It is often said that the mark of a good side is that they are able to pick up points even when they don’t play well. Rangers certainly achieved one part of that sentence in the dire goalless draw with Coventry City but I think it might be stretching it to describe Rangers as anything other than wholly inconsistent at the moment. 

It was little surprise that De Canio stuck with the same XI that dismantled Stoke City on Sunday. Camp was in goal behind Mancienne, Hall, Connolly and Delaney. Buzsaky, Leigertwood, Rowlands and Ephraim started in midfield with Vine and Agyemang up top.

Rangers started the game appallingly and in the first fifteen minutes it seemed more a case of how many Coventry would get than whether they would score. Michael Mifsud was tearing Delaney a new one at left back, in the first ten minutes he went at him twice and nutmegged him twice. Mifsud must be easily the quickest player in this division and I have little doubt that he will find himself in more salubrious surroundings next season rather than showcasing his talent in a half empty morgue.  

Coventry should have opened the scoring after Best flashed a cross through the six yard box only for centre back Elliott Ward to contrive to hammer it into the stand. Then Mifsud’s pace caught Delaney out again with the full back too high up the field leaving acres of grass to run into. Luckily for Delaney, Camp was quickly off his line to thwart the danger. Delaney then had the temerity to have a chip at Camp for not getting out more quickly! Perhaps if he had the faintest idea what Mifsud was doing it wouldn’t have happened in the first place! 

Such was Coventry’s early territorial dominance that De Canio changed formations quickly. 4-4-2 was gone after ten minutes and he moved Buzsaky behind Agyemang, stuck Vine on the left and Ephraim on the right as he went back to his favourite 4-4-1-1 formation. It made little difference to be honest, aimless balls were the order of the day and Agyemang was doing precious little to suggest that he could, or indeed wanted to try and head or trap them. After a blistering start to his R’s career he appears to have reverted to type unfortunately and he wouldn’t be anywhere near my starting side for Hillsborough.  

Leon Best displayed the finishing skills he treated us to in his brief loan at Rangers when he duffed a shot into the ground from ten yards that looped harmlessly over the bar. He then charged through from the halfway line after blatantly fouling Connolly in the centre circle and seeing play incredibly waved on by the distinctly average Mike Dean. Camp though assessed the situation perfectly and brilliantly blocked the striker’s effort. 

Stephen Hughes fired straight at Camp after a moment of hesitation from Connolly and Coventry then missed a great chance as half time approached. A long cross from the left flank sailed over Mancienne and landed at the feet of mini winger Jay Tabb. He managed a decent connection on his shot but once again Camp was equal to it as he beat the ball away.  

To this point Rangers chances for column contained a big fat lonely zero! To be honest they had barely been in the Coventry half and aside from a five minute spell when they seemed to remember how to keep the ball, they had spent the entire half just handing it straight back to the home team. 

De Canio went to work at the break knowing that more tinkering was needed to try and close down the space in midfield and the space behind the back four. Another slight change in formation saw Leigertwood move to what everyone now has to call “The Makelele Role” shielding the back four with Buzsaky and Rowlands in front of him. The back four as a unit dropped a little deeper to try and negate the pace of Mifsud and Best in running onto balls over the top. If Coventry wanted a goal now they would have to go through Rangers and not over them. 

The start of the first half brought a rare moment of enjoyment for the R’s fans as one of the players actually tried to score a goal! The chance came out of nothing as Buzsaky suddenly decided to let fly from twenty five yards but his shot dipped over a relieved Andy Marshall and onto the roof of the net. He tried his luck again shortly afterwards but his shot was deflected and Marshall gathered easily. At least it was a shot on target though and it would be Rangers’ first and last of the evening. 

At the other end Coventry were overly reliant on Mifsud to get them something from the game and Rangers had clearly been told to offer some protection for Delaney. After the Maltese striker had done him again for pace Connolly came haring across the pitch and mowed him down for one of Mike Dean’s easiest yellow card decisions of the season. It was late, it was cynical and it had to be done!  

When Mifsud did escape he wasn’t being helped by Best in the middle. A decent near post cross looked to be a threat but instead of trying to head it in, Best decided that he would try and punch it in instead! Once again Dean got the yellow out and once again the R’s fans reminisced about Best’s contribution when he was in W12. 

Clearly inspired by Connolly’s challenge earlier in the game, Buzsaky found his way into Dean’s book for an even worse challenge. It was of his own making as the ball got away and Mifsud threatened to get at Delaney again. He had barely taken three steps when the Hungarian midfielder went through him like a dose of liver salts. Another easy decision for Dean even though the challenge did finally raise a peep out of the otherwise mute home fans in this cavernous bowl of nothing.  

Scott Dann called Marshall into action when he managed to turn a cross from Delaney toward his own goal. Marshall was probably grateful of the work in truth as he had finished his book of sudoku puzzles shortly after half time. De Canio then made a change when he finally hooked Agyemang and sent Blackstock on. Agyemang had been awful, I know the service to him was poor but he could have at least looked as though he was interested in attacking the balls that did come near him. Since his goal run ended you can count the number of shots he has had on the fingers of no hands and it simply isn’t good enough at this level. The honeymoon is definitely over and if he keeps this up there will be a divorce on the cards!  

Dexter was in the game immediately as he made a decent run off the back of Dann and was found by a great ball from Vine. His control was good but Dann and Marshall blocked him out for what should have been a goal kick but was given as a corner. From the delivery the ball was cleared for a throw, Hall sent a long one in and Leigertwood fired over.  

In the final moments of the game Hall sent a steepling ball back toward Camp that the keeper gathered. For the second time in the game the home fans made a noise but if Hall was able to execute a back pass like that then I am not sure he would be plying his trade at this level!  

The final whistle was one of the most welcome sounds I have heard in a long time. This was a terrible game and Rangers simply never got going. It is hard to complain if you win at home and draw away but when a side is as low in confidence as Coventry were then you would like to think that this should be jumped all over. Both the manager and the players are to blame for this. I don’t doubt that De Canio sends them out with a ore defensive mentality away from home, and why not, but he will expect his players to still be able to retain possession and hit teams on the break when the opportunity arises. 

As an attacking force Rangers never got going. Vine and Ephraim were virtually anonymous aside from the odd moment and Rowlands and Buzsaky didn’t control the game as they can. Agyemang up top doesn’t even warrant discussing again. In the second half Leigertwood did a decent job of protecting a much improved back four. Camp was the top man though as he turned in an almost faultless display. 

I can’t help but feel that Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday might yield a similar performance and result. Again I would like to think we might go there and open up a bit against a side that we now lead by nine points, a win would leave a twelve point gap between the sides that would be totally unassailable. Hopefully this will be the thought in the players’ and managements’ minds. Hopefully… 

Man of the Match – Lee Camp. The fifties haired keeper was in sensational form as he made a host of top class saves in the first period and then commanded his box superbly in the second.