Rangers climbed out of the Championship relegation zone with a hard fought home win against Colchester United. In truth this game should have been a stroll after going two goals ahead but the frailties in the defence and in the players’ confidence was all too evident and Rangers could have ended the game with nothing. 

De Canio was forced to change the side due to the unavailability of Martin Rowlands. Camp was in goal behind Malcolm, Stewart, Rehman and Barker. Ainsworth, Bolder, Leigertwood and Vine were in midfield with Buzsaky playing behind lone front man Blackstock.  

Most of the talk before the game amongst the fans had been about how we would spend the war chest that will be available to Gigi, the players had no such thing on their minds though as they set about Colchester at a furious pace. Vine was played in from his left wing berth and he drove inside before crashing in a shot that Gerken did well to beat to safety. 

Colchester were finding themselves pinned back as Rangers poured forward without ever coming up with that killer final ball. Vine lashed a low cross through the penalty area with nobody attacking it and then Blackstock managed to get on the end of an Ainsworth cross but failed to find the target. You can’t help but think that Dexter is going to be one of the casualties in January as he doesn’t look like he remembers how to score a goal at the moment. 

At the other end Colchester went close when Johnnie Jackson had a pop from a free kick but his curling effort was easily gathered by Camp. Rangers were forcing plenty of corners but the visitors were somehow managing to scramble them away, often more by luck that judgement. Buzsaky has brought something to the side that has been missing for ages, consistently good delivery on set pieces, be they free kicks or corners.  

The away side seemed to have the ability to eek out a chance whenever they came into the R’s half though. Kem Izzet saw a low shot easily gathered by Camp before Teddy Sheringham, looking every one of his forty one years, somehow had an air shot when it seemed easier to slide the ball into the corner. 

For all the R’s pressure Gerken didn’t exactly have to extend himself. Then he suddenly found himself helpless to intervene as Akos Buzsaky came up with yet another magical goal. Rangers won a throw on the right and Buzsaky lost his man and received the ball from Malcolm. He turned inside and measured a beautiful curling left footed strike past Gerken and into the far corner. That took Buzsaky to the top of the scoring charts with four and every one of them had been a cracker. 

Colchester were forced into a change when Izzet and Ainsworth attacked a high ball on the touchline and the diminutive ColU man clattered into the wall in front of The Paddock. It later transpired he had collected a dislocated thumb and a bad gash to his hand in the fall. He was replaced by Luke Guttridge with ten minutes of the half remaining. 

Former R’s winger Kevin McLeod lashed a wild shot over the bar as the half drew to a close. Rangers were well worth the one goal lead at the break but you had to wonder whether having two strikers up top may have worked better as too often balls into the box were not attacked due to a lack of bodies. 

Rangers started the second half well and Buzsaky made a mug of Baldwin on the touchline and fusspot referee Whitestone took the big centre backs name. Colchester had the first chance of the half when a ball into the box somehow ended up at the feet of Sheringham but he couldn’t swivel enough and his shot flew well wide of Camp’s right hand post. 

There wasn’t long to wait though for Rangers’ second of the game and it was a terrific goal on the break. Rowan Vine collected the ball near half way and he galloped toward the Colchester defence. He laid the ball into the feet of Blackstock who sent it first time into the path of Buzsaky who had made a superb third man run. The Hungarian was ice cold as he collected the pass and slotted it under the advancing Gerken. Make that five for the season and all of them crackers! 

This game should have been over now but as they have so many times this season, Rangers started dropping deeper and deeper and pandemonium at the back soon followed. Camp came to collect a routine cross but somehow managed to drop the ball straight at the feet of Sheringham. The fossilised hitman made a real mess of his effort though and somehow managed to hit the post from two yards.  

Camp made amends for his error with a great save minutes later when Guttridge found space inside the box and got a good low shot away that Camp palmed away expertly. The just after the hour mark Colchester halved their arrears through Mark Yeates. 

A nothing ball into midfield seemed to pose little threat but Leigertwood, who seemed to be nursing a groin injury at this point, didn’t challenge and Platt flicked the ball on. Still no danger though as Bolder moved to intercept but he somehow managed to send the ball past Rehman with his thigh. Still no danger though as Rehman had the run on Yeates, until he fell flat on his face and the former Spurs man strode in to clip the ball past Camp. It was a rank bad goal to give away but so typical of the piss poor standard of some of our defending this season. 

Rangers should have been given a man advantage with twenty minutes left after Sheringham and Malcolm challenged for a ball on halfway. Sheringham conceded the free kick and then ended up on the deck and blatantly lashed out at Malcolm with a straight leg. It was about as blatant a red card as you could imagine but referee Whitestone, hopelessly out of his depth for most of the game, decided that ticking both men off would suffice, despite the fact that Malcolm had done nothing wrong! 

Three minutes later referee Whitestone found his cards again when he booked Stewart for a foul on Yeates on halfway. There was no malice in the challenge, unlike the one we had just seen, but no matter for this weak official. Stewart would pay the price for this booking nine minutes later.  

Rangers weren’t getting out of their half at all now. Nygaard had been sent on for Blackstock but it was still one up top and as such the Colchester full backs, Granville in particular, had all the time in the world to move forward and kick off the attacks. Granville crunched a long range effort over the top after one such move but most of the time they settled for loading the ball in toward Platt and seeing what developed from there.  

Then, with ten minutes to play, a flurry of challenge in the middle of the park ended when Stewart came flying in with a flying challenge that won the ball but took Mark Yeates out completely. Back in the day this wouldn’t have even been a free kick but in the current climate it is a booking all day long and Stewart was making the long walk.

De Canio was trying to get Leigertwood off at the time and went ahead with the change as he sent Walton on for his home debut. He slotted in at centre back alongside Rehman as Rangers steeled themselves to ride out the final ten minutes. The pressure was incessant from the visitors and Walton, so long out with a broken leg, wasn’t found wanting. 

Lisbie, so disappointing when Rangers had him on loan a few years ago, was wreaking havoc in the R’s box. He had two efforts at goal in as many minutes, one blocked and one wide before Rangers had a massive let off as the clock ticked down. 

Lisbie looked to burst in between Walton and Malcolm and the big Scot seemed to have a hand on his shoulder as he entered the area and the striker went down. I haven’t seen the replay but the contact seemed minimal but referee Whitestone whistled and ran toward the area. Everyone assumed penalty but he pulled out a yellow card for Lisbie for diving! I am not sure it was a dive but I don’t think it was a pen either. 

Still Colchester came forward as Rangers decided that they now wouldn’t even bother clearing the box! Rangers were almost playing with a flat back nine at this point but the away side were still getting in. Lisbie had another effort before Granville hit a shot a mile wide that the referee somehow pulled a corner from. When the ball came in Jackson saw another shot deflected away. With almost the final touch of the game Nygaard produced a towering header at the far post to clear yet another threat before the whistle sounded. 

You could argue that it says a lot about the fighting spirit of the team that they managed to ride out the storm or you could argue more realistically, that they get away with one. I can’t believe that the managed wants the players to sit so deep, it is footballing suicide! But if he wants them to do something different then he needs to instruct them, or maybe he had give up trying to tell them and will just replace them all in January! 

At the end of the day, at the moment a win is a win and manner it comes in doesn’t really matter a great deal. We need points on the board and if that means that we defend like the 24^th Regiment of Foot at Rourke’s Drift then that’s what we shall do. I would much rather cut teams to ribbons and maybe when some money has been spent we will have the tools to do so, but at the moment we play with what we have no matter how limited that might be.  

Two big away games now wait for the squad at Plymouth and Watford. There will be no Stewart at Plymouth due to his ban so Walton may well step in, or perhaps the permanently ill and sick Timoska or Mancienne. Truth be told if we pick up two points in total from these then that will be a fair achievement and set us up well for a big game against Holloway’s Leicester on New Years Day. 

Man of the Match – Akos Buzsaky. Akos certainly seems to be enjoying his time at Rangers as he made it five goals in ten games. When you think he only got nine in over one hundred games at Plymouth it makes it all the more impressive. Massive player.

simon@qprnet.com