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Valuable lesson number one. Defend like schoolboys and you will be punished. A ten-goal thriller at Loftus Road that owed a lot more to the defensive shortcomings of both sides than scintillating attacking football. The Bhoys were back and made both Rangers teams they played against pay dearly.
With three new signings in the Rangers starting eleven things had a slightly unfamiliar feel about them. Nick Culkin lined up in goal with Argentine left back Gino Padula also getting a start. R's fan Marc Bircham lined up in central midfield for his first game in the blue and white hoops. Things couldn't have started any better with Gallen giving us the lead after only nine minutes.
Gallen latched onto Thomson's flick and drove left footed under the body of Celtic keeper Rob Douglas. It would appear that this angered Celtic and they quickly found themselves on level terms. A corner wasn't cleared properly and it fell into the path of the onrushing Colin Healy. The Republic of Ireland international made no mistake with a fierce drive that beat Culkin with ease.
What followed was an almost constant wave of Celtic pressure. Their class showed as they kept the ball easily and the extra fitness was key on a very warm day. Culkin made a couple of good saves in this period but then found himself at fault as Sutton increased the Celtic lead. Culkin came to collect a low ball fizzed across the box but failed to hold it. The ball came to Sutton and he shocked most in the crowd with a deft curling effort that cleared Culkin and hit the net.
Seven minutes later it was 3-1, this time Hartson managed to get his name on the score sheet. He picked up the ball and easily held of the challenge of man mountain Dan Shittu to fire a right footer past Culkin. The signing from Manchester United must have wondered what the hell was going on. He had looked nervous in the warm up and this won't have helped him.
Holloway rang the changes at half time with nine substitutions in all. Off went Culkin, the entire back four, Langley, Doudou and the front pair of Gallen and Thomson. In their place Digby, Murphy, Duncan, Carlisle, Burgess, Connolly and trialists James Panayi, Mamady Sidibe and David Sanz Pascual came on. Once again it was Rangers that got into their stride the quicker as the deficit was quickly reduced to one.
Karl Connolly picked up the ball and curled a delicious cross to the far post. Ollie Burgess found himself unmarked and headed home in front of The Loft. The reaction of the young midfielder showed his joy at being back from such a terrible injury so early in his career. Once again The Bhoys got back into the game immediately.
Didier Agathe benefited from another of the referee's Celtic biased decisions to win a dubious free kick on the edge of the box. Shaun Maloney stepped up and curled the ball past the flying Digby and in off the bar. The officiating was dubious to say the least. The referee was happy to allow John Hartson, as always all elbows and failing follicles, to clump Burgess yet Pascual commits one foul and he's over having a word with the bench. The linesman watching the Rangers back four was no better and was constantly ten yards behind the play. I know it's only a friendly but you do expect better.
By the time Rangers managed to pull themselves back into the game again former R Greg Goodridge had entered the fray on trial. Lalu came on along with Steve Palmer (who must have been delighted, having played the entire first half) and replaced Bircham and the ineffective Rose. Rose seemed to be in his usual pre-season malaise, strolling round the pitch without a care in the world whilst contributing nothing. He will improve as he always does but it was a pretty poor show.
Sidibe got the vital goal following an excellent cross from Lyndon Duncan. The ball was whipped in and Sidibe and fellow giant striker Pascual attacked Gould, the ball fell to Sidibe who finished from no more than six inches.
Three more Celtic goals in sixteen minutes killed the game off completely. First Fernandez capitalised on a Murphy error to round Digby and score with ease. Murph tried to fire a quick free kick up field but it cannoned off the arse of Momo Sylla for Fernandez to stroke home. A minute later a Rangers attack was broken up on the edge of the Celtic box. A quick break led to Fernandez returning the favour and Sylla tapped home from three yards. Sylla then set up Fernandez for number seven with a cross that evaded Digby leaving a simple far post header.
Although this was a comprehensive humping we can take some positives from the game. The most notable was how strong Carlisle, Burgess and Connolly looked on their return from knee ligament injuries. Carlisle in particular was flying into the challenges and almost looked to be giving the knee as stern a test as possible.
As for the new signings, I wasn't impressed with Culkin. He looked no better than what we already have but he needs time to settle in. The same goes for Padula who had a pretty anonymous debut at left back. Bircham looked solid enough and appears to be a very neat and tidy player, an ideal foil for the creativity of Langley.
Of the trialists the front two of Mamady Sidibe and David Sanz Pascual both looked good prospects. Very different players with Sidibe looking to run at players and beat them with pace whilst Pascual is a brave target man who doesn't mind putting himself about. Both look like they would be a good acquisition for the squad. Panayi had a difficult time but then this wasn't a day where defenders were on top. Greg Goodridge showed some nice touches and whipped a couple of decent balls in. All four are worthy of another couple of games before decisions are finally made but they would all fit in.
Hopefully next weeks game against Aylesbury will provide an opportunity to show what we can do going the other way as the attacking flair was somewhat stifled by the constant barrage of Celtic pressure. All in all an entertaining game if not for the right reasons, but there is plenty to work with and plenty of time to do it.
Man of the Match - Marc Bircham
simon@qprnet.com
