Mick Harford picked up where his predecessor left off with an odd team selection that ended in a battering. Big Mick will have done his already slim chances of landing the job full time no good whatsoever and the team just lurched from the last disaster to the next with defending that would have left the Dog & Shit third XI hanging their heads in shame. 

Having signed a couple of loan players before the game there was no surprise that they both started. There was plenty of furrowed brows though when the teams were read out as people clocked on that Rowly would be playing right back. Camp was in goal behind Rowlands, Leigertwood, Cullip and Barker. Ainsworth, Bolder, Jarrett and Ephraim were in midfield with Blackstock and Vine up top. 

Looking at the score line if you weren’t at the game you would automatically assume that it was one way traffic from the off but that is far from the case. Vine was already showing that his time sat on his backside at Birmingham hasn’t stunted his ability as his excellent touch and silky movement started to cause the ColU back four problems. Similarly, Ephraim on the right flank looked bang at it and would go on to have his best game for the R’s to date. 

An Ephraim cross from the left flank flashed through the six yard box before Blackstock nodded down a Rowlands cross from the other side into the path of Vine but he shanked his shot badly and keeper Gerken wasn’t troubled. At the other end former R’s loan player Kevin Lisbie managed to get past Leigertwood but his shot failed to test Camp. 

Play switched back to the other end and Vine was once more at the hub of it. After dropping deep to collect the ball he burst forward and lashed in a strike that Gerken parried away. He then managed to get a decent ball into the box but there was nobody on hand to convert it. 

Despite the early Rangers domination there was a certain sense of inevitability when they conceded a shocking goal. A Colchester corner from Yeates was cleared back to the former Spurs man and he sold Rowlands and Ainsworth with a simple drop of the shoulder. His low left footed strike looked simple enough for Camp to gather but he managed to parry it up onto the bar and the ball fell to a startled looking Leigertwood. He wasn’t able to sort his feet out quickly enough and as he tried to clear he only managed to prod the ball into the corner of the net. 

Rangers picked up where they had left off though with Vine once more at the heart of the action. Another shot produced another Gerken save and when Vine seized on the rebound Gerken dived full length to slap his cross away before it could reach the middle of the goal. 

Rangers finally got the goal their attacking play deserved as the game approached the half hour mark. Barker, who was playing better than he had although still not as well as he should, made a slow foray forward and fed Ephraim. He exchanged passes with Vine and burst into the box before firing a right footer past Gerken. 

Having seen the attackers fight back into the game the defensive players let the side down again within a minute and Colchester were back in front. Danny Granville galloped into the gaping hole Rowlands’ lack of positional sense created and sent a cross in. Kem Izzet, all 4’ 7” of him, arrived in the box, totally unmarked, and planted an excellent header past the helpless Camp. Quite where Bolder or Jarrett were, is anyone’s guess but it was indicative of the lack of protection the midfield have afforded our shell shocked back four all season. They of course don’t help themselves most of the time but it might be nice if some of the other players pitched in once in a while. 

Clive Platt should have done better when he burst through the now shambolic R’s defence. His shot wasn’t great and Camp gathered it with ease. At the other end Ainsworth struck one of his trademark volleys, they are the ones that flash wildly into the crowd rather than the net. Then, as if by magic, Rangers gave away another shitty goal. 

Lisbie burst forward through the middle and for once Bolder was in pursuit and he slid in to win the ball. Referee Moss, who I thought looked off the pace for a lot of the evening, decided it was a foul and duly booked Bolder. The free kick was almost dead centre and the wall that Camp set up would have embarrassed O’Reilly from Fawlty Towers! Yeates struck the ball; it took a wicked deflection off of the fragmented wall, wrong footed Camp completely, and rolled into the gaping net. Classic Rangers. 

On the stroke of half time Colchester almost gifted Rangers a goal when Gerken made a hash of a clearance from a Virgo back pass and was grateful to see the ball drift wide of his unguarded net. Rangers had probably been the better side in the opening half but found themselves two goals behind. I can’t help thinking that somewhere amongst a pile of cash; John Gregory was having a little smirk to himself. 

Ainsworth should have done better when he won a header from a free kick. At the other end Camp had to be at his very best to deny Lisbie and then big centre back Baldwin. Rangers were being constantly rocked back, as they had been at the end of the first half and it only seemed a matter of time before a goal came. It was something of a surprise though when it was Rangers that scored it! 

Ainsworth moved in off of his wing and fed the ball into the path of Vine. He steadied himself before banging the ball low into the net to throw Rangers a desperately needed lifeline. His play had deserved a goal and you would like to think he will only get better the more he plays. He will have to though as he is going to need to score five goals a game if he wants to win us any points at the moment! 

Colchester continued where they had left off, much as Rangers had after the ColU opener in the first half. Lisbie fired a shot wide of goal before he then sent in another shot that looked to be drifting wide. I thought it had gone wide and looked away briefly only to hear the home fans cheering and see the home players mobbing Platt. Turns out the ball had been kept in after the ball cannoned back off the post! I should really pay more attention. Those words would also be good advice to the R’s defenders as it was another poor goal to concede. 

Rangers were really struggling now. Vine seemed the only genuine source of a goal as Blackstock turned in another poor display. There can’t be many players out there that can be so under par and find themselves rewarded with a new deal in the midst of it. Vine cracked a shot across goal when perhaps he could have pulled it back to Dexter, but at the moment there seems little point.  

Jason Jarrett, decent in the first half but totally non existent in the second, found himself through on goal after a Vine set up, he looked in control but his shot was a stinker and he dragged it a good five yards past the post. He was taken off shortly after and Ben Sahar came on as Rangers went 4-3-3. 

Lisbie had a goal chalked off for offside before Harford made a last desperate substation and sent Stefan Moore on in place of the totally anonymous Ainsworth. To be fair to Moore he did work hard and perhaps should have done better with a long range shot that he dragged wide of the post. 

The game was petering out now. Rangers couldn’t find a goal and in truth, had they managed to the defence would have just gifted one away instantly to restore the status quo. The final whistle brought the curtain down on what could very well be Harford’s only game as caretaker.  

This was a tough game for all concerned. Harford wont have had much time to impose his will on the players, the large majority of the players are clearly operating without a shred of confidence in their ability and the fans are starting to reach the end of the extra bits of tether they purchased on Monday after they reached the ends of their original tethers on Sunday afternoon!  

Work is clearly needed on the defensive side of things. The midfield don’t help the back four, the back four don’t help themselves and Camp looks shaky but that’s hardly a surprise given what goes on in front of him. There is talent in this squad but too many players are simply not at it.

Big decisions need to be made and the first of those should be to bench Bolder. The captaincy is like a millstone around his neck and he needs a couple of weeks on the sidelines to get his head right. Similarly Blackstock should have a couple of weeks as a sub, let Sahar and Vine have a bash up top, perhaps then he will come back a hungrier, leaner and more determined player.  

What to do at the back though? Barker has an injury it would appear; perhaps this is why he has the pace of a milk float trying to ascend Ben Nevis? If he needs an op do it now, no need to wait. Martin Cranie seems to have been mooted as a loan player and he will certainly be able to fill that berth. A well Timoska is needed as is a fit Mancienne. Stewart lost his place last night but things didn’t improve so I would be surprised if he wasn’t back in against Norwich. And please, no more Rowly at right back!

Norwich on Monday night in front of the watching tens of people on Sky is now a must win, mind you, aren’t they all! Any new manager that comes in needs some sort of base to work from and at the moment there simply isn’t one. If this is the new mans first game then perhaps that alone may inspire the players. If it turns out to be another Harford game then he has to find some magic formula as this is getting bloody embarrassing. 

Man of the Match – Rowan Vine. Vine and Ephraim were a class apart for Rangers but the Birmingham man gets it as he carried his threat longer than Hogan who faded later in the piece.

simon@qprnet.com