After Saturday’s game at Preston Holloway was forced into changes but as usual, not the changes that people expected. Royce was in goal behind Bignot, Evatt, Shittu and Dyer. Gallen, Doherty, Bircham and Cook lined up in midfield with Nygaard and Furlong up front. Langley was back on the bench after injury alongside Santos. There was still no place for Baidoo ahead of Moore.

Rangers started the game brightly and should have been ahead after two minutes. A ball into the box was only cleared as far as Doherty and his flighted cross was perfect for Ian Evatt to attack. His header lacked the pace needed to beat French custodian Romain Larrieu.

As seems to be the case these days Nygaard was the focal point for every attack and he was only finding himself restricted by the lack of support runners from midfield. On one occasion he played Cook into space on the left but the wingers touch was poor and instead of shooting or picking out one of two targets in the box he found the head of Doumbe.

Nygaard should have been awarded a penalty when he was clearly hauled down as he attacked a cross at the far post. Referee Messias decided that it wasn’t a foul and that the big Dane was carrying a man on his back through his own choice.

The game had all but fallen apart by now and after a promising first fifteen minutes things were scrappy and lacking cohesion. Doherty was trying to spray the ball around but there was just no penetration. Cook looked like he was playing in roller skates and every time he tried to run he just hit the deck through lack of traction. There was no support from Dyer as he was being instructed to push the ball inside rather than go attacking with his winger. On the other side Gallen was using the ball and getting good support from Bignot but Kev is no wide man (well at least in the footballing sense) and looked like a fish out of water. His instincts kept dragging him infield.

Having created precisely nothing for the entire half Plymouth took the lead with there first effort in anger. Hungarian midfielder Akos Buszaky found time and space in midfield and neither Doherty nor Bircham were able to shut him down. He struck the ball from thirty yards and the ball screamed past Royce into the net. The keeper didn’t have a prayer of saving it but he should have been pressured before he had the chance to strike the ball so clinically.

Plymouth had their second shot soon after and almost made it 2-0. Paul Wotton managed to find some space in the box and shot only to see a Rangers leg snake out and deflect the ball into the side netting.

The team were booed from the field at half time but it was more in frustration than anger. We had battered a terrible Plymouth side and they had managed to steal the lead. After the break things continued in the same way as Rangers failed to turn a mass of possession into clear cut chances.

Furlong should have tested the keeper when he got his head to a Cook cross shortly after the restart. It was typical of his form this season that he did not trouble Larrieu when last season he would probably have scored. Evatt looked to have scored minutes later when he headed the ball over Larrieu only to see the ball hacked off the line.

The frustration was really beginning to build in the ground and nobody was impressed when Doherty was replaced by Ainsworth. The Doc had been booked but he was using the ball well so it was a shock to see Bircham remain on the field instead. He had been his usual anonymous self, using the ball poorly and not winning it back when he didn’t have it. Doherty seemed to have something to say to Olly as he went off and you can’t really blame him to be honest.

Nygaard appeared to be fouled again as he attacked a far post cross but once more Messias was unmoved. Cook then had a shot that was tipped over the bar, the fact that it was only on target as he had slipped over again is by the by.

With just over twenty minutes left to play Rangers were awarded a special type of set piece that I believe is known as a penalty! Once again a ball into the box found Nygaard and his header back across goal was clearly handled. The Plymouth players protested but not even Messias could deny us this one. Gallen took the kick and slammed it hard past the diving Larrieu.

Furlong should have wrapped up the points when Ainsworth jinked his way past three men and teed the ball up perfectly. Furs’ shot on his right foot flew over the bar and shortly afterwards he was hauled off and replaced with Sturridge. Unfortunately his replacement never got into the game and we should probably be grateful that he lasted until the end of the game without pulling or snapping some part of his anatomy.

Still the lion’s share of possession was with Rangers and still they could not eek out anything like a decent chance. With the game almost at the end of a farcically short three minutes injury time Olly threw on Santos to howls of derision from many in the ground. The game must have lasted a further fifteen seconds after this. The whistle was again greeted with jeers as the crowd left the ground frustrated at the team’s failure to beat a team that would probably have left happy with a narrow defeat let alone a point.

The only bright spots I could see tonight were the displays of Bignot, Doherty and Nygaard. Some of the others performed well in patches and some of them were a waste of space completely. Holloway said after the game that the team were superb! I am glad someone thought so as I was bored rigid for much of the game.

We are so lacking in creativity it is untrue. Langley must wonder how bad we have to be and how many people have to get injured for him to get a game. Sometimes it’s not all about bludgeoning the opposition into submission, not that we manage that very often! Sometimes guile is required, players that can turn a game with a moment of brilliance, not just people that tackle and give the ball away.

Norwich await on Saturday and despite getting mauled at Luton they will prove a tough test. I think they will probably win and I am sad to say, I don’t really give a monkey’s if they do. Thanks Rangers.

simon@qprnet.com