| R'S FAN PARKIN LEAVES CULKIN
SULKIN'
Rangers crashed to
a sorry defeat at the County Ground in diabolical conditions. As
poor a second half as we have seen since the Cardiff debacle saw an
average Swindon team run out comfortable winners as the R's simply
failed to compete.
A combination of illness and last
weeks poor showing against Mansfield meant Holloway rang the
changes. Despite a hesitant performance last week Culkin retained
his place in goal. Terrell Forbes had the flu and this meant that
Clarke Carlisle was deployed as a right back, a position he is
hardly suited to. If Lyndon Duncan had been a couple more weeks into
his comeback he may well have been handed a debut. The rest of the
back four was Shittu, Palmer and Padula.
Bean, Langley and Bircham were joined
by the suspension and injury free Lee Cook who replaced Leroy.
Gallen and Furlong continues in attack following a goal apiece last
week. Things didn't get off to the best of starts as Swindon rightly
identified Carlisle as the defensive weak link.
Notice was served of their intentions
as early as the third minute when Eric Sabin blasted over when well
placed. Minutes later he roasted Carlisle despite giving him a five
yard head start. Carlisle looked weighty and was all over the show
in the early stages.
Gallen fired an early shot at Griemink
and soon Rangers forced a right wing corner which Gino trotted over
to take. His ball was fired into the near post and Rangers latest
fox in the box Dan Shittu was on hand to head home from six yards.
This was his fifth of the season and his third in five. Rangers
surrendered their advantage only three minutes later with some quite
awful defending.
As the ball ricocheted around the box
some of the back four decided to play offside. Some of them didn't
and the ball fell to Steve Robinson who has plenty of time to trap
the ball and pick his spot. Nick Culkin came off his line in
instalments and couldn't get their quick enough to prevent the goal.
Holloway immediately switched to a 3-4-1-2 formation. Carlisle
dropped into the back three and Cookie took up the free role,
although he barely prised himself away from the left side.
As the rain started to fall the pitch
became all the more slippery underfoot and made a mockery of the
decision of the groundsman to water the pitch heavily 45 minutes
before kick off. The dugout side of the pitch still had water
sitting on it when the final whistle blew. The conditions helped
neither side and the rest of the half brought few clear cut chances
for either side.
Richard Langley had two chances to
test Griemink with freekicks but both were wasted. The first one
sailed harmlessly over and the second one, whilst closer, didn't
cause any consternation from the Swindon keeper. Griemink made a
terrific save minutes before half time to deny Paul Furlong.
In between these challenges Dan Shittu
nearly added his second of the match. He won a header from Langley's
left wing corner which was hacked off the line. The ball was
returned and this time Shittu smashed a fierce left footer which
Griemink managed to scoop onto the bar and over.
A rare piece of neat play set the in
form striker free and he bore down on goal. As he drew Griemink he
decided to try and go round him rather than slot it early and he
found himself denied. Furlong had been the pick of the players in
the first half and in current form I would have backed him to tuck
it away.
I had hoped that the half time break
would bring some new instructions for the defence and maybe some
better organisation but this proved not to be the case. Swindon took
the lead minutes into the half through Rangers fan Sam Parkin.
Parkin had caused all sorts of bother
for the Rangers rearguard with his power and movement all game and
it was no surprise when he got himself on the scoresheet. He
received the ball and jinked past two flying tackled before firing
past Culkin who had little chance. The goal obviously meant a lot to
Parkin who ripped off his shirt and steamed around the pitch. Might
have been nice to show a little more class against his boyhood
heroes.
It was soon 3-1 as Swindon benefited
from yet more poor marking a slow-mo goalkeeping. Andy Gurney
knocked in a left wing corner and Matthew Heywood, all 6' 5" of him
was left unmarked five yards out. Culkin made some sort of half
hearted star jump type effort at a save and the ball was in before
he knew it.
There seemed little way back for
Rangers now so poor was the all round showing. The midfield was
non-existent and the performance of Richard Langley left a hell of a
lot to be desired. He wanted so much time on the ball against a
hardworking Swindon team it was ridiculous and every piece of
contact saw him throw himself to the floor in melodramatic fashion.
With a stronger ref he may well have found himself booked more than
once for his blatant simulation. Maybe a spell on the bench or on
the right side of midfield will pep him up. The hurly burly of
central midfield seems too much for him at the moment.
Holloway made a double change when he
withdrew Cook and Padula for Pacquette and returning fans favourite
Williams. Williams looked like he had had a talking to since his
midweek reserve showing as he whipped in a terrific ball that evaded
the lunges of Pacquette, Bircham and Bean. He soon resorted to his
usual tactic of hitting the first defender with the rest of his
efforts so no change there then.
In the closing stages Brett Angell
replaced Furlong in a baffling change. Furlong had scored four in
four before this game and is always a threat. Angell is an
overweight plodder who looks like winning a header is beyond him.
The change was made all the more ridiculous for the fact that he
didn't manage a touch in all the time he was on. Gallen managed a
weak effort at goal that was hacked off the line.
The game ended with Rangers trying to
summon some sort of inspiration form somewhere and the only player
that can hold his head vaguely high is Steve Palmer. Despite the
fact that the defence looked like they had never met for the
majority of the game the skipper kept trying to drive his team on,
often reverting to carrying the ball beyond the static midfield on
his own in an effort at creating a chance.
Despite the fact that Forbes has been
poor this season his absence meant that the team was unbalanced and
that the right side was an unhindered passage to victory. We need to
hope he is fit enough to play on Tuesday at Huddersfield. We also
need to hope that Langley drags himself out of his current malaise
and that Carlisle raises his game at least three notches or it could
be a long old night for the R's fans.
simon@qprnet.com |
