match thread (image) [FT] Hibernian 1 - 1 Rangers (Candeias 43)

[Frankie 8,569]

I must admit, I'm still a bit unsure about Friday night football.

 

On the one hand, it's the end of the working week for most so there are few better ways to enjoy a Friday evening than watching your favourite team with a few of your preferred beverages.  Win, and you can stride about the Saturday shopping like a man who has just won the lottery (aye, grab a couple of steaks, hen). But, lose, well, everyone's weekend is spoilt and there's not much joy to be had from watching Sky Sports coverage the following day desperate for the teams around you to drop points too (put they steaks back and no sweets for the bairns either).

 

In that vein, Rangers can ill-afford not to win tonight.  Already eight points behind Celtic in the league, anything other than a win would surely be the death knell for any thoughts we still have of winning the title.  After all, the chances of Aberdeen putting up a fight at Celtic Park tomorrow are fairly low.  More so when their biggest game of the season is at Ibrox this coming Tuesday...

 

In any case, as much as we may have to rely on other teams taking points from Celtic, we can only hope the existing gap helps focus the minds of our players.  We visit the East side of Glasgow ourselves in three weeks so with only this game and next week's visit of Kilmarnock (yes, them again), we need nothing less than six points and a win at Parkhead to at least attempt to apply some pressure to Brendan Rodger's Neil Lennon's men (yes, him again).

 

That's easier said than done though.  Since Lennon left Hibs in controversial circumstances at the end of January, the Edinburgh team's form has been reasonable enough under new manager Paul Heckingbottom with three solid league wins and only the one loss as Lennon returned to Easter Road in the Scottish Cup last weekend.  The bulk of the Hibs squad will remain familiar to Rangers fans and although they've lost a few key players in recent times, the threat of Marc McNulty and the guile of Serie A midfielder Stéphane Oméonga can be ignored at our peril this evening.

 

Nevertheless, as much as we've been inconsistent this season, we carry plenty of threat ourselves.  Steven Gerrard has also been able to play a fairly settled team in recent weeks and this has been reflected in an unbeaten run that has reached ten games.  Add in the fact we've only conceded one goal from open play in those ten games, as well as scoring 29 then clearly we're perhaps due a bit more credit than even some of our our fans like to hand out (yours truly included).

 

This should mean few changes from the bulk of the XI that has started recent matches.  Unfortunately, with Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield not 100% fit, Gerrard may be tempted resting at least one, even if both players trained fully yesterday.  With Eros Grezda also available again and Ross McCrorie a reliable back up for Jack, the manager certainly has alternatives should he wish to shake things up.

 

No matter the starting XI though, the challenge remains the same: beat Hibs at the third time of asking this season.  That's never easy in Edinburgh but we should have done so in December and again just a week later in Glasgow.  That was four points dropped though so we must go some way to recovering those tonight with a win.  Let's hope we're all grabbing that shopping trolley with a smile on our face tomorrow.

 

Possible team (4-3-3):

 

 

 

 

[Frankie 8,569]

BTW, don't forget about this week's live pod which will be this Sunday evening on Youtube at 9.30pm (link below).

 

@rfb1872, @Govan Rear Bear and @Soulsonic5791 will be your guests discussing the outcomes of tonight's match as well as previewing Tuesday's cup replay with Aberdeen.

 

It's well worth a listen!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djULBQJFhFM

[compo 7,046]

Let's hope for a good ninety minutes of good football with no incidents and a Rangers win .

[buster. 5,199]

I think Arfield has a habit of telling Gerrard that he's fit enough to start, even when he isn't and given the lack of options for his spot, SG tends to play him with fingers crossed....At a push, you could put Grezda on the left and Kent in the middle but a start for the Albanian might be a bigger risk than a XX % fit Arfield.....so as per your line-up, t the latter will probably start.

 

Always good to see McCrorie in for this type of fixture and Kamara didn't do his case any harm last week when he showed he could battle up at Aberdeen.

 

Glad to see a settled central defence at last. No surprise it has co-incided with our best run of results.

However, we now go up against the most challenging run of domestic fixtures of the season at the business end. It's a list of 11 to 13 maximum matches all but one against the better half of the top tier and the exception is a difficult away game at Motherwell.

 

Fri	08/03/19	PRE	Hibernian	20 : 45	Rangers		More info
Sat	16/03/19	PRE	Rangers	16 : 00	Kilmarnock		More info
Sun	31/03/19	PRE	Celtic	13 : 00	Rangers		More info
Wed	03/04/19	PRE	Rangers	20 : 45	Hearts		More info
Sun	07/04/19	PRE	Motherwell	13 : 30	Rangers

 

After this it'll be in no particular order (If Hibs make top 6)

 

Hibs (H)

Hearts (A)

Celtic (H)

Kilmarnock (A)

Aberdeen (H)

 

Plus in the Cup

Aberdeen (H) and potentially.....

Celtic (Hampden)

Final

 

 

 

 

If you look at our league results against those same teams up until this point, it shows the improvement required if we are to finish the season positively.

So far just 6 wins in 17

 

Sun	05/08/18	PRE	Aberdeen	1 - 1	Rangers	View events	More info
Sun	26/08/18	PRE	Motherwell	3 - 3	Rangers	View events	More info
Sun	02/09/18	PRE	Celtic	1 - 0	Rangers	View events	More info
Sun	07/10/18	PRE	Rangers	3 - 1	Hearts	View events	More info
Wed	31/10/18	PRE	Rangers	1 - 1	Kilmarnock	View events	More info
Sun	02/12/18	PRE	Hearts	1 - 2	Rangers	View events	More info
Wed	05/12/18	PRE	Rangers	0 - 1	Aberdeen	View events	More info
Wed	19/12/18	PRE	Hibernian	0 - 0	Rangers		More info
Wed	26/12/18	PRE	Rangers	1 - 1	Hibernian	View events	More info
Sat	29/12/18	PRE	Rangers	1 - 0	Celtic	View events	More info
Wed	23/01/19	PRE	Kilmarnock	2 - 1	Rangers	View events	More info
Wed	06/02/19	PRE	Aberdeen	2 - 4	Rangers	View events	More info

 

Then the Cup

Sun	19/08/18	LEC	Kilmarnock	1 - 3	Rangers	View events	More info
Sun	28/10/18	LEC	Aberdeen	1 - 0	Rangers

 

Sat	09/02/19	FAC	Kilmarnock	0 - 0	Rangers		More info
Wed	20/02/19	FAC	Rangers	5 - 0	Kilmarnock	View events	More info
Sun	03/03/19	FAC	Aberdeen	1 - 1	Rangers

 

 

[Uilleam 5,943]

"Steak or mince?" is not a question a visitor will ever be asked in 'You'll Have Had Your Tea City'.

Edited March 8, 2019 by Uilleam

[ian1964 10,724]

 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

Steak or mince is quite a good summation of our season.

 

Which will it be tonight?

[buster. 5,199]

Last visit saw a Steak Performance but a Mince Result that was mainly down to Alfredo  and perfomance/finishing.

 

We are very Alfredo Reliant and other teams know this and still can't stop him when he's on his game #Unplayable

 

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by buster.

[JohnMc 2,754]

"Bairns"? I demand all supporters go through a Govan elocution lesson! You'll be slipping 'ken' into articles soon if we don't intervene Frankie, this is for your own good... 

 

Great stuff, eastern patois apart, enjoyed it. 

[buster. 5,199]

3 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

"Bairns"? I demand all supporters go through a Govan elocution lesson! You'll be slipping 'ken' into articles soon if we don't intervene Frankie, this is for your own good... 

 

Great stuff, eastern patois apart, enjoyed it. 

Where would Rangers be without East Coasters ?

 

Wallace

Baxter

Greig

Jardine

Johnstone

Forlanssister

etc

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by buster.