| R'S CAVALIER ATTITUDE NEARLY
ENDS IN DIS-ASTRA
A performance that
was often verging on shambolic means that Rangers are now forced
into a replay they do not need against a resolute if unspectacular
Vauxhall Motors side. Sometimes the un-professionalism of the
professional footballer amazes me.
Dangerous Digby was back in goal as
Royce was suspended and Leicester wouldn't allow him to play anyway.
The standard back three of Carlisle, Shittu and Palmer lined up in
front of him. Burgess replaced Forbes on the right alongside
Bircham, Rose and Williams. A front three of Thomson, Oli and
Connolly would be looking to breakdown The Motormen.
You could almost sense the tension
amongst the players from the off as a succession of passes went
astray and Vauxhall looked the brighter side. Andy Thomson had an
excellent chance to open the scoring early in the game. He ran onto
a through ball and seemed to have plenty of time to control and
shoot. Instead, he attempted to lob Andy Ralph in the Vauxhall goal
and only succeeded in finding the stand.
Bircham was the next to try his luck
with two long range efforts. His first strike was a bobbler that
Ralph could have thrown his cap on and the other was a searing
effort that cleared the bar with ease. At the other end Vauxhall
were having trouble creating chances. Their two best efforts fell to
Nesbitt, he missed his kick with the first and was unlucky following
a superb turn on the second occasion. He was closed down before he
had the chance to shoot and this maybe showed the difference between
a pro and semi-pro player. Late in the half Connolly curled a twenty
yard effort high and wide in what would be his only real
contribution to the game.
The closest Vauxhall came in the first
half was a stinging effort from Nicky Young that seemed to have
Digby beaten and fortunately flew across goal and wide. I am no fan
of Fraser Digby and yesterday his kicking was of its usual erratic
nature. He also seemed preoccupied with throwing the ball to team
mates who were in no position to receive it. He had Palmer in
trouble more than once and also had Williams and Shittu stretching
for poorly aimed efforts.
Holloway changed things round at half
time. He withdrew Rose and brought Forbes on in his place. This
forced the obligatory change in formation with a switch to 4-4-2.
Palmer moved into midfield and spent the majority of the match
struggling to get involved. His only real action of the entire
second period was a scuffed left footer that bobbled well wide.
Referee Mathieson incensed the Rangers
following with his failure to award what looked a stonewall penalty
following a trip on Oli. The young striker had tricked two players
on the edge of the box and surged toward the by-line. As he
attempted to cross he was clearly tripped. The only person not to
think so was Mathieson and he waved play on. I don't want this to
sound like sour grapes but he was shocking all afternoon. He gave a
string of incorrect decisions and along with his linesman seemed
keen to be involved in a giant killing.
Dennis Oli was forced out of the game
soon after following a clash with Ralph. They both slid toward a
Burgess cross and the fragile front man came off second best. He
carried on for five minutes but the stretcher was soon called for
and Gallen replaced him. I am worried about the fragility of Oli as
the number of injuries he collects is eventually going to hinder his
progress. I wonder if it may be time to give him an extended rest
for his own good.
The reintroduction of Gallen following
his arse strain seemed to give the R's players a lift and we
suddenly seemed to be able to play a bit. Whereas for the first hour
we had to watch Thommo and Connolly labouring away without getting
anywhere near the ball now there was some purpose to the
proceedings. His first involvement was a shot that was easily taken
by Ralph.
Rangers were finally managing to
fashion some decent attacking play and it only seemed a matter of
time before they managed to convert possession into a goal. It was
then that Vauxhall suddenly turned the match and had Rangers under
the cosh for a time. In one attack they forced six corners on the
spin. They were easily dealt with but it served as a reminder that
we could not take this game for granted.
As the match drew to a close Shittu
headed wide when well placed and Thomson and Gallen were both denied
following goal mouth scrambles. Connolly was replaced by Padula with
a few minutes to play and Gino served to make Williams look like the
self obsessed show pony that he is. In the few minutes he was on he
used the ball well, defended strongly and launched some useful
attacks. In the final moment Vauxhalls Young made a real mess of a
routine effort when well placed that could have sealed the game.
We now have a replay three days before
an important league game with Cardiff and this is not something we
needed. The performance of the majority of the players was just not
good enough but the poorest of the bunch were Shittu, Williams and
Palmer.
Shittu seems to take one step forward
and two steps back in his development as a player. He gives the ball
away too easily and he doesn't seem to be able to communicate basic
instructions to his team mates. In one first half incident he waited
until he was almost on top of Digby before calling for the keeper to
intervene. I worry that he is not improving as he was made to look
foolish on more than one occasion by strikers that didn't have much
to offer.
Palmer was lost in midfield and in
truth hadn't played well at centre back in the first half. He must
hear the criticism from the crowd and I think it may be getting to
him. I wouldn't shed a tear of he found himself out of the side in
games to come.
Tommy Williams is a poor player,
simple as that. He seems to have the ability to do whatever he wants
but he is a slacker and will not battle for the good of the team.
The only time he shows any semblance of passion is when he is
arguing with the ref and this is only to make himself look like the
big man. His inability to put in a corner is starting to annoy
people and he took a fair amount of stick over it yesterday. If
anybody knows Steve Bruce can they tell him to get this waster out
of our club!
The replay shouldn't provide too stiff
a test as Vauxhall were at their best whilst we were at our worst. A
half decent showing should see us run out easy winners. With the
Cardiff game to follow soon we may see a few youngsters involved.
They can't do mush worse than this.
simon@qprnet.com |
