Europe after Xmas.

Progression. Advancement. Qualification.

All achieved thanks to a positive result against the French side Auxerre, in which a point was required to confirm a minimum of finishing third in our group and thus ensuring safe passage to the next round. In the end, a 2-2 scoreline was achieved thanks to goals from Novo and Boyd, but while the final consequences of the result were positive, they failed to hide the glaring poverty of the defence.

Starting with the same back four to begin the previous two matches, Rangers set out with a pretty stable lineup, and in fact opted to deploy the same formation and personnel who won at Tynecastle, advocating the sense of continuity.

Unfortunately the defensive display was one of the worst Scottish efforts of a backline seen in Europe. Celtic’s capitulation at the hands of Portuguese cracks Benfica was pretty shambolic too, but Rangers’ pathetic showing took incompetence to new levels, seemingly flying in the face of keeping a settled unit.

Initially it was fairly untested, and actually possessed a touch of balance with the full backs bombing up the flanks, but Auxerre’s Polish striker Jelen managed to penetrate once or twice and indeed forced an early save from McGregor. However, when Smith had to go off injured, it forced Le Guen’s hand and saw the introduction of Rodriguez into the unfamiliar left back slot. It made a massive difference to the entire defence.

The centre backs started to make elementary errors, truly schoolboy stuff, never more so than when a crude punt down the middle of the park evaded both and went through to Jelen who slotted past the committed McGregor. More and more problems creeped in, such as a total lack of marking, which was highlighted when Hemdani lost his man completely and the Auxerre player missed his header when scoring was easier.
Then both Rodriguez and Svensson insisted on appalling losses of possession which seemed to indicate an alarming lack of concentration – totally unacceptable at this (Or any) level. There was also the problem of Rodriguez’ presence completely ruining the left channel – he was not willing to get forward except on a single occasion, and it forced Prso to track back to fill that midfield flank and therefore removed Prso’s presence as the left winger. Then was Rodriguez’ desire to go to his natural habitat of the penalty box, which left the left channel horrendously exposed before Hemdani would try to cover the wayward movement. This doesn’t even begin to explore Rodriguez’ pretty horrendous positioning when trying to close down wingers; they threw crosses in with ease and gusto.

He was the only option to put there, but his presence completely unsettled the defence and led to a tragic display of incompetence by all 4.

However, thanks to a couple of opportunistic goals Rangers did manage to escape this match with a draw and qualification. Unfortunately, all too often that hideous defence made Auxerre, a truly woeful and mediocre team, look world class.

Le Guen can just be glad to come out of this one intact – but there can be no doubt the scoreline did not completely paper over the cracks of this match.

Rangers renaissance?

The European adventure continues this evening in France, when Rangers come face to face with adversaries who are struggling domestically like Rangers, but who are struggling in Europe as well.

14th in Ligue 1, Auxerre are in relative dire straits in the division, unable to make any headway into the top ten of the championship.

They have also lost their only match in the Uefa Cup to a side Rangers have beaten fairly comfortably in Maccabi Haifa, which would lend itself to the notion that going into this game Rangers are arguably favourites, which given their overall season is definitely a change from the norm.

Le Guen has fielded a relatively unchanged team for the past two encounters, the only alteration being the dropping of Martin who performed so miserably against Dunfermline and indeed was hauled at half time during that encounter, in favour of the reinstatement of Boyd for the Hearts match. So it stands to reason that given the two successive victories attained in those encounters Le Guen may opt to persist with the rapidly settling starting 11. However, second guessing the boss is a mug’s game and tantamount to folly, so it is much wiser to refrain from hypothesising the lineup and to merely scrutinise the team when it is officially revealed.

One other thing which stands out is the current settlement of the defence; Hutton, Hemdani, Svensson and Smith has been the staple backline for a short while now, and to reinforce the advocation of this policy it is worth noting Rangers have enjoyed 2 clean sheets as well as the victories. So it seems valid that those who called for an unchanging defence have been vindicated.

Also revealed in the past couple of days has been Le Guen’s desire to send Bardsley back to Manchester; it has been all but confirmed by the manager that Phil has no future at Ibrox, and will return to his owning club in the new year. This is arguably a very disappointing move by the Frenchman; Bardsley showed plenty of potential as a more than decent right back, and seemed a cut above his main rival Hutton, but the infamous training-ground bust up between Bardsley and the gaffer severed any chances he realistically had of remaining in Le Guen’s plans. At the same time, his fellow Mancunian Martin has been informed he is very much in the plans of the club, and it is conceived that Rangers will desire to extend his loan spell from January onwards.
It is clear Martin has failed to deliver bar that superb performance against Hearts, so quite what Le Guen sees in him is unknown, his wish to retain him is something of a mystery. If either of the two loans were to be kept, it should arguably have been Bardsley.

Finally, Clement has been in the red tops today quoted as stating his desire to move on to pastures new, and that he admits Rangers are little more than a stepping stone to greater things for him. He belittles the standard of the SPL and suggests Le Guen’s presence is the only thing which persuaded him to join the Govan club.

Many supporters will be upset by this apparent lack of passion for the club from him, but too many still idealistically believe that players join clubs for the club’s heritage, supporters, and pedigree. In this cynical modern age, players go where they will be paid handsomely, and where they can develop their career. This is a business, and loyalty comes at a price. It could be argued that Clement would have been better off saying nothing, and maybe that is true, but the brutal realists among us would merely respect his honesty, and expect that as long as he remains at Ibrox he gives his heart and soul to the team, and plays as well as he would if his employers were Real Madrid.

However, this is all long term; our immediate concern is tonight, and we have to hope the likes of Clement deliver.

Two wins on the trot

Well, it took over 3 months into the new campaign for Rangers to finally record two consecutive victories on the spin, the second coming courtesy of a gritty win over Hearts at Tynecastle yesterday whereby neither side seemed to fully grasp the notion of passing, flowing football.

Indeed, it was a ramshackle display by both opponents, entirely bereft of any cohesion, flair, consistency or downright quality. Loose passes, shoddy vision, hopeful punts and few cutting moves led to a pretty woeful game of football in which shots at goal were few and far between.

For just about the first time this season, Le Guen named a pretty-much unchanged eleven, bar the dropping of the hopeless Martin to the bench in favour of Boyd. Otherwise the team named was pretty much the team which seems to be settling ever so slightly. Curious that the first time Le Guen refrains from messing about with the formation and lineup we manage to get a second victory in a row. Amazing what a little bit of persistence can achieve, really.

In the end the win came from the boot of Novo, a deflected shot evading Gordon in the Hearts’ goal – it was no more than Rangers deserved. Yes, the performance might not exactly have emulated Puskas’ Real Madrid, but it showed more fight and desire than what the Gorgie boys offered. Mind you, it hardly helped their cause that the infighting and conflict surrounding the Tynecastle club is getting yet worse, and each day seems to bring a new catastrophe upon them.

That said, Rangers had to beat the team they played against, and more or less deserved said victory. Hemdani was solid and composed at the back, and seems to be just about asserting himself as a fixture in defence. For all the complaints about his physique, he does the job pretty well asked of him. His partner Svensson was shaky, but did well enough in the end. And while the flowing football was conspicuous by its absence, the midfield worked very hard with Clement in particular covering the pitch.

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t pleasing on the eye, but it was a gritty victory which asserted Rangers in second place – only 15 points to make up (!)