match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 1 (Hagi 52) - 0 St Johnstone

[Bluedell 5,627]

30 minutes ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Seems odd that they are playing before us but good luck going down to Rugby Park tonight. The expected temperature around match time is 2 degrees with a 70% chance of rain and sleet. Not to forget the plastic pitch

I live around 15 miles away from Rugby Park and it's snowing quite heavily here.

[PoohBear 1,148]

Quality, hope it's as bad as their livi match the other day!

[Gonzo79 15,294]

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[Govan Rear Bear 303]

Arrivals, departures and SFA charges - but Gerrard's focus remains on title

They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and that is certainly how it felt in August 2012 when Rangers began their journey back up the leagues with an uninspiring draw against Peterhead at Balmoor – a result only achieved thanks to a last minute equaliser from Andy Little.

 

At that point the prospect of any future top tier title win seemed so far off that even with the benefit of the Hubble Telescope you would have struggled to see it.

 

The road back provided plenty more reminders of how far away Rangers were from a league win, with humiliating defeats to the likes of Stirling Albion, Annan Athletic, Peterhead, Raith Rovers and a 4-0 thumping off Hibs. Add to that the fairly routine thrashings from Celtic on returning to the top tier, and you can see why a title seemed at times almost an impossibility.

 

But today sees Rangers in a very different place. In fact such is the job that Steven Gerrard has done since arriving, he was able to maintain a 23 point lead over Celtic when his side didn’t even have a game – as was the case at the weekend when Celtic’s defeat at home to St Mirren meant they failed to claw back much needed ground on the league leaders and champions elect.

 

Rangers now need just six wins from their last twelve games to win their much coveted 55^th title. The journey of a thousand miles, it seems, is almost at an end.

 

You won’t find Steven Gerrard claiming that anything is won, however, and there has been no slacking up as Rangers approach what would be a monumental title win. Late on Monday night he was still at the Auchenhowie training centre overseeing the arrivals of Scott Wright from Aberdeen and Jack Simpson from Bournemouth. Wright could feature against St Johnstone on Wednesday night, Simpson is awaiting a negative Covid test before he can join the group and will have to wait before he is available for selection.   

 

“I think the window was really positive for us in terms of getting the two boys done and dusted”, said Gerrard of the clubs January wheeling’s and dealings.  “I think they re-energise the squad. They’re both looking forward to getting started”.

 

Rangers also confirmed they had agreed a pre-contract with Simpson’s teammate at Bournemouth, Nnamdi Ofoborh. The midfielder will join the club in the summer.

 

But it wasn’t just about arrivals and Rangers sent Jordan Jones, George Edmundson and Brandon Barker out on loan to Sunderland, Derby County and Oxford United respectively. Gerrard seemed pleased that these players could now get “minutes” in their legs, which will presumably inform the decisions to be made on their long-term futures come the summer.

 

The traditional comings and goings of deadline day is not the only thing that Steven Gerrard has had to deal with recently with the news that the SFA had charged Columbian striker Alfredo Morelos for stamping on Hibs defender Ryan Porteous in the 1-0 win at Easter Road last week. The club has accepted the charge and the striker will now miss the games against St Johnstone, Hamilton and Kilmarnock. Gerrard admitted that there was “no case to defend” in relation to the incident, but went further to say that neither he nor the club were entirely satisfied with the fallout from last week’s game.

 

“Consistencies. That is my answer, consistencies”, he replied when pressed on the matter. “I think that is what every manager wants – a level of consistency and for every player or every incident to be judged in the same way so we find that level of consistency.

 

“I think that will really help the league going forward.”

 

It is hard to disagree with him on the consistency issue. In the game at Easter Road alone there were three similar incidents which were all treated differently, and Gerrard stated that it was something he and the board are pushing on behind the scenes with the game’s governing authorities.

 

On the park Rangers head into the game against St Johnstone in the best possible place. Undefeated in the league and hinting at the form which so lit up their early season performances, Rangers come into this confident and hungry. A once minor injury crisis has also passed with Niko Katic and Scott Arfield now the only players unavailable for selection, thanks to the return to action of Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe.

 

Gerrard confirmed that Katic won’t play at all this season due to the knee injury he sustained pre-season, Arfield is “almost there” and should be available for when Rangers’ Europa League campaign restarts later this month.

 

Despite Rangers supreme form this season Callum Davidson will be confident about the prospect of going to Ibrox. His St Johnstone side has not suffered defeat since a 2-1 loss at Pittodrie on Boxing Day, and they came back superbly last weekend to overturn a 2-0 half-time scoreline against Kilmarnock to win the game 3-2 – a result which led to Kilmarnock manager Alex Dyer leaving the club. With the Perth side also recently confirming their place in the BetFred Cup final with a superb 3-0 semi-final victory over Hibs at Hampden, there is much for Davidson and his players to confident about.

 

With Morelos now suspended Rangers will look to either Kemar Roofe or Cedrick Itten to provide the goal threat. Roofe has been outstanding since arriving at the club in the summer, Itten has had less game time but has shown enough glimpses to suggest that he is more than capable of leading the line against the Saints.

 

Steven Gerrard will rightly tell you that nothing has been won yet. He has been on the threshold of a famous title win before, only to see it snatched away in the cruellest of circumstances. He will not want to go through that again.

 

But the win at Easter Road, coupled with Celtic’s defeat from St Mirren, felt like both Rangers and Celtic had reached the point of no return with their respective ambitions for the title.

 

A win against St Johnstone will surely be another significant step to confirming the title that Gerrard and Rangers so desperately seek.

[Gonzo79 15,294]

St Johnstone are on a decent wee run and will set up to stop us.  A good start would be useful and any sort of win will do.

 

Mon The Rangers!  ??

[compo 7,055]

We know what we need to do get three more points ,mon the gers 

[der Berliner 3,749]

Wednesday, 03 February 2021 - 19:45

The Scottish Premiership
Ibrox Stadium

 v 

 

Referee – David Munro

Assistants – David Roome and Graham Chambers

Fourth Official – Gavin Duncan

 

Missing: Nikola Katić (cruciate knee), Scott Arfield (ankle), Alfredo Morelos (suspension), Jack Simpson (Covid-19 protocol)

 

Live only on Rangers TV

[Bill 13,717]

How about ........

 

McGregor

Tavernier - Goldson - Helander - Barisic

Kamara - Davis - Jack

Kent - Roofe - Hagi

 

 

[ian1964 10,724]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by ian1964

[ian1964 10,724]