Rangers 0 - 0 Hearts

[pete 2,499]

Just when you think we have seen it all, up stood john Beaton to push the borders of bad refereeing to a new boundary. Many of the older bears will remember Michael Crawford in the series ”Some mothers do have them." Well John Beaton's performance was certainly a “Some mothers do have them,“ special. The show was based on Frank Spencer Who was extremely accident prone due to making extremely bad decisions. Well if Mr Beaton had put on a Michael Crawford mask then 48,000 bears would have been sure they were making a new series of the show. One of Franks best known catchphrases was “Ï got confused, Betty” Well it certainly looked like John Beaton was more than confused. In Saturdays game against Hibs he went from one bad decision to the next ruining what was going to be a good game of football. Well Anthony Stokes helped him on his way and should have seen red for grabbing James Tavernier violently by the neck from behind, before throwing him violently to the ground. As Mr Beaton reached to his pocket to pull a card the whole stadium expected to see the red card being shown to Anthony Stokes. Unbelievably he showed a yellow to both Stokes and also to Tavernier. Tavernier's only fault was jumping straight to his feet and not doing the continental quadruple role-over, and then acting half dead.

 

Just before half-time, after a foul on Dorrans, a melee erupted with players pushing and shoving. Then in full view of Mr Beaton, who was about one yard away, Anthony Stokes grabbed Ryan Jack by the throat and pushed his head into Jacks head. Again Mr Beaton astonishingly got it wrong when he sent Ryan jack off and never even looked at Stokes. This decision has now been been correctly rescinded by the compliance officer but the fact remains Mr Beaton influenced the game in a negative form for Rangers and they never really got to grips with being a man down, losing 3-1. In fact the compliance officer rescinded three red cards on Thursday. That is Three games that could have been influenced by the referee. If there ever was a sign that the video referee should be brought into football as quickly as possible then this was it.

 

The worrying fact in all of this is that it the SFA and their employees seem to find it acceptable that Hibernian thugs can attack rangers players. I will not mince words here, on Saturday Anthony Stokes was no less a thug in a Hibernian shirt attacking Rangers players than the Hibs supporter who attacked Lee Wallace in the 2016 cup final. Mr Beaton, and it now also looks like the SFA compliance officer, have decided to turn the other cheek to Stokes thuggish behavior. Just the same as the SFA decided to turn the other cheek at Hibs supporters attacking Rangers players in the cup final. I suppose stokes behavior will also be put down to exuberance.

 

On Saturday we welcome The Hearts of Midlothian to Ibrox Stadium. Willie Collum has been assigned to refereeing our game. That actually throws up another talking point. As last season Collum had a stinker of a game when Aberdeen lost to Inverness Caladonian Thistle at home and he was relegated to the championship for two games. Football pundit Michael Stewart stated that Collum was not fit for the top divisions. I watched that game and I have to agree he did have a stinker, but the difference is, in my opinion, that Willie Collum is an honest referee trying his best and did have a bad day at the office, where I sincerely have my doubts if John Beaton had a bad day at the office or as it seems to me he has more of a bias against Rangers. His horrific decisions against Rangers over the years seem to be made on a serial scale.

 

As all Managers say, well Pedro may have a Portuguese version. We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get on with the next job in hand. At this stage in the season we cannot afford to fall further behind Celtic. I can say the teams at the top of the league but lets face it, Celtic are the only team that won't be dropping many points against other clubs so we have to mirror that. Hearts are currently managerless with ex Ger Jon Daly having the reigns in hand as interim manager. They had a horrendous start to the season losing out on a Betfred cup place to Dunfermline who in turn were blown away by a fantastic Rangers performance with Rangers winning 6-0. Last seasons poor results plus that poor start has cost their manager Ian Cathro to be sacked.

 

There has been another soap series going on in the background between the two clubs in the rumoured transfer of Jamie Walker. Rangers have been rumoured to already have entered a bid of six hundred thousand but Hearts are hoping to net more than a million. Walker was dropped last week because his head was judged to being “ not on the job”. Daly has already leaked that Walker will probably play against Rangers. I would imagine if he does play he will be tuned up to show why Rangers are looking to move him across the M8 to Ibrox, and give a 100% professional performance.

 

I don't expect too many changes from the team that started against Hibs with the exception of lee Wallace returning to take over the left back position with Lee Hodson returning to the bench. After the stress Ryan Jack has been through Pedro may think of giving him a rest and play Jordon Rossitter in that defensive midfield role but I think he will stick with Ryan Jack. In attack Pedro's problem is a luxury one in who does he play up front. He has a pick of combination between Miller Morelos and Herrera. Personally I think he will stick to Miller and Morelos who looked very sharp until Mr Beaton burst the balloon on Saturday. Morelos looks more and more like that 20+ goals a season striker we have been longing for for many seasons now.

 

I think the team will be.

 

Foderingham

 

Tavernier Alves Cardoso Wallace

 

Candeias Dorrans Jack Windass

 

Morelos Miller

 

Another interesting element of the game will be the return to Ibrox of Kyle Lafferty. He will also be out to try and show Rangers that we were wrong not to sign him. Lafferty against Alves should be a hard fought out battle as both are tall bustling players. Hopefully Rangers will be so much in the ascendancy with the early press choking all Hearts forward movement that Kyle goes home as fresh as he started.

 

If Rangers start at the pace we have been doing of late and we can take our chances then hopefully the game will be comfortable before the half-way tea. We have been showing signs that there is a really good team in there somewhere. And of course we need Willie Collum not to be as confused as Frank Spencer or even more to the point John Beaton was and to make it a football match and not a thugs outing.

[Gribz 919]

Frank Spencer was accidental in his mistakes!!

 

There was a thread not so long ago about bad ex Gers players. Daly isnt even mentioned because he was that bad.

 

This game couldnt come quick enough and we need to show up and let everyone see that we are playing like Chumbawamba. I get knocked down but I get up again.

 

In the XI. Possibly Rossiter for Jack. Possibly Kranjcar for Windass.

[Frankie 8,673]

It's been a strange summer so far. Off the pitch, the weather has been as poor as I can remember during July and August. On the pitch, after an appalling early Europa League knock-out, some positive pre-season friendly results meant when our domestic campaign got under-way two weeks ago, fans were confident we could improve substantially on last years disappointing 3rd place.

 

An opening day win away to Motherwell helped develop that mindset further. Despite the home side giving everything until the final whistle, unlike last season, our players stood tall. Yes, we didn't play brilliantly and we still gave away too many chances - but we worked hard, competed physically and also took a couple of chances amidst bad luck suffered by Josh Windass in particular. "Bring on the Hibs, the Hearts and Celtic" was the familiar mantra; especially after knocking six past Dunfermline in the following midweek cup match.

 

Fast forward to Ibrox last Saturday. Just over two minutes into the game, we open the scoring with Alfredo Morelos grabbing his third goal in two matches as we dominated the early exchanges. Bizarrely Anthony Stokes stayed on the park despite grabbing James Tavernier by the neck and throwing him to the ground - dangerous play punished by a red card even in rugby - yet John Beaton saw fit only to offer a yellow. C'est la, erm, football as the French probably don't often say. Nevertheless, we continued to work hard and despite the physical attention of Hibs (and the leniency of the officials) once again only the woodwork stopped us from adding to our lead.

 

Unfortunately, just after that we lost concentration for a few moments with Hibs equalising on the break and against the run of play. That not only levelled things up on the score-board but in terms of how the game was going as Hibs started to improve across the pitch. What a pity the referee didn't fancy that balance as he completely spoiled what was shaping up to be a great contest by sending off Ryan Jack after a midfield melee. Only John Beaton can explain why he felt the former Aberdeen man was the only offender worthy of being sent off. Thankfully Jack had his red card rescinded upon appeal but the damage was done in situ as Hibs went on to win comfortably despite a late counter from us amidst a raft of inexplicable officiating. No wonder Neil Lennon, Stokes and others have been so smug for the rest of the week. GIRUY indeed!

 

Predictably and understandably Rangers fans have been angry - mainly at the refereeing but also at the result. Sure, perhaps there wasn't much the manager (or players) could have done last weekend post-melee but, once again, we've dropped valuable points at home very early on and other teams already have the initiative. Worse, the confidence from the weeks before is replaced by uncertainty, meaning morale once again takes a hit and fans are left wondering how we'll react. Last season, players retreated into their shell and we seemed to lack belief all too often.

 

Ahead of tomorrow's visit by Hearts that negative attitude must change.

 

First and foremost, given what happened last week - motivation should not be a problem. Once again there will be a full house at Ibrox and I'm sure Pedro Caixinha will be eager to call the pre-match shots in the dressing-room. However, the game could be played behind closed doors and without the manager's input and I'd still expect a strong reaction from our players. Some didn't do themselves justice last week and that, along with the performance of the officials, should deliver a determination we may not have seen for a while from a Rangers team. Yes, the referee let us down last week but we once again conceded three soft goals so let's channel our disappointment as positively as possible.

 

Ryan Jack's availability to play helps in that it allows the manager to make as few changes as possible with Lee Wallace for his name-sake Hodson likely to be the only change at left back. The return of our captain should be a perfect coincidence as he can lead from the front - both in terms of improving his own contribution but by ensuring our players retain their discipline and composure should the game take a similar direction as last weeks. After all, as much as Beaton's obvious incompetence was bizarre, tomorrow's ref Willie Collum isn't known for his quality either.

 

In any case, we cannot let ourselves to be distracted by officials tomorrow. Sure, their part in the narrative of any football game is an important one but whenever we need to rely on referees for decisions to help us win games, is the day we become defeatist forever. As such, tomorrow should be all about doing our job. Start the game strongly again, take the chances we'll create, compete physically and defend well. Those are just four pillars of fostering a winning mentality and that's something we must do if we're to be successful again. Celtic remain unbeaten from last season and Aberdeen also had three important runs of wins last term as they finished above us in second place. Only once did we win more than two games in a row in the league and that's unacceptable for a club like Rangers.

 

Of course, statistics like that don't always highlight anomalies like last week but if we're to improve this season then we have to find a way of not only not dropping points but winning on a regular basis. Performances won't always be great but three points are usually enough to keep people happy. However, out of all the issues we've had since 2012, perhaps losing this kind of winning mentality has cost us more than many of us realised. It's time for that to change and the circumstances of last week should help galvanise us all. After Hibs in the song above, Hearts should be our first win on a five match run before we face Celtic at home. We shall not be moved? Let's take that song back...

 

Possible team (4-4-2):

 

Edited August 19, 2017 by pete

[Gribz 919]

Its like Buses. Nothing for a while and two come along at once.

 

I guess both preview threads can be merged??

[Uilleam 5,975]

Not Frank Spencer, I suggest;

Beaton's performance, as carefully scripted as that of Michael Crawford, granted, was more by Mr Bean out of Father Ted.

[Gribz 919]

Did Bears there last week see enough of Windass to start again rather than Kranjcar? two totally different players. Id actually think about dropping Miller and playing Kranjcar.

 

I think Pedro might have had a spy with me, I said he could read the game more he could be a player...he is far to direct without thinking of options. That works sometimes.

 

Something just needs a wee click. 3 at the back perhaps??

[der Berliner 3,828]

As it is now, we seem to start at a blistering speed and tend to overrun teams, backed by a far more decent defence. The "problem", if one wants to call it that way, still is that we don't score enough goals in those 30odd mins. Then again, that can never be a given. Thus, I would keep the starting formation too - with perhaps the exception of testing Herrera and Morelos at the expense of Miller - and bring on Kranjcar a bit later, when we "run out" of steam a little but may pick teams off who try to get back into the game. This could also be the time for Dodoo.

 

Too bad I'll be off to work tomorrow afternoon ...

Edited August 18, 2017 by der Berliner

[Gonzo79 15,299]

 

There was a thread not so long ago about bad ex Gers players. Daly isnt even mentioned because he was that bad.

 

.

 

I feel that's a wee bit unfair on Daly. I am certainly not his biggest fan but he was a decent, honest pro during his spell at Ibrox.

 

Regarding tomorrow's match - I'm hoping for a good result but wouldn't bet on it. Other club sides seem to up their game to play us, as we've all seen since we got back up to the top division. Hearts will be bursting a gut and have some decent SPL standard players. What we need to do is get stuck in and take our chances. I'd prefer to see Miller dropped and Dodoo played in the No.10 role and Windass dropped too (turning up for 15 minutes per match simply isn't good enough).

[Frankie 8,673]

Did Bears there last week see enough of Windass to start again rather than Kranjcar? two totally different players. Id actually think about dropping Miller and playing Kranjcar.

 

I think Pedro might have had a spy with me, I said he could read the game more he could be a player...he is far to direct without thinking of options. That works sometimes.

 

Something just needs a wee click. 3 at the back perhaps??

 

Windass has done fine but drops out of games too easily for me.

 

Kranjcar is less likely to do that but he won't be able to cover the same ground Windass would so, as much as Niko is a great passer of the ball, I'm not so sure he's the right choice if we want to have a high tempo. Certainly not in a wider role anyway.

[Davie P 4]

Windass has done fine but drops out of games too easily for me.

 

Kranjcar is less likely to do that but he won't be able to cover the same ground Windass would so, as much as Niko is a great passer of the ball, I'm not so sure he's the right choice if we want to have a high tempo. Certainly not in a wider role anyway.

 

Tend to agree re Windass. Played well against Motherwell and Wednesday, but in both matches, we were well on top (for the most part). I do feel that Windass does go hiding when things are not going too well. I believe that we need Walker or even better, a genuine left sided midfielder/winger. Must be a left footed 'Candeias' somewhere in Portugal!

Miller is in the team, largely due to his work rate, and we don't have a direct replacement for him. Kranjcar and Pena would add more quality, but without covering the same amount of ground. I just don't see Herrera and Morelos being played together, unless we go long ball from early doors.

 

I also get the impression that Pedro wants to have a strong Scottish contingent throughout the team, so expect Miller to start tomorrow!