ian1964 10,720 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 WALTER SMITH admits that missed opportunities proved costly for Rangers in tonight's goalless draw at Fir Park. Kenny Miller rues a missed chance against Motherwell at Fir ParkAnd he also voiced his frustration at the Main Stand linesman's decision to rule Kris Boyd offside in the second-half. The Gers' no 9 latched on to a through pass before hammering a shot beyond Graeme Smith but the official raised his flag when Boyd was clearly in line with a Motherwell defender. This capped a disappointing night for the Light Blues who have now slipped four points behind Celtic in the title race. Smith said: "I thought the game was similar to last week against Dundee United in that it was a good match and we had to work hard for our opportunities. "We created enough of them to win the game but didn't manage to take them which is, of course, very disappointing. "We are also annoyed with the decision against Kris Boyd in the second-half. He e got through and scored but was ruled offside when clearly he wasn't. "Apart from that we had to work very hard tonight. "The first half hour was pretty even and we came into it after that and created three or four really good opportunities to score before half-time. Barry Ferguson "We didn't take them and I felt at that stage if we had got in front we could have stepped up from there but it wasn't to be." One positive note from the night was that Barry Ferguson came through the 90 minutes unscathed although Smith insists it was the player's decision to stay on the pitch for the full game. He said: "We did not intend to play Barry for 90 minutes tonight. "We felt if he got an hour that would be good for him but as the game went on he was keen to stay on. "It was a good 90 minutes for him and we are relieved that Sasa is also recovering from his knock towards the end. "He took a nasty one tonight but seems to be ok in the Dressing Room." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,720 Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Andrew Dickson reports from Fir Park STEVEN DAVIS hit out at referee Steve Conroy's decision to disallow Kris Boyd's second-half effort as Rangers drew 0-0 with Motherwell. Kyle LaffertyThe hitman put the ball in the net after seemingly being played onside, albeit he struck it a second after the match official whistled to stop play on linesman Tom Murphy's advice. Even so, home keeper Graeme Smith would have stood little chance of saving his attempt and Gers eventually had to settle for one point instead of three as a result. That now leaves them four points behind Celtic in the title race with 13 games played but Davis reckons the teams should be level at the top of the table. Along with the extra points he feels should have been gained here, Rangers were denied a win at Aberdeen in August when a perfectly good DaMarcus Beasley goal was ruled out. Davis said: "This one is hard to take and it's the second time it has happened to us this season after what happened at Aberdeen.Pedro Mendes "Once more, a decision has cost us two valuable points and we can't keep getting these things going against us." Davis' frustrations were compounded by the fact he and his Gers team-mates made enough other chances to win the game anyway. Whereas they have been pretty ruthless in recent fixtures, the Ibrox men just couldn't find a way past keeper Graeme Smith on this occasion. Davis added: "We are really disappointed because we created enough to win in the first half and second and should have got three points. "Motherwell made it hard for us but that's what we expected. Teams lift their game against Rangers and they were no different. "We should still have taken the three points from this one as we gave ourselves enough opportunities to do that."Barry Ferguson One positive for Rangers was that Barry Ferguson played his first full competitive 90 minutes of the season. After four months out with an ankle injury, he looked comfortable and made a good contribution and Davis was pleased to have his skipper back. He said: "We are gutted not to have Kevin Thomson in the side now because of his injury. He has been outstanding for us and has done really well. "But it was good at least to have Barry playing again from the start. He got better as time went on. "It will obviously take him a little while to get back up to speed but I think he did well overall tonight." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,552 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Yep, the linesman did get it wrong (again) but we shouldn't need to rely on one-off decisions to ensure we win matches. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,720 Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Correct Frankie,however that's the second time already this season,the other being against Sheep 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,614 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 That's the difference though. These decisions go against us but Celtic get them in their favour. Look at Motherwell's disallowwed goal. Smith has been too nice for too long. It has been clear that certain officials have gone out of their way to favour one team but Smith has allowed this to happen with his public "Rangers are above all that" attitutude, and we have suffered as a result. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,720 Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 Smith rages at ‘goal’ error Walter Smith last night took a swipe at Tom Murphy, the linesman, for disallowing a Kris Boyd goal which could have given Rangers victory at Fir Park. At the time Boyd’s effort looked well off-side but TV replays showed that it should have stood. Smith was withering over the decision. “We contrived to miss a lot of chances here tonight but then the one that we did put way through Boyd was wrongly disallowed,” he said. “Mr Murphy was quick to allow an offside Scott McDonald goal at Parkhead last season but quick to disallow that goal tonight. “That’s two times now that we’ve had such decisions going against us this season — one at Aberdeen and now here. And we’re meant to be the club which doesn’t get decisions against us.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article5143222.ece 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,614 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 And we�re meant to be the club which doesn�t get decisions against us.�Why does he repeat that lie? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Ally 0 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Yep, the linesman did get it wrong (again) but we shouldn't need to rely on one-off decisions to ensure we win matches. I've never understood this p.o.v. Surely it is upto us to win within the laws of the game. We did that Pittodrie and Fir Park and should be sat level on points at the top at worst. Instead we trail four behind. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,552 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 That's fair enough mate but we have 90mins to win games and while it is certainly grating when valid goals are disallowed, those decisions alone can't be blamed for us not winning matches. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyharley 5 Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 That's fair enough mate but we have 90mins to win games and while it is certainly grating when valid goals are disallowed, those decisions alone can't be blamed for us not winning matches. Surely though we cant win every game by more than one goal. There are going to be games we are just going to shade it like last night and against the sheep and when we do get the goal and its wrongly disallowed i do feel we can feel hard done by. Not so much last night but at Aberdeen, the decision was the reason we didnt win the match. We scored a goal in the last minute and it got taken away from us. That decision was the reason we never got three points. I'd like Smith to cause a little more commotion over this as other managers (Levein) dont have any problems threatening legal action when it goes against them. yes they do a hard job, but the two decisions that have cost us the 4 points are decisions that should they should be getting right 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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