Rangers turned in a first class demonstration of everything that is good and bad about the team at the moment as they crashed to a 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Burnley. Some blistering attacking play was counterbalanced with some defending that was totally devoid of confidence and belief. 

Everyone had assumed before the game that Stewart and Buzsaky would be back in the starting line up but it was something of a surprise to see Mancienne make way. Camp was in goal behind Connolly, Stewart, Rehman and Delaney. Buzsaky, Rowlands, Mahon and Ephraim were in midfield with Vine and Agyemang up front. 

Rangers absolutely flew out of the blocks and were moving the ball around slickly from the off. The R’s won an early free kick but Buzsaky saw his effort clip the top off the wall and fly behind for a corner. The big men were sent up from the back but nothing came of it. Ephraim was next to chance his arm after some good interplay saw the ball arrive at him twenty yards out. His shot carried good power but was well off target in the end. 

Burnley were neat and tidy when they had the ball but they were struggling to find that killer ball early on. Plenty was going in the direction of Cole and Blake but Rehman and Stewart found it pretty easy going against their much smaller opponents. Rangers made their early domination count shortly before the quarter hour as they opened the scoring in fine style. 

Agyemang battled for a ball on the touchline and once he had won it he sent a deft back heel into Buzsaky. The midfielder play maker steadied himself before floating a ball to the back stick that bypassed Jensen and left Alexander with two men to deal with. Ephraim was behind but the ball never got that far as Mahon came piling in to power a header into the net. It was another terrifically worked goal from Rangers and it was no surprise to find Agyemang and Buzsaky at the heart of it. 

Rangers just kept pouring forward as wave after wave of attack were somehow repelled by the Burnley defenders. Buzsaky slipped a lovely pass into the path of the onrushing Agyemang and with his confidence at an all time high he took the shot first time only to cut across it and send it swerving wide of Jensen’s left hand post. 

The game had just reached the half hour mark when Rangers grabbed a second goal that their dominance had warranted. Burnley conceded possession midway inside the R’s half and Damien Delaney got the ball and charged forward. The Burnley midfield had been caught up with the attack and there was no challenge as he ended a sixty yard run with a perfect ball into the path of Agyemang. The big striker cruised around Jensen and rolled the ball into the net to make it an incredible eight goals in six starts!  

The game should have been over at this point, a two goal lead at this level should be easily defended and had Buzsaky made it three moments later then surely Burnley would have had no chance. Having pounced on another slack pass in midfield he burst forward and fired a shot across the face of goal that just missed the far stick. 

It was Dutch style total football now as an attack was broken up and Rehman found himself steaming up the right wing and the ball was played into his path. The much maligned centre back cut inside before curling a left footed shot goalward that Jensen saved down low. It was almost too easy at this point but the game turned in the space of two minutes late in the half.

Firstly Rowlands was forced from the action with a knock to his hip and De Canio made what was from my point of view, a very negative change. Leigertwood was sent on to partner Mahon in the middle when a better option may have been to bring Lee on wide and move Buzsaky into his favoured position in the heart of midfield. Now we had two battlers in there and even though Rowlands hadn’t been as influential as he can be with the ball at his feet he was badly missed once he had gone. 

Two minutes later Burnley won a free kick some thirty five yards from goal and Icelandic midfielder Joey Gudjonsson decided to have a shy at goal. His strike was powerful but wayward but it found its way to the feet of Andy Cole and quick as a flash he diverted it into the net, almost decapitating Camp in the process.

At the break Owen Coyle sent Ade Akinbyi on in place of Robbie Blake and his presence immediately unsettled the R’s defence that had looked pretty comfortable to this point. Rangers missed a couple of early chances in the half as Ephraim twice shot weakly at Jensen when a slipped ball to Vine or Agyemang would almost certainly have been a better option. 

Ten minutes into the half it all fell apart as Burnley equalised with Cole once again the scorer. Akinbyi found himself in acres of space with the ball at his feet and a deft cross picked out Cole who had escaped his markers and he hammered the ball in via the bar. He might be nearing the time when he hangs up his boots but his movement and finishing are still first class and if Burnley can keep him fit then he will bag a lot of goals in this loan spell. 

Rangers almost re-took the lead when a free kick into the box was cleared as far as Connolly and he worked the ball onto his left foot before dipping a volley goalward that Jensen held above his head. At the other end Wade Elliott hit an absolute screamer that Camp somehow managed to touch onto the outside of the post. Despite the applause of the crowd referee Friend managed to miss the touch completely and gave the goal kick. 

Rangers were having a decent spell of pressure now but were guilty of overplaying at times as they tried to walk the ball into the box rather than trying to deliver a quality cross. Vine went on his own and dragged his shot across goal before Leigertwood found Jensen rather than the net as he had a poke from the edge of the area. 

With thirteen minutes left Burnley won the game through Akinbyi. A corner into the box was attacked by Caldwell and Stewart on the edge of the box. Stewart won the first one but the ball went straight up and Caldwell headed it toward the far post where an unmarked Akinbyi nodded home unchallenged. Whilst Cole had grabbed the goal it was the introduction of Akinbyi that turned the game Burnley’s way. Often he tries the flicks and step overs and makes a clown of himself but this time he just bullied the back four and they reaped the rewards. 

Rangers tried to press forward but couldn’t find the decisive pass that would have opened up the defence. With three minutes to go Cole sealed his hat-trick with a neat near post finish. Graham Alexander sent a low free kick into the box and Cole showed all his predatory instincts to take it in a beat Camp to secure the match ball. 

This result was a bit of a slap in the face after the last two games but it starkly highlighted the problems that De Canio faces. If we concede one we are likely to concede two or three as the heads seem to go down at the back. Until we can get to stage where the players are supremely confident in their ability to defend a lead then there will be results like this. That said, there really can be no defending them tossing away a two goal lead. 

Going forward there can be few better sides to watch than Rangers at the moment, there seems to be talent all over the place and in Agyemang we have the divisions form horse. But that wont count for much if there are more collapses like this. 

The players are jetting off to sunnier climbs this weekend for some training in Portugal, hopefully they will all come back fit and focused rather than fat and full of tapas! A home game against Sheffield United is next and that is an eminently winnable game against a team close to us in the table so we simply have to win. 

Man of the Match – Gavin Mahon. The big midfield man was superb, even in the face of the second half goal-fest he kept battling away and showed that he can play to with a superbly taken goal.

simon@qprnet.com