to a conclusion, I shook hands with Tommy Wright wished him well for the next month or so before we would lock horns again and went out to acknowledge the acclaim of our supporters who thanks to a journeyman performance, could very much look forward to another visit five weeks later.

Who our opponents would be we had to wait and see. Aberdeen, who were in the midst of a wretched run of had seen them lose four of their last 5 Premiership matches, were taking on Celtic at Hampden the following day. Our cross-city rivals were hot favourites to make it an Old Firm final for the second season in a row. We’d take on either side, I didn’t mind. I was just very pleased, in spite of the slightly meandering performance, to have a first ever final appearance to look forward to.

After congratulating the boys in the dressing room after the game I made myself a note on my phone for Monday morning.

Get measured for cup final suit.

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 2-0 St Johnstone

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Ross.McCrorie, Goldson, Helander, Durmisi, Kamara, Jack, Young-Coombes, Jones, Morelos, Parrott

[he_2]

Lo and behold, Aberdeen belied their awful form to hold on beyond extra-time and beat Celtic on penalties to seal their place in the League Cup Final. I was partially amazed, partially delighted and partially slightly disappointed. The delight came from the fact that obviously, on paper, the fact that we’d be playing Aberdeen probably did increase our chances of being successful and coming away with silverware. The disappointment, and it was only minor, stemmed from the fact that the final wouldn’t be contested by the Old Firm with 40% of the crowd in Blue, 40% in Green and then 20% scoffing vol-au-vents for the opening quarter of an hour of each half. The atmosphere the season before had been something else, greater than even the Old Firm tie we’d had at Ibrox because it was equal numbers of Gers and Bhoys supporters.

We had 8 days to prepare for what was another special day ahead on a personal note as I took Rangers back to Tynecastle for the first time since I’d left the Edinburgh club at the end of the previous season. The vast majority of their squad were those that I had with me and David Moyes had been working well with them to keep them on the tail of Motherwell and looking to build a challenge for 3^rd place once again. There were one or two new faces, largely borne of the fact that David liked to play with wing-backs and three centre-halves. One of their standout performers had been Tariq Lamptey, who I had done a deal for before leaving and who was impressing highly at right wing-back. Unfortunately, again on a personal level, Uche Ikpeazu, who had really blossomed under me was nowhere to be seen. He simply couldn’t get any game time. I think part of that was down to David’s preference to go with one out and out striker and part of it was down to Uche probably not being quite everyone’s cup of tea. It was a shame, I really liked Uche, he’d been outstanding for me.

All of the other big hitters were still there and part of things. Conor Washington was amongst the goals once again whilst John Souttar was still awaiting his big move, marshalling the back-three and, if anything, even better on the ball than he’d been under me. Jamie Walker and Sean Clare, Peter Haring and Ricci Montolivo as well as the other old timers Glenn Whelan and Christophe Berra. It would be really good to see a lot of familiar old faces on the pitch as well as loads of those off the pitch too. Paul Gallacher, JD and Foxy had been kept on as part of Moyes’ backroom staff whilst Karen Gibson and Craig Maitland were still doing the day to day physio work on the squad. And, of course, Pat Nevin, the Director of Football and part-time mentor and counsellor during my fledgling season in the dugout. I was also delighted to see that Stevie Naismith had been brought on-board as part of the coaching staff and was now managing their Under-18s. He had plenty to offer as a coach or manager, that was a great appointment.

What I didn’t really have a handle on was how the Jambos supporters were going to react to my return. I had an inkling from questions I’d received through the press that they were a bit split on how I’d handled my departure with a section blaming the board for not offering me a new contract earlier and another section seeing me as being a Billy Big Balls and somehow bigger than Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Had I been offered a contract extension sometime around February or March time I would probably have taken it. I certainly didn’t have any designs on taking the Rangers job at that point – I didn’t know it was going to be available for a start. I was enjoying life in Edinburgh, I was enjoying the club and wasn’t in any hurry to leave. Waiting until so late to be offered a new deal felt like a notional tick boxing exercise by Ann Budge and the hierarchy, as something to be done to show supporters that at least they’d tried to keep me. By then my mind had been set on departure at the end of the season.

With the benefit of hindsight, clearly leaving the club has been a good move so far on a professional level. The Rangers job was a step up, although less than a third of a way through the season it looked as though we were setting ourselves up to really challenge Celtic’s league title crown. I was working with better players and although the pressure was infinitely greater – I was expected to win every game – that was a pressure I enjoyed and felt I was beginning to thrive under.

If I am brutally honest, it was really difficult to see how I could have taken Hearts much further. There were one or two interesting prospects that I would have liked to have blooded from the younger age group teams. Midfielder Harry Cochrane, for example, and Jay Charleston-King who made an impression late on for me. But without significant investment and without us knowing that somewhere down the line we’d have to be selling key figures like John Souttar, rather than building the side around them to try and seriously challenge the Old Firm, there was a glass ceiling of 3^rd place that we wouldn’t have been able to break in the foreseeable future.

Since leaving Tynecastle and getting the job at Ibrox I’d been asked a few times whether, if I’d signed a new deal at Hearts and the Rangers job had come up, I’d have applied for it. My answer to that was simple. No, I wouldn’t have done. I’ve only ever broken a contract once for reasons that, I felt, were fully understandable. However, I always added the caveat that if Rangers had approached Hearts and I’d been given permission to speak to them then I would have been foolish not to have had that conversation, listened to what they said and gone from there. Of course, that was all if, buts and maybes. I had left Hearts, rightly or wrongly, and I had taken the Rangers job. Those were the facts and I would have to take whatever reception I was granted on the chin.

[he_2]

Sunday 8^th November 2020: Heart of Midlothian v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: Tynecastle

Att: 20,099

Managerial Record v Hearts: P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 3 A 0

Not only was this a return to where it all started, it was this fixture that kicked off my league career with that humbling 3-0 defeat at Tynecastle more than 15 months previously. I’d learned a lot that day and I’d learned much more since. The hosts’ form had been patchy throughout the season, impressive results being followed up with defeats here and there – the 4-1 loss at Motherwell three weeks before was probably still chafing a little around the place. But since then they’d beaten St Mirren 3-1 and edged a thriller at Aberdeen 4-3 to fully cement themselves in the top 4 of the division. In spite of that ravishing at Fir Park, they remained only a single point behind Motherwell in the table.

I returned to something approaching my strongest side, albeit without Connor Goldson, who was missing through suspension for accumulated bookings. George Edmundson came into the side to partner Filip Helander for what was his first league start of the season. Ryan Jack was also missing through suspension so Glen Kamara continued alongside the returning Joe Aribo in the heart of the midfield. Elsewhere there were returns for James Tavernier, Borna Barisic, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Rhian Brewster.

As it happened, when I appeared from the tunnel, the response from the home fans was pretty warm. There were some isolated boos and taunts of ‘Judas!’ – it’s strange how the negativity forces itself through the warmth, but I was able to shake it off quite easily and get quickly focused on the job in hand. Without exception, my welcome from everyone I’d known at the club over the previous 15 or 16 months had been absolutely spot on. There was a lot of warm handshakes, hugs, the expected little pieces of banter and it really had been lovely to see everyone again, albeit with a job to do on them.

I wasn’t expecting us to rip Hearts apart. If David Moyes’ sides could be relied upon to be one thing, they would be tough to break down. Well organised and set-up to make things as difficult as possible for us, particularly with a partisan home side behind them.

As it happened, within the first 43 seconds we very nearly went ahead in sensational style. James Tavernier spotted a gap after receiving the ball from Scott Arfield and so bolted into it like an excited pony. No-one came to engage him so from just inside the penalty area he unleashed a powerful strike that left Daniel in the home goal standing and, one would guess, enormously relieved to see the ball thunder down off the underside of the crossbar to land no more than a foot the right side of the goal-line from his point of view before spinning away and allowing the home side to launch a counter attack. Lamptey picked up the ball from Michael Smith’s clearance and a swift counter saw Jamie Walker play in Conor Washington down the side of Edmundson. The Northern Irish international’s effort flashed just the wrong side of the post and rippled the side netting.

A chance apiece and not yet a minute on the clock. One of the more breathless openings to a game that I’d witnessed.

I’d expected Hearts to largely cede ground, defend deep and soak up our pressure before striking on the counter. As it happened they were employing a high press early on and that very nearly forced a fatal error as pressure on Tavernier and Edmundson allowed neither man out and the ball was given away cheaply to Walker. He headed it on for Washington who found himself in behind. This time he did hit the target but found McCrorie had narrowed the angle well and able to make the save.

A few minutes later, Montolivo outmuscled and outbattled Arfield on the right-hand side, picked up possession and set off showing more mobility that he’d shown for me (I’d given him no licence to run with the ball to be fair!) he made 40 yards progress and after opening his body to try and curl the ball into the far corner of the net with his right foot was denied by another good stop from McCrorie.

At this point I was concerned. I was off my seat pacing the technical area like a caged tiger, ready to pounce upon any blue-shirted player that dared to come within hollering distance.

We simply weren’t able to get anything going, if we attacked then we came up against a superbly organised maroon wall and the moment we lost possession we couldn’t get the damn thing back again. Although it took 25 minutes for another decent chance to be fashioned at either end, when it came once again it was from the home side. Neat and patient build-up down the right saw Lamptey feign to whip a cross in and instead stroke it inside for Walker. The attacking midfielder cut inside onto his left foot and unleashed a powerful strike which beat McCrorie but glanced firmly off the face of the crossbar on its way over the top for a goal kick.

The interval really couldn’t come soon enough for us.

A couple of minutes later another break by the hosts saw Washington slip the ball into the box from the left for Walker to meet first time with a left-foot strike. Helander stood up well and allowed the ball to crash away off his shin to safety but even that block came with danger, the deflection could easily have gone anywhere.

The best chance of the lot fell once again to Walker 7 minutes before the break when he was found by a defence splitting pass from the boot of Montolivo. Finding himself in a chasm of space between our centre-halves, Walker steadied himself and looked to slide it beyond the advancing McCrorie. Credit to the goalkeeper, once again, as he got down brilliantly to push the ball around the post for a corner kick and allow us to remain on terms.

Finally, in the final couple of minutes before the break we managed to launch some sort of a response, albeit a fairly tepid one in comparison to what Hearts had created. A little bit of pinball in the penalty area saw a couple of efforts blocked from Brewster and Kent before Barisic had a snap-shot from 25-yards out that nearly caught Daniel out, the goalkeeper diving to his left to shovel the ball behind for a corner kick.

HALF TIME: Heart of Midlothian 0-0 Glasgow Rangers

The moment the referee put the whistle to his lips to blow for half-time I was already half a dozen paces inside the tunnel and making, with purpose, for the away dressing room. If the players were hoping for some degree of sanctuary they were to be sorely disappointed. I was absolutely furious.

‘That,’ I shouted, ‘that is not what Glasgow Rangers Football Club is about. That,’ I shouted again, ‘that was nothing short of shambolic. Embarrassing. You see him?’ I pointed at my goalkeeper sat slumped, looking at his feet, still with his gloves on. ‘He is the one reason we aren’t 3-0 down right now. He,’ I point to Rob again, ‘is the one person that has earned his wages in that first half. The rest of you have been downright embarrassing.’

‘They’re pressing us boss, we didn’t expect that.’ James Tavernier piped up. I stopped my pacing around abruptly to look at him, fixing him with my most withering stare.

‘They’re pressing you?!’ I spluttered.

‘Yeah. We were expecting them to be sat deep but every time we get the ball there’s two of them in our faces.’

‘Okay, you know what Tav, sure, I’ll put my hand up, that caught me off guard early on as well. But you know what? You’re big enough and ugly enough adapt. You’re not stupid, nor are you,’ I point at Joe Aribo, ‘or you’ I point at Scott Arfield. ‘You’re all experienced lads, you’ve played against sides that press you before. What do you do when you get pressed?’

Silence.

‘Come on, how do you counter a high press?’

Joe Aribo looked up. ‘Yes, Joe.’

‘One -touch and look in behind.’

‘Boom, five points Gryffindor.’ I said. ‘One-touch football and look to turn them. That doesn’t mean long ball football, it means laying the ball off and then spinning in behind your marker. We’ve done it dozens of times in training. I shouldn’t have to be busting my balls out there on the touchline trying to get you to adapt, I shouldn’t have to be waiting until now to be getting this sorted. You think of yourselves as leaders, you sort it out and then we have a very different conversation in here, none of this barking and wailing.’

I pause for a minute to take a cup of tea from the tray.

‘Right, boys.’ I state more calmly. ‘That 45 is history. Done. Let’s go again. It’s 0-0 so we make this a 45-minute game and show what we’re about. Okay?!’

‘Aye!’

‘Yes boss!’

The first quarter of an hour of the second period saw us at least proving much more competitive, our passing had more intent to it although was still missing the crispness and we were better defensively. That said, the first chance of the period did fall to the hosts when Washington headed Montolivo’s ball forward on for the run of the elusive Walker who scampered in between Barisic and Helander, got into the penalty area and was unfortunate to see McCrorie once again up to the task of keeping his effort out, this time the goalkeeper firmly pushing the ball over the top. The goalkeeper was once again called into action from the corner when the run of Sean Clare wasn’t tracked by Edmundson and McCrorie had to plunge to his left to hold onto the Hearts man’s header.

All of a sudden in the last twenty minutes we really came to life and began to force Hearts back. On 69 minutes Rhian Brewster picked up a pass from Borna Barisic just inside his own half, turned and went on a run down the left, cutting inside and then firing a viciously fizzing strike narrowly over the top.

That was the beginning of a spell of heavy pressure which, to be honest, the home side did extremely well to not only withstand, but to keep us from creating much of note. That all changed 12 minutes from time when Barisic got down the left and rather than crossing it, found Kent. The winger played the ball back into the left-back’s path inside the penalty area and as the Croatian had a moment to look up, he fired a left-footed shot that caught out Daniel and beat him at his near post, fairly riffing into the back of the net to break the deadlock and give us the lead.

Just over a minute later and a long clearance saw Troy Parrott find space and pounce in behind the Hearts back three. He couldn’t work himself a great angle for a shot but did get one away nonetheless, this time Daniel had sort of covered his near post and was able to kick the ball away from danger. Unconventional, but effective nonetheless.

Hearts were pouring forward now in pursuit of the equaliser they fully warranted. That suited us though since it opened up plenty of gaps on the break. And it was from one such break that Brewster brought the ball forward down the left with acres of space to run into with 10 minutes to go, and, full of confidence after his hat-trick against St Mirren, went himself and was denied by a good save from Daniel.

A minute later and as another Hearts attack floundered, Barisic this time brought the ball clear and fed it over halfway for Kamara. He spotted the run of substitute Jordan Jones and played him in. It looked as though the ball had run away from the winger at first but he gathered it into his stride superbly well with his first touch, used his second to get into the penalty area and with his third, fired low across Daniel into the far corner of the net. A real hammer blow for the home side, their fans stunned into silence and surely three points that only ten minutes or so before had seemed as far away as Mogadishu, must have been securely banked.

We saw the next fifteen minutes or so out with a great deal of professionalism as Hearts really began to bang on the door. Edmundson and Helander won pretty much everything that came into the box whilst Tavernier and Barisic, their attacking instincts temporarily curbed, dealt with most of the threat from wide areas meaning that the balls into the area had to come from deep. Much easier to deal with.

In the 6^th and final minute of stoppage time, Alexandru Chipciu, a free transfer from Anderlecht who had come of the bench, latched onto a fine ball from Cochrane, held off the challenge of Barisic and neatly beat McCrorie with a well disguised finish. It was no more than a consolation and as the whistle went shortly after, Moyes came over to shake my hand and was very generous in his comments.

‘Well played, Jones. You showed my boys the value of being clinical and takin’ yer chances.’

‘On another day, David, you’d have been three up by half-time.’

‘Ah, I tell these lads they’ve gotta be more ruthless in front of goal. One day they’ll learn the lesson. Anyways, I have a decent bottle of claret if you wanna pop up after the press conferences?’

‘That’d be lovely, thanks.’

‘You know the way?’

I laughed. ‘I think I can just about remember it.’

Back in the dressing room I cut the boys a little bit of slack after their half-time shelling. ‘Eh, that was better boys. Not great, but you hung in there and then when they tired took advantage. Well done, that’ll prove to be a good three points come the end of the season.’

It had been a successful, if not altogether smooth sailing afternoon back at Tynecastle. I’d enjoyed the welcome that I’d received and after I’d had a glass of Moyes’ claret, took a couple of minutes to do the rounds and say goodbye to as many of the staff that had served me so well over the previous year. Outside the ground, one or two home fans were mingling with Gers fans and waiting for a selfie with me and an autograph, although it delayed the departure of the coach by five minutes I was only too happy to stop and oblige. The Jambo fans were magnanimous in defeat and the Gers fans effusive in their praise. It was a nice moment with which to end another long day.

FULL TIME: Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Glasgow Rangers

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Edmundson, Helander, Barisic, Kamara, Aribo, Arfield (Jones), Kent, Morelos (Parrott), Brewster

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 8^th November 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	12	10	2	0	39	4	32	35
Glasgow Rangers	12	10	2	0	37	6	32	31
Motherwell	12	8	2	2	24	13	26	11
Heart of Midlothian	12	7	1	4	22	20	22	2
Kilmarnock	12	4	4	4	13	16	16	-3
Dundee United	12	3	5	4	14	21	14	-7
Aberdeen	12	4	1	7	14	18	13	-4
Livingston	12	2	5	5	11	20	11	-9
St Mirren	12	2	5	5	12	26	11	-14
St Johnstone	12	2	2	8	7	21	8	-14
Hibernian	12	1	4	7	9	22	7	-13
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	12	2	1	8	9	22	7	-13

 

Friday 6^th November

St Mirren

2

2

Livingston

 

Saturday 7^th November

Aberdeen	0	0	Hibernian
Inverness	0	3	Kilmarnock
Motherwell	1	0	St Johnstone

 

Sunday 8^th November

Hearts	1	2	Rangers
Celtic	4	0	Dundee Utd

[he_2]

Friday 20^th November 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Aberdeen (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox Park

Att: 50,817

Managerial Record v Aberdeen: P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 10 A 7

Another tedious international break came and went without incident. Well, almost. It transpired that Borna Barisic had picked up a nasty groin injury against Hearts and neglected to tell anyone. That was to keep him out of action for 4 weeks or so whilst Glen Kamara picked up a knock in Finland’s match against Turkey meaning that he would also miss out on the visit to Ibrox of Aberdeen. James Tavernier was ruled out through suspension meaning that I was forced to shuffle my pack.

Connor Goldson was at least back from his ban so he came back in for George Edmundson, who dropped to the bench, Jon Flanagan got the nod for the right-back berth – only his second start of the season – and Reza Durmisi came in at left back. Otherwise it was as you were.

I’ve mentioned the Dons’ poor run of form before, their penalty shoot-out win over Celtic whilst impressive was failing to paper over the cracks of their poor league campaign to date. Manager Derek McInnes was finding himself under ever increasing scrutiny with results not going his way and arrived at Ibrox, his old parade ground, looking like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The game was a sell-out, just shy of 51,000 in the ground and with the November air really beginning to nip away at fingertips, toes and noses it was time to bring out the big guns overcoat-wise. Out came the tan coloured fleece lined Motson-esq number for the first time. So did the royal blue scarf.

I had hoped that Aberdeen would be short of confidence and rather nervy so urged the boys to go at them from the off with keen appetite. I was right, they were nervy in possession, everything was done with a ‘safety first’ mindset but that meant that they were very compact and difficult to get in between. Understandably, McInnes had taken the Dons back to basics and was looking to make them hard to beat.

On 13 minutes we broke the deadlock with a goal that probably summed up the season of both sides so far. A corner was swung in by Durmisi and headed away by Scott McKenna. Rhian Brewster headed it back into the penalty area and found Filip Helander who fired a shot at goal. It hit Scott Cosgrove and rebounded for Goldson who larruped his own strike towards goal, that rebounded off Cosgrove again and as Mikkel Kirkesov looked to volley the ball clear he creamed it against the side of Alfie Morelos and could only watch on in horror as the ball bobbled goalwards, apologising on its way beyond the despairing dive of the wrong-footed Joe Lewis and into the back of the net.

Morelos, never one to stand on ceremony, peeled away in celebration as if he’d just beaten five men and stuck it into the top corner from 25-yards, those in red shirts could only look on in disbelief. Same with McInnes. I felt a bit for him in that moment.

Four minutes later we had the ball in the net again via rather more conventional means. Another dead-ball into the box from Durmisi caused chaos amongst the red-shirted visitors. Helander rose highest at the far post to head it back across goal and there was Ryan Kent to head into the vacant net. Celebrations were cut short though by the referee’s whistle and the upended flag of the official on the far side. Kent had strayed offside when the ball was headed back across by the Swede and the goal was chalked off.

That let-off seemed to provide the visitors with a touch more belief. Lewis Ferguson headed narrowly wide of the post from a very good free-kick delivery into the box by Alan Forrest from the right-hand side as the Dons threatened for the first time and a minute before the break found themselves back on terms. Some lovely build-up play from left to right saw Dean Campbell weight a lovely ball for Luca De La Torre to run onto. Although Durmisi got a foot to the initial effort, the ball broke kindly for the American and he swept the ball confidently past Rob McCrorie at the near post into the net to make it 1-1.

Just I was beginning to re-think my half-time words, the game changed again in an instant. It was exactly 37 seconds after the restart when Flanagan, who didn’t get forward like Tavernier did and thus stifled us a little as an attacking force, did brilliantly to step across and intercept a cross-field pass. Coming forward he played a simple pass left for Joe Aribo and this time he weighted the perfect ball into space behind the Aberdeen right-back for Ryan Kent to run into. Just inside the penalty area the winger took a touch and then with the angle seemingly running against him as the ball approached the 6-yard box, he fired a left-foot strike across Lewis and turned away in delight as the ball hit the netting just inside the far post to restore our advantage.

2-1, advantage Blues and another swift re-draft of my half-time soliloquy.

HALF TIME: Glasgow Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen

The boys were understandably still buzzing when they filed into the dressing room at the break and I waited a couple of minutes for them to settle down. ‘Hey, that’s good character that, getting the goal straight away. You’re ahead now and both of our goals have been a real kick in the balls for them. They’ll be hurting in there and wondering what they have to do to turn this around. Don’t give them an inch in the second half. Get into them whenever they have the ball, force errors. They don’t want it, they spent the first twenty-five minutes treating the damn thing like an unpinned grenade. Don’t stand off them, keep at it.’

I looked around the room. ‘If you beat them today you’ll have a psychological advantage in a couple of weeks when we meet them again at Hampden. Trust me, they don’t really want to be here now. They definitely won’t want to be on the bus to Hampden for that final knowing that we’ve beaten them twice already this season.’

I wanted to see us being professional and not doing anything silly, not giving them a way back into the game as we’d done at times in the past. We began the period by keeping the ball really well and winning it back quickly or forcing our visitors into a mistake when in possession. Six minutes in and a lovely move from front to back saw Aribo play in Morelos, his low drive produced a fine save from the alert Lewis at his near post to keep the scoreline differential at just the one.

Just past the hour mark and again Flanagan did well to step in and break up an Aberdeen attack. He knocked the ball inside for Arfield who showed his cutting edge with a lovely ball in behind for Brewster to run onto. The striker was probably odds-on to score but as he cut inside towards the centre of goal to get onto his right foot, again the big Aberdeen goalkeeper flung himself to his left to make a fine save. As it happened, the flag belatedly went up against Brewster and the goal wouldn’t have counted, but it was enough to show that we continued to carry a lively threat going forward.

We continued to control the game even though we weren’t creating much of note for the next dozen minutes or so. That was okay with me, even though I would have liked another goal to give us the cushion of a two-goal advantage. Goldson did go close with a towering header from a Durmisi corner kick in the 73^rd minute, his downward header bouncing half a yard the wrong side of the upright, and then Morelos found Kent with a lovely ball leaving the winger through on goal, once again it was Lewis to the rescue with another fine save, using his ample frame to excellent effect to deny Kent a second goal of the evening.

From the corner, Morelos found himself able to outjump his marker at the far post and thunder a header towards goal only to see it repelled by a quite astounding reflex save from Lewis, pushing the ball over the top at full stretch and denying the Colombian a second, rather more conventional goal himself.

The second corner was delivered into the near post where it was won by the head of Ryan Kent, but his header looped safely over the top for a goal kick.

Five minutes from time Durmisi latched onto a neat ball from Aribo and selfishly went himself, finding the side netting at the near post when a cut-back across the six-yard box saw both Brewster and Morelos waiting for a tap-in and then any tiny hope Aberdeen did have of getting back into the match went up in smoke as Dean Campbell picked up a second yellow card for tripping Ross McCrorie on the right edge of the Aberdeen penalty area and found himself beating his team-mates into the showers by four or five minutes.

We saw out the final few minutes with comfort, stroking the ball around and when the referee blew for full-time, I could see that McInnes looked like that burden that he was carrying with him had gotten just that little bit heavier and tougher to bear. I did feel for him, his players had given them everything but when you’re lacking confidence, those fine margins always seem to go against you and in favour of your opposition. From our point of view, the three points saw us leapfrog Celtic for two nights at the very least, they were due to play Hibernian on the Sunday afternoon.

Not the most convincing of scorelines and we weren’t at our most fluent, but it was a job well done.

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Flanagan (Ross.McCrorie), Goldson, Helander, Durmisi, Jack, Aribo, Arfield (Jones), Kent, Morelos, Brewster

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 22^nd November 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	13	11	2	0	41	5	35	36
Glasgow Rangers	13	11	2	0	39	7	35	32
Motherwell	13	8	2	3	24	14	26	10
Heart of Midlothian	13	7	2	4	23	21	23	2
Kilmarnock	13	5	4	4	14	16	19	-2
Dundee United	13	3	6	4	15	22	15	-7
Aberdeen	13	4	1	8	15	20	13	-5
Livingston	13	2	6	5	12	21	12	-9
St Mirren	13	2	6	5	12	26	12	-14
St Johnstone	13	2	3	8	7	21	9	-14
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	13	2	2	8	10	23	8	-13
Hibernian	13	1	4	8	10	24	7	-14

 

Friday 20^th November

Rangers

2

1

Aberdeen

 

Saturday 21^st November

Dundee Utd	1	1	Inverness
Kilmarnock	1	0	Motherwell
Livingston	1	1	Hearts
St Johnstone	0	0	St Mirren

 

Sunday 22^nd November

Hibs

1

2

Celtic

 

[he_2]

Saturday 28^th November 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Livingston (SPL)

Venue: Ibrox Park

Att: 48,441

Managerial Record v Livingston: P 4 W 4 D 0 L 0 F 13 A 2

Sometimes you get the feeling that things aren’t quite right. You might get it when you arrive at a ground, you might get it during the warm-up or team-talk or you might get it once the game has kicked off. No matter when that feeling materialises, you hunker down, hope for the best and then put the whole episode to bed as soon as you possibly can and move on.

This afternoon, the beginning of an insane 31-day period in which we would be playing 9 times, was one such occasion. It was probably during the warm-up that I realised things weren’t right. Some of the boys looked tired, leggy, there wasn’t the usual bounce in their preparations and no matter how much Macca and Nino were barking at the lads, they couldn’t seem to shake the malaise.

I tried during the team-talk to get minds re-focused and alert yet in the opening 7 minutes, three sloppy pieces of defending had seen three defenders making poor decisions, conceding silly fouls and each picking up yellow cards. Teeth were gritted, hands plunged in pockets and I began to silently pray that we would come through this match without egg on our face.

Just after picking up his yellow card, James Tavernier got down the right flank and sent a decent ball in to the far post where it was met by the head of Ryan Kent. The winger, whose goal against Aberdeen had been his 10^th goal of the season, got up well but couldn’t keep his effort down and it went a yard or so over the top, not testing Ross Stewart in the Livingston net.

The quality after that was woefully lacking from both sides and that probably suited the visitors whilst it was 0-0.

Seven minutes before the break Tavernier broke into the Livingston penalty area and as he got to the by-line found his ankle clipped by the challenge of Dolly Menga. The referee pointed to the spot and this time there could be no complaints. It was a bit of a stonewaller.

Shaking off his miss from his previous penalty kick, Tavernier took responsibility from Morelos, stepped up and although Stewart went the right way and although the shot wasn’t that near the bottom corner, it had enough about it to beat the goalkeeper and open the scoring in our favour, giving us a 1-0 lead.

A sigh of relief on the bench.

Not that the goal did anything to improve the quality of the spectacle. Some pinball inside the Livingston penalty area from a Durmisi corner kick saw three efforts well blocked – Goldson, Jack and Helander the men denied – and then we found ourselves short at the back as Khanya Leshabela found himself latching onto the long clearance forward, outpacing Tavernier and only being denied an equaliser by yet another Rob McCrorie smart save to keep our advantage intact.

HALF TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-0 Livingston

‘Okay, we all know that first half was poor. We all know our whole mindset hasn’t been right today and yet we’re a goal ahead.’ I said at the break, more calmly than perhaps the boys were expecting. ‘So long as we don’t do anything stupid we’ll get today out of the way, rest up tomorrow and get ready for the month ahead.’

I asked Macca to go through a couple of tactical points and spent the remaining six or seven minutes going around the room to have a quick one-on-one chat with each of the boys, encouraging them rather than hammering them. With such a major run of games to come I wanted to get this one out of the way and into the history books without any collateral damage and move on to our midweek visit to St Johnstone.

Early on in the second half, less than two minutes after the restart, McCrorie made another smart save, this time from a low Robbie Crawford volley after a headed clearance from a corner had fallen nicely from the Livi midfielder on the edge of the box. McCrorie showed good awareness and hands to prevent the ball from slipping from his grasp.

Then, seconds later, Scott Arfield broke from deep and advanced 35-yards or so unchallenged before dragging his shot disappointingly wide of the target when he really ought to have either forced a save at the very least from Ross Stewart or squared the ball for the supporting Troy Parrott and Ryan Kent.

Things got decidedly tougher for us on 51 minutes when Steven Lawless got wrong side of Tavernier and the right-back decided that the best way to get back into position was to tug the Livi man back. It was such a cheap foul and even cheaper second yellow card so as to seem unreal. It was all-too real though and quite in keeping with the rest of our performance up until that point. I hoped the shake of my head and withering stare at him as he walked past me, head bowed, summed up my feelings on the matter. Reluctantly I hooked Troy Parrott and sent on Ross McCrorie to maintain our 4-man defence whilst leaving Alfie up front on his own with Ryan and Scott hopefully able to get forward in support of him.

Ricki Lamie went close with a header from a free-kick into the far post whilst we were still re-organising ourselves and briefly at sixes and sevens and managed to keep ourselves out of trouble whilst creating little at the other end. With five minutes to go a defensive Horlicks within the Livi back-four gave Morelos a gilt-edged chance to seal the points, the Colombian seizing on a poor backpass to find himself one-on-one, his finish lacked conviction though and Stewart was able to comfortably save.

We very nearly paid the price three minutes later. Jordan Jones was dispossessed cheaply and the ball was eventually worked out to the left flank where Menga found himself one-on-one with Ross McCrorie. The substitute stood up well initially and nicked the ball away but Menga recovered and sent a cross into the box off his weaker right foot. Kamara headed it clear and as the ball fell for Jon Guthrie, he played a lovely ball into the box first-time from about 35 yards out. Goldson at full stretch got it half-clear but only as far as Menga. As the ball dropped, he drilled it first time across the 6-yard box where, unmarked was Leshabela to turn the ball into the gaping net.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, yet, it was no more than we deserved for our slovenly approach to the game. Yet, as I turned back to the pitch having let out an anguished yell and aimed an air kick at the dugout wall, I saw the flag raised on the far side and the referee trotting over to consult the assistant. Replays showed that Leshabela was a good half-yard offside when Menga fired the ball across and the eagle-eyed linesman had spotted the incursion into no-man’s land.

Such a let-off, I blew a huge sigh of relief and sent a look of sympathy across the halfway line to where my opposite number was deep in animated conversation with the fourth official.

Boy had we got away with this one. A couple more hairy moments were just about survived before the final whistle went. I commiserated with Gordon, who had a face like thunder although 45-minutes later, when we sat down together for a drink, he was in much more of a philosophical frame of mind. I hadn’t said much to the players afterwards, they’d have a day off the next day and then a bit of a debrief and hopefully a reset on the Monday before our trip to Perth.

Back to the top of the table overnight before Celtic’s trip to Hibs on Sunday lunchtime, that was perhaps the one modicum of comfort from what had been a trying day.

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 1-0 Livingston

Team: Rob.McCrorie, Tavernier, Goldson, Helander, Durmisi, Jack, Kamara, Arfield, Kent (Jones), Morelos, Brewster (Ross.McCrorie)

 

 

[he_2]

Table as at Sunday 29^th November 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	14	12	2	0	42	5	38	37
Glasgow Rangers	14	12	2	0	40	7	38	33
Motherwell	14	8	3	3	24	14	27	10
Heart of Midlothian	14	8	2	4	24	21	26	3
Kilmarnock	14	5	5	4	15	17	20	-2
Dundee United	14	3	7	4	15	22	16	-7
Aberdeen	14	4	1	9	15	21	13	-6
St Mirren	14	2	7	5	13	27	13	-14
Livingston	14	2	6	6	12	22	12	-10
Hibernian	14	2	4	8	12	25	10	-13
St Johnstone	14	2	3	9	7	22	9	-15
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	14	2	2	10	11	25	8	-14

 

Friday 27^th November 2020

Motherwell

0

0

Dundee Utd

 

Saturday 28^th November 2020

Hearts	1	0	St Johnstone
Inverness	1	2	Hibs
Rangers	1	0	Livingston
St Mirren	1	1	Kilmarnock

 

Sunday 29^th November 2020

Aberdeen

0

1

Celtic

[he_2]

Tuesday 1^st December 2020: St Johnstone v Glasgow Rangers (SPL)

Venue: McDiarmid Park

Att: 10,651

Managerial Record v St Johnstone: P 5 W 4 D 1 L 0 F 13 A 4

After sleeping on it I decided not to go in too hard on the boys, we were entering a really tough run of games and the best way to begin was probably not by bawling them out and putting extra pressure on them, they had plenty of that already from the supporters and media, but by supporting them and looking to focus heavily on the positives – which were that we had picked up a win and a clean sheet with ten men whilst not playing at all well – and working quietly on the less positive side of our performance at the weekend.

I realised quickly that I needed to turn a blind eye to whatever was happening for the time being at Celtic Park, focus purely on whatever we were doing – afterall, that’s the only thing within my control – and get behind the boys over the coming four weeks, to get rid of the frankly overwhelming expectations I had and try as much as possible to look forwards, not back.

For our Tuesday evening visit to Perth and with the League Cup Final lingering just over the horizon I decided to ring the changes and there were starts for Ross McCrorie, George Edmundson, Reza Durmisi, Greg Docherty, Nat Young-Coombes, Jordan Jones and Troy Parrott. If I could get away without using the likes of Scott Arfield, Connor Goldson, Alfie Morelos and Ryan Kent then that’s what I would do. I just wanted to come away from this one without any injuries.

St Johnstone were in a little bit of strife towards the bottom of the table and since our previous meeting just over four weeks previously in the last-four of the League Cup, they had failed to score and picked up just a solitary point. We were heavy odds-on favourites to take the points but as we’d seen the previous weekend, being favourites for a match didn’t equate to points on the board.

With so many changes, a gale force wind swirling around McDiarmid Park and fiercely persistent rain falling, perhaps it was no surprise that the opening half an hour was a bit of a disjointed scrappy mess. Neither side really threatened aside from the odd long-range effort and it wasn’t until Ross McCrorie’s near post cross was headed towards goal by Nat Young-Coombes and safely gathered by Zander Clark that either goalkeeper’s gloves were unduly muddied.

That provided some level of spark. Greg Docherty and Young-Coombes combined well in a tight space to find Troy Parrott in a yard of space just inside the D. Taking one touch to swivel, the young Irish striker then fired a terrific strike beyond the helpless dive of Clark and into the corner of the net to break the deadlock in emphatic style. In his 16^th appearance of the season he’d managed to grab his second strike. And quite the zinger it was.

What the opening half an hour had lacked the next quarter of an hour more than made up for. We had found our range with our passing and a fine move ten minutes later saw Parrott double his personal tally and gave us a 2-goal cushion. It was one-touch stuff from the second Docherty had swept the ball left for Durmisi. He fizzed a low ball into the box which Brewster cleverly laid off for Parrott and first time he slid the ball just beyond Clark and into the same corner of the net that his first goal found.

I’d hoped at that point to reach the break with that two-goal cushion, however, with half-time on the horizon, we went to sleep defensively and a cross from Anthony Ralston caught George Edmundson and Ross McCrorie both ball-watching. In-between the two defenders popped up Matty Kennedy and he gleefully slid the ball home at the far post to reduce the arrears.

HALF TIME: St Johnstone 1-2 Glasgow Rangers

I bit my tongue at the break, tempting as it was to lay into the boys somewhat for switching off just before the whistle. But, remembering that for some of them it was a first start in a while and also that we were still ahead, I remained positive and upbeat. I wanted to get this game out of the way so that we could switch focus to the final against Aberdeen at the weekend, there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that perhaps that was proving to be a little bit of a distraction to the boys, the opportunity to gain some silverware not far away.

So, supportive, promoting vigilance and ask the boys just to keep it going, find a third goal and just be switched on defensively.

Ten minutes after the restart Durmisi delivered a cross from the right-hand side that found Parrott at the far post rising higher than anyone else. Unfortunately, although he did rise highest, the ball rose even higher off his forehead and a ended up a good couple of feet too high as it sailed over the crossbar. Still, you could tell that the striker was now full of confidence and could sense his first ever career hat-trick at senior level was quite possibly there for the taking.

Lo-and-behold, it did arrive in the 63^rd minute, spinning off his marker as Joe Aribo received the ball in midfield from Durmisi and as the ball came through from the ex-Charlton man, busting a gut to get onto it for it was marginally overhit, drawing Clark and confidently sliding the ball beyond him into the far bottom corner of the net. It capped a terrific personal performance and on that level, I was delighted for him. He’d worked so hard since arriving at the club but had found his chances probably more sporadic than he’d have liked. He’d not had a run of games and really been given the opportunity to get into a rhythm so to see him put in such a terrific showing was fantastic. It also gave me a real headache ahead of the weekend in terms of selection.

With ten minutes or so remaining, Rhian Brewster almost got himself in on the goalscoring action as he scampered onto a ball forward by Jordan Jones, this time Clark managed to make a fine block to maintain the scorline, a save that helped to set up a nervy finish.

Once again, a misjudgement by George Edmundson with 2 minutes remaining as Kennedy stepped beyond him saw the Englishman clip the Saints’ midfielder’s heel inside the penalty area and the referee was in no doubt as he pointed to the spot. Substitute Michael O’Halloran stepped up confidently and sent Rob McCrorie the wrong way to make it 3-2.

From the kick-off Jordan Jones went desperately close to settling our nerves as he was sent away by Brewster’s fine pass, he beat Clark comfortably enough but the ball went half a yard the wrong side of the far post and behind for a goal-kick.

For the final four or five minutes we found ourselves pinned back inside our own half and unable to get out as the Saints began something of a bombardment. Credit is due to Edmundson, who took a little heat for both of their goals, he stood up really well and whatever wasn’t overhit he attacked and headed clear whilst Helander dropped off a couple of yards to sweep if he needed to.

We survived and another valuable three points were secured to take us back above our cross-city rivals in the table once again – albeit for 24-hours as a minimum. I didn’t say much afterwards except for a quick well done, give them a day off and then from Thursday onwards it was tunnel vision for the League Cup Final.

FULL TIME: St Johnstone 2-3 Glasgow Rangers

[he_2]

Table as at Wednesday 2^nd December 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	15	13	2	0	45	5	41	40
Glasgow Rangers	15	13	2	0	43	9	41	34
Heart of Midlothian	15	9	2	4	26	22	29	4
Motherwell	15	8	4	3	26	16	28	10
Kilmarnock	15	5	5	5	16	19	20	-3
Dundee United	15	3	8	4	15	22	17	-7
Livingston	15	3	6	6	15	23	15	-8
St Mirren	15	2	8	5	13	27	14	-14
Aberdeen	15	4	1	10	16	24	13	-8
Hibernian	15	2	5	8	14	27	11	-13
St Johnstone	15	2	3	10	9	25	9	-16
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	15	2	2	11	11	28	8	-17

 

Tuesday 1^st December

Dundee Utd	0	0	St Mirren
Hibs	2	2	Motherwell
St Johnstone	2	3	Rangers

 

Wednesday 2^nd December

Celtic	3	0	Inverness
Kilmarnock	1	2	Hearts
Livingston	3	2	Aberdeen

[he_2]

Funnily enough, the pre-match build-up ahead of the League Cup final was less intense than that which had foreshadowed the first Old Firm meeting of the campaign. I found that slightly strange and, if I’m honest, a little bit disappointing. The match was being seen by most as a foregone conclusion, particularly with Aberdeen in dire straits having lost 7 of their previous 8 league matches (the eighth match was a goalless draw with Hibs) and with the midway point of the season approaching in danger of being drawn into the relegation dogfight.

Manager Derek McInnes was under even more scrutiny than he had been a fortnight before when we had beaten them 2-1 at Ibrox and it was largely felt that whilst an ‘unlikely win’ might buy him more time, that the powers that be at Pittodrie were already lining up his successor.

I sympathised with him enormously even if I was unable to empathise. I felt fortunate that I’d so far not really had to put up with too much noise around my position. Some at the beginning at Hearts, some scepticism amongst the Rangers faithful too as well as one or two in the press when I made the move to Ibrox, but nothing compared to what Derek was having to try and manage. I didn’t envy him in the slightest.

If anything, Aberdeen’s predicament only served to make sure that I emphasised the need for us to be fully focused and aware. The spotlight would be on us and the expectation was that we would win the game. We had to make sure that we didn’t show any degree of complacency. To that end, during training on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning I mixed things up a lot, I wanted to keep the boys on their toes and guessing even though, I suspected, deep down most would probably have been able to recognise whether or not they were likely to be starting the game. I kept things close to my chest though only making the team public an hour and a half before kick-off. There were two lads who got the benefit of an early heads-up in an attempt to assuage their likely disappointment at being left out of the starting line-up, and to be fair to both of them, each were more than entitled to feel disgruntled at their non-inclusion.

Away from the training ground, I spent the players’ day-off looking at a couple of videos of Aberdeen’s matches with Celtic and Livingston as well as taking myself off for a haircut and picking up my bespoke suit that I’d had made by an independent one-woman band who offered dressmaking and tailoring services. I’d gone for a chic dark blue affair that came with a gorgeous sky-blue shirt and silken dark blue and red tie, complete with a club branded tie-clip. The final shopping stop saw me pick up some tan brogues. Everything fitted beautifully, I felt really comfortable and even if my insides were going to be churned like butter in a dairy, I’d be able to look the part on the outside.

There were plenty of interviews with the usual suspects across the few days in the lead-up to the game and the pre-match press conference lasted a little longer than usual, some different questions rather than the usual run of the mill stuff.

James Boyle: Jones, Rangers won the competition last season yet there’s only a handful of teams that have claimed back-to-back triumphs and defending the League Cup is clearly one of the toughest tasks a team can face. Having come all this way, can you get across the line and win the match?

We’re under no illusions at all, tomorrow’s going to be extremely tough. Aberdeen will be wanting to win this one just as much as we do and Derek will have his boys raring to go. We have to make sure that we match their intensity from the moment the game kicks off.

Leah Young: The League Cup is just one of a number of trophies Rangers could potentially win. Would a win tomorrow act as something of a springboard for further successes?

Oh, absolutely, yes. Glasgow Rangers has been built on success throughout its history. The past decade or so has been relatively lean, obviously, but I firmly believe that picking up the trophy tomorrow afternoon will see the boys get the taste and leave them hungry for more.

A noticeable little smile from Leah as I answered, that was interesting. Since taking the job at Ibrox I’d received not even so much as a grimace, I wondered whether she was softening a little or whether I was misreading the situation. There was no time to dwell on it, however, as the next question followed on swiftly.

Kara Warwick: There’s a feeling amongst many that Aberdeen’s James Wilson could well have a significant impact on the final. Would you agree he’s a top player?

Oh, absolutely. James has been a real prospect for a few years now but in the last 18-months or so he’s really begun to deliver for Aberdeen. He’s someone I have a lot of admiration for, as I do everyone in Derek’s squad.

Kyle Connell: How are you going to counter the threat posed by James Wilson? Who will you detail to watch him?

I chuckled softly.

Come now, Kyle, you don’t really expect me to give away my game-plan now do you?

That provoked some soft laughter amongst the press-pack.

KC: Well, no harm in asking.

LY: A number of supporters feel that your 3-0 extra time win over Alloa was probably the best your side have performed in the run to the final. Would you agree?

I think we played well in extra time against Alloa, I’d agree that those 30 minutes were the best we’ve played in the competition to this point. Having said that, I think it’s fair to say we haven’t really been anywhere near our best so far in the competition yet. I’m hoping we can change that tomorrow.

KW: This is one of the biggest games of the season and all Rangers fans will be watching on with high expectations. Does that make you anxious at all?

Not really, no. Expectations are high at this football club and rightly so. They’re high for a reason. The entire squad are equally aware of what’s expected of them, it’s been made abundantly clear to them throughout the last couple of days.

James Sutherland: Will you be making any changes to your line-up for the big match?

We’ll check on the players in the morning, make sure everyone’s fit and focused before making the final decisions regarding team selection. Will there be changes from the game on Tuesday night? Probably, yes, but a number of boys took their chance at St Johnstone and have given me a number of difficult decisions to make.

JS: Can you reveal how you’ll be looking for your side to play?

You mean in terms of our approach to the game?

JS: Yes

In the same way we approach every game. Just because it’s a cup final won’t alter our mindset in any way. I want us to get hold of the ball, put them on the back foot and take control of the tie from the first moment onwards.

JS: You’ve guided Rangers into the League Cup Final which is also your first cup final as a manager, congratulations.

Thank you.

JS: Can you now go on and win it?

I think most betting folk would have us down as favourites if they were going by form alone. Yet, you know as well as I do that form means nothing in terms of cup football. We were fortunate to get through against both Alloa and Ross County so we’re taking nothing at all for granted ahead of tomorrow. That said, I do have faith in the boys to see this through, I think we’re in a good place and this is a test that I believe we can overcome.

LY: Aberdeen are without Mikey Devlin tomorrow which is a huge blow for the Dons. However, his absence is a massive boost for you ahead of the game, isn’t it?

Ah now, Leah, you’re trying to cause a little mischief here aren’t you?

I laugh and again the press-pack – including my ex-girlfriend - chuckle with me.

As it happens, I think losing a player of Mikey’s quality is a real shame. These occasions benefit when the best players are all available and able to take part. It’s a shame for Mikey, it’s a shame for Aberdeen and a shame for the match as a showpiece that he’s having to miss it with such a terrible injury.

Petar Genchev: Jones, we understand that Borna Barisic could well be available tomorrow having returned to training from injury. Is he likely to play?

We’ll have to wait and see, along with everyone else. I suspect tomorrow will be a little too early for him and that Friday’s visit of Hibs is probably a more realistic target.

With that Michael Dowie, the press officer, stepped in to call the conference to a halt, it had taken the better part of half-an-hour and I needed to get across to have a chat with the boys before I let them head off home. A quick dart upstairs to the canteen where they were all waiting, listening to one of Gary Mac’s anecdotes about winning the Division 1 title with Leeds way back in 1991/2, long before most of those in the room, myself included, were even so much as a twinkle in anyone’s eye and, of course, before the advent of football itself south of the border.

Waiting until he’d finished and noticing one or two injudicious rolling eyes amongst the boys I thanked him for the history lesson before taking the floor.

‘Everyone feeling fit?’ I asked.

‘Aye!’

‘Yes boss!’

And various other nods and murmurs of assent.

‘Good good. I won’t keep you more than a couple of minutes. Now then, we all know how important tomorrow is. It’s important for the club, it’s important for you as players and it’s hugely important for the fans. It’s not every day you get to play in a cup final and it’s not every day you get to play in a cup final at a ground as steeped in history as Hampden.’

I took a moment to scan the room, faces were fixed on me. That was good.

‘Recent form means sod all tomorrow, we know we’re better than them but that means sod all tomorrow as well unless from that very first whistle you show that desire, that intensity, that will to win that you showed this time last year against Celtic and that you’ve been showing all week. I believe in you, I believe you’re going to bring the cup back across the city once again. You should believe that too.’

‘Aye, the boss is right,’ Alan McGregor piped up from the back. ‘We know we can win tomorrow, we know we’re better than them. Let’s win the game and let’s enjoy ourselves at the same time.’

Once again, there were murmurs of agreement, nods and positive body language everywhere.

‘Cheers Al,’ I said. ‘Really pleased to see how positive you’re all looking. Go home, rest up tonight and 11am meet at Ibrox tomorrow morning for lunch and then onto the coach. Don’t be late!’

The players filed out, I stayed behind for a couple of hours but wanted to get back to Edinburgh early so I could have a quiet dinner, relax in front of a film and early night – just switch off entirely from what lay ahead the following day.

The plan was proceeding swimmingly, I’d made a sweet potato curry and treated myself to a couple of craft ales in front of Departures, a charming and amusing Japanese film when my phone vibrated at about 9:20. I left it, not wanting to get engaged in anything football related, then suddenly realised it could be from one of the boys with a problem ahead of the final. Perhaps they’d slipped in the shower or tripped over the dog. Maybe lost a toe in a lawn-mowing accident or been trapped by an angry bullock in a field with no means of escape. With a great deal of reluctance I turned the phone over and had a look. There was a brief sigh of relief when I didn’t see the name of any of the boys on my home-screen, but it was immediately replaced by a feeling of intrigue when I saw the message was from Leah. Curiosity got the better of me and I opened it.

“Strictly neutral, of course, but good luck tomorrow x”

Interesting. I was used to reading way too much into the tone of text messages, I was a sucker for it when I was at school but this definitely seemed to be a softening in tone towards me.

“Thank you – in the interests of maintaining neutrality, presume Derek received a similar message?”

“Haha, of course not. See you tomorrow x”

I hadn’t a clue what was going on, ever since we’d had that encounter in the lobby at Ibrox just before my interview for the top job, I’d received nothing but ice pointed in my direction. I never really understood why that was just as I couldn’t fathom the apparent recent thaw in relations.

I thanked her and put the phone down, opened a DIPA and settled back down to watch the rest of the film, my puzzlement slowly disappearing.

[he_2]

Sunday 6^th December 2020: Aberdeen v Glasgow Rangers (Scottish League Cup Final)

Venue: Hampden Park

Att: 51,866

Managerial Record v Aberdeen: P 6 W 3 D 1 L 2 F 12 A 8

Pre-Match

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was nervous. This was the biggest match of my managerial career so far. The 69^th time I’d prepared a team for action and whilst the majority of them had ended in success, this was the one I wanted to win more than any of those previous 68. Why? At the back of my mind I still felt as though I didn’t belong, as those I was some sort of wolf in sheep’s clothing impersonating a manager and that nothing short of luck and good fortune had brought me this far. Somehow, in my slightly confused and broken brain, I thought that leading a club to silverware would finally eradicate those lingering doubts and justify to all the doubters that I was here on merit. And by the doubters, of course I largely just meant myself.

The amount of energy I put into covering up my insecurities was immense and often left me exhausted. It was entirely necessary though, I couldn’t stand in front of the boys and display that inner turmoil that chewed away at me, I had to wear the cloak of confidence and the mask of assuredness every time I stood up to address the squad, every time I had one of them in the office for a chat, every time I stood in front of the cameras or press pack.

A case in point, during the ten minutes I spent quietly with Rhian Brewster trying to explain why I was leaving him out of the starting XI my inner monologue was questioning whether or not I was doing the right thing. Was I going to damage the kid by leaving him out? Was I jeopardising the team’s chances by preferring Alfie to him, especially since Rhian was my top scorer. What would the fans make of it? Would they be murmuring their discontent when the side was announced? Shaking their heads in disbelief and wishing a plague upon my household? Of course, it didn’t matter, I’d made the choice because a) I couldn’t very well drop Troy after his midweek performance and b) of the two I felt at that time that Alfie was a greater goal threat than Rhian, who was four games without scoring. ‘I know you’re hurting,’ I told him, ‘there’s every chance you’ll get on. When you do prove me wrong.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, boss, I intend to!’ he retorted.

Another case in point, half-an-hour before kick-off when I was in front of the Sky cameras in the tunnel whilst the boys were warming-up and had a smiling Leah peppering me with questions.

LY: Jones, your team selection has offered little in the way of surprise except perhaps the omission of Rhian Brewster. Are you confident ahead of kick-off?

‘I think I would make us slight favourites but that’s purely based on the form book. As we know, form counts for nothing in cup ties and least of all in cup finals. I’ve had to make a choice with the team selection, particularly up-front where I have three lads fit, in-form and firing and today Rhian is the unlucky one. He knows my reasons though and I’m sure we’ll see him at some point during the afternoon.’

LY: Joe Lewis has been in terrific form recently for Aberdeen, how do you solve the problem of beating him?

“Every goalkeeper, even the very best, has a weakness, however minor. Joe’s a magnificent goalkeeper, one of the best in the country but we’ve beaten him before and we’re confident we know how to do so again this afternoon.”

LY: And what about Dean Campbell in midfield, he was influential the last time the teams met and has been crucial for the Dons in their run to the final. Do you have a plan to stop him?

“You’re right, Dean had an excellent game a couple of weeks ago so we know all about the threat he carries. We’ve worked on a couple of things in training that we think can help nullify that threat though.”

LY: And for yourselves, Borna Barisic isn’t fit enough to play today. Have you been happy with Reza Durmisi’s performances at full-back?

“Absolutely, we’re very lucky to have two outstanding options at left-back and whilst Borna is out, Reza will keep doing his thing.”

LY: Thanks, Jones. Good luck this afternoon.

“Thanks, Leah.”

The cameras stopped rolling and I began to walk away with a smile and nod in her direction when she put her hand on my arm to stop me.

‘Can we talk?’ she asked, just low enough to be out of earshot of her crew and Derek McInnes who was awaiting his turn in the spotlight.

‘Now?!’ I replied incredulously.

‘Of course not now, you fool,’ she laughed. ‘Tomorrow evening maybe?’

‘Oh, okay, yeah, sure.’

‘Great, I’ll drop you a text later. Good luck!’ She turned back to greet my opposite number with the same warmth she’d shown me and I headed back down to the dressing room, putting all of that to the back of my mind.

I checked my watch, there were another 10 minutes or so before the boys would come back in from the warm-up. I took the time to pour myself a cup of tea and sat myself down in Rob McCrorie’s place. Resting my head against the back of the cubicle, I closed my eyes, exhaled deeply and just let my mind wander for a few minutes, breathing deeply, slowly, trying to count to three as I inhaled and then again as I breathed out. I could feel myself relaxing, the tension ebbing away. I sat there for six or seven minutes before I was disturbed by physio Steve Walker, who had come in to pick up some tape from his bag.

‘Alright, gaffer?’ he asked.

‘All good thanks, Walks. Just taking a moment to relax.’

‘Good idea, you won’t get much of that during the game.’ And with a chuckle he was gone. I roused myself, took a sip of the tea and checked my tie in the mirror before the players began to troop in for their final preparations.

I’d said all that needed to be said, but thought I’d add a little more for good measure as the clocked ticked around to 2:55pm.

‘Boys, listen up!’ I called above the shuffling, the scraping of boots on the changing room floor which quickly ceased. ‘Hey, listen up. Okay. I don’t have much to say, you all know the game plan, nothing changes from our usual approach. Impose yourself on the game early on, pass the ball with confidence and get amongst them. We know their confidence is going to be fragile so the earlier we get that first goal the better.’ I was interrupted by the buzzer. The boys began to stand up. ‘Bring the trophy home, boys and hey, f-ing enjoy the occasion, yeah?! Good luck!’

Gary Mac opened the door and the boys filed out, the starting XI taking their place behind the officials in the tunnel and James Tavernier greeted the mascot. The subs and coaching staff all filed past and out to the bench whilst I stayed behind a moment, took a moment to take a few more deep breathes, checked my shoes and as I heard the clatter of boots begin to move outside the door, followed on behind down the tunnel out into the winter sunshine and the cacophony that greeted my ears. Rows of photographers and a cameraman tracked me as I turned right and walked down the touchline to shake hands with Derek, wishing him well, and then back to take my place in standing up in the technical area. I could do nothing more now except wait. Wait and hope for the best.

[he_2]

Sunday 6^th December 2020: Aberdeen v Glasgow Rangers (Scottish League Cup Final)

Venue: Hampden Park

Att: 51,866

FIRST HALF

We made a keen start, Alfie Morelos pressing Joe Lewis as he received the ball back from kick-off and forcing the goalkeeper to hurry his clearance nervously out of play for a throw-in. Tavernier restarted play just in front of the Aberdeen bench, exchanged passes with Ryan Jack before the midfielder sent a deep cross into the box that was overhit and drifted out of play for a goal kick.

Lewis’ second clearance, this time from a dead ball was little better than his first. He kept it in play, but only found Tavernier who had space to break into. He played the ball down the right for Morelos, who had peeled off into space. The Colombian attacked the right-edge of the penalty box but was well defended as his cross hit a defender and went out for the first corner of the afternoon. From Ryan Kent’s delivery towards Filip Helander at the far post, a red shirt rose highest to head clear, the ball fell for Jack who worked himself space for a shot from the corner of the penalty area, his effort was high, wide and handsome. Still, with less than two minutes on the clock it had been an encouraging start.

The first clear-cut opportunity fell to us in the 4^th minute when Troy Parrott broke the offside trap to get onto a lofted ball forward and find himself clear on Lewis’ goal. Given the form he was in I fully expected the net to bulge, but a marginally heavy touch saw Lewis take the opportunity to spread himself, block at Parrott’s feet before Scott McKenna cleared for a throw-in.

From the throw in, Tavernier exchanged passes once again with Jack, feinted to cross the ball instead playing it inside for Scott Arfield who lined up a powerful strike at goal. Lewis saw it late but did well to sprawl to his left and use two fists to block the shot. As it rebounded it bounced up and Joe Aribo stretched to direct a header on target, unfortunately he could only put it over the top.

‘This is a good start,’ I uttered to Macca who was stood next to me.

‘Aye, should be ahead though, gaffer,’ he responded before shouting at Ryan Jack just to sit in a couple of yards deeper when Tavernier was attacking to cover his skipper.

Ryan Kent then picked up a cross-field pass from Tavernier, turned and used the overlapping run of Durmisi as a decoy and cut inside to attack the penalty area before looking to curl one inside the far post. He didn’t quite get the execution as he’d have liked and Lewis comfortably gathered the ball. Still less than 5 minutes on the clock and we were already in complete control of the game.

Indeed, if we’d broken the deadlock by that point you could argue that we were mildly rampant, but since we hadn’t, it was rather more difficult to make that claim. Tavernier delivered a free kick to the far post which was met by the ever-present set-piece threat of Helander, the tall Swede got plenty of power on the header but couldn’t keep it down and the ball went a yard over the top.

It really felt as though the opening goal would come at any moment, every time we attacked we did so with purpose and carried a threat, yet even though the Dons simply couldn’t get out of their own half, they were defending well. Lewis was also already looking inspired between the sticks. In the 12^th minute he made his best save yet when he was at full stretch diving to his right to push a powerful low Tavernier strike wide of goal and behind for a corner.

The flag-kick was initially half-cleared but the ball well recycled by Durmisi who fed it inside for Arfield who found himself with a fairly clear sight of goal. His radar was faulty on this occasion, however, and his powerful effort sailed harmlessly wide of the target with Lewis not even having to dive.

It was a quarter of an hour before Aberdeen were really able to break out of their half and deliver any sort of pressure on our back four. Tavernier conceded a pretty cheap and needless free-kick on the Aberdeen left flank. Shay Logan swung it in to the far post where Lewis Ferguson eluded the attention of Ryan Kent to thankfully send his free header wildly over the top of the goal and into the photographers behind the advertising hoardings.

‘Oi!’ I was up on my feet yelling at my skipper. ‘No more cheap fouls, Skip, don’t release the pressure. And for f-s sake, get Kenty switched on at the back stick!’ Tavernier put a thumbs up as Rob McCrorie prepared the goal kick and passed the message along to Ryan Kent.

That half opening did exactly what I didn’t want it do, it gave the Dons confidence and they grew. Our inability to open the scoring when on top very nearly saw us come undone on 17 minutes when Michael Ruth twisted, turned and wriggled past a dizzied Tavernier and crossed for a totally unmarked Sam Cosgrove to plant his header straight at a grateful and relieved McCrorie. Goldson and Helander had found themselves hopelessly out of position and only an ordinary finish from the Aberdeen marksman saw them let off the hook.

After the breathless opening, the two sides settled a little and there were a few minutes respite as the pace dropped. Ryan Jack did threaten to break through but was denied by a fine challenge and at the midway point of the half, Morelos’ low cross into the near post found Parrott, but his effort was blocked by an excellent McKenna intervention. Connor Goldson shortly afterwards met a Kent corner at the near post but saw his glanced header well held by the well-positioned Lewis.

I could feel the tension and frustration rising amongst the boys at their failure to turn possession and chances into goals. In the 29^th minute only a well-timed clearing header by Durmisi behind his own goal prevented Cosgrove from nodding into an unguarded net to open the scoring after Ruth had found his way past both Tavernier and Goldson. We were trying to force things too much, try things that weren’t on rather than sticking to the simple things. And with Aberdeen having weathered quite a storm their confidence continued to grow.

Both Gary Mac and I were on our feet imploring the boys to get back to basics, to remain patient. So long as we did the right things reward surely had to come. In the 34^th minute it very nearly did, twice, Parrott being played through by a fine ball from Aribo and bearing down on goal from an angle. Once again Lewis did well to spread himself and block the Irishman’s effort, the ball broke for Ryan Kent who knocked it back to Durmisi. The Dane’s cross into the box was headed clear but as it fell on the edge of the box Arfield met the ball on the volley and sent it skimming just over the top – this time Lewis was worried enough to be at full stretch as the effort flew over him.

‘Better! Much better boys!’ I shouted, probably in vain. Such was the noise around the place that I could barely hear myself, so there was little hope of those 60-odd yards away hearing me.

We rode another piece of luck when another Shay Logan free kick was delivered to the far post and this time it was Max Kilman who had escaped the attention of his marker – this time not Ryan Kent but Durmisi – thankfully Helander stepped in to cover and block the shot before Durmisi cleared.

‘We need to have a word about that far post at the break,’ I said to Gary Mac. ‘Do you want to mention it?’

‘Aye, no bother. That’s what, twice?’

‘Three times if you include the Cosgrove chance a little while ago.’

‘Got it,’ he said, making a note.

The best chance of the half, for us anyway, fell a couple of minutes before the break. A Tavernier free-kick found Goldson in all sorts of space and the centre-half met the ball as it fell to earth with a side-footed finish. It was headed just inside the post and would have broken the deadlock were it not for yet another intervention by Lewis, once again at full stretch and with the best save of the lot, turning the ball away for a corner. Goldson wasn’t alone in holding his head in mild disbelief.

From the corner Helander unleashed a left-footed half-volley that was more danger to any passing satellites than the blank scoreline and then seconds before the whistle Kilman made a superb intervention cutting out a Morelos cut-back that would have left Parrott with the simplest of tap-ins. That still wasn’t the final action of the half as a headed clearance by Tavernier was met on the half-volley by Dean Campbell and McCrorie was forced to fall to his left and turn the ball behind for a corner.

The whilst brought an action-packed 45-minutes to a conclusion with the scoreline mystifyingly blank. Everyone trooped off the field and into the dressing rooms, Derek McInnes no doubt heartened and encouraged by his side’s performance. I wasn’t too disappointed by my own side’s efforts.

I waited for a couple of minutes whilst the boys settled down, got some refreshment and took their seats before starting.

‘Hey, overall that’s been good, lads. A bit of a funny five minutes where we stopped doing the simple things well and tried to do the complex things badly. You’ve been in almost full control and know as well as I do that we should be ahead.’ I looked around the room and saw every set of eyes trained on me. ‘Just a couple of things for the second half. Keep working the ball, keep moving off the ball, they can’t live with you when you do that. Chances will come, we know that and keep getting your shots off. He can’t save everything. Don’t get frustrated, remain patient, it’s going to come. Okay?’ Nods and murmurs of assent. ‘Good. Macca, over to you, pal.’

My number two highlighted the two or three times we’d been caught out at the far post and really urged us to remain a lot more vigilant with balls into our box.

‘Hey, get that first goal, lads. That’s the key. Well done, keep it going. Do what you need to do in the next seven minutes and go again.’

I left them to it by and large, just going around the room to have a couple of quiet words with people, but keeping the message positive, all the while nursing a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that this could end up as being One Of Those Days.

The buzzer quickly went. We’d find out whether it would be soon enough.

HALF TIME: Aberdeen 0-0 Glasgow Rangers