New manager; new staff; same players; same outcome. The Mark
Hughes era got off to a losing start against Newcastle United at St James’ Park
in lunchtime kick off. The 1300 Rangers fans that braved the long trek,
freezing temperatures, 14 flights of stairs and a seat that was closer to the
Hubble telescope than the pitch saw a display that was organised and committed
but came up short once again.
There were wholesale changes to the team that had performed
so poorly in the FA Cup tie at MK Dons the previous weekend. Kenny was back in
goal behind a back four of Young, Ferdinand, Gabbidon and Hill. Mackie, Derry,
Buzsaky and Wright-Phillips were in midfield with Bothroyd and Helguson
partnered up front. There was a spot on the bench for Ephraim, the first since
Warnock bizarrely left him out of the 25 only to pick Puncheon instead.
Rangers flew out of the traps and forced a succession of
chances in the opening ten minutes of the game. Helguson was first to try his
luck with a left footed strike that Krul gathered then Wright-Phillips had a
low strike that was once again fielded by Krul. Helguson then had a lash from
the edge of the box that struck Simpson on the upper arm, the Icelandic striker
appealed for a penalty but it never was. Next Buzsaky had a crack from twenty
five yards and his dipping effort was blocked away with some difficulty by the
Dutch keeper.
The home side hadn’t got going at all and seemed rattled by
the start made by a side that had slipped into the bottom three thanks to
Fulham’s inability to keep a ten man Blackburn side at bay on Saturday.
Wright-Phillips tried his luck again soon after, a ball from the left was
slipped into his path; he took one touch to control and then struck a swerving
right footer that clipped the top of the crossbar.
With twenty five minutes played the only real flashpoint of
the game occurred when Derry flew into a challenge on Cabaye and clattered the
Frenchman. Referee Foy had his yellow card out quickly, Cabaye leapt to his
feet long enough to shove Derry in the back before collapsing to the ground
again and calling for the stretcher. It was a poor challenge and Cabaye was
shouting the odds at Derry as he left the field carried like a Grecian
princess! Derry sent him on his way with a choice turn of phrase of his own!
Pardew sent Ben Arfa on in his place and his introduction gave the home side
the impetus they had lacked in the opening half of the first period.
Newcastle mustered a couple of efforts off target as they
looked to establish a foothold. Gutierrez headed over before the always
impressive Ryan Taylor shot wide. At the other end Rangers were testing the
frame of the goal again. This time Bothroyd picked up a ball from Helguson, did
his man with a neat step over and then bent the ball past Krul with his right
foot only to see it shave the outside of the post.
Given the number of chances that Rangers had created and
missed it was inevitable that Newcastle would take the first genuine chance
they created. Taylor picked out Best inside the box and he nipped past Young
with quick feet before facing up to Kenny. The Rangers keeper seemed to go down
early to his right and that made up Best’s mind and left him a gaping hole to
Kenny’s left to slot the ball into.
Undeterred, Rangers continued to try and attack and Mackie
fired a shot over the bar after seeing his initial effort blocked by Coloccini.
The half time whistle came and Rangers could count themselves unlucky to be
behind on the balance of play but in truth, they only had themselves to blame
having passed up so many good goal scoring opportunities.
After half time Wright-Phillips saw a long range strike
fielded by Krul before Bothroyd missed two gilt edged chances in as many
minutes. Firstly Buzsaky swung over a cross to the back stick that was expertly
headed down by Helguson into the path of Bothroyd. The chance fell on the striker’s
right foot and his technique was horrible as he whacked it over the bar when he
should have made Krul work as a minimum.
Then, two minutes later some good interplay saw Mackie
racing through the middle and he slipped a perfect through ball into the path
of Bothroyd. This time it was on his favoured left foot and the weight of the
pass meant he didn’t need to take a touch. He shot for the near post and Krul
was able to save. He would have been better served driving the ball across Krul
to his far post as Best had done with his goal but such is the total lack of
confidence in front of goal it probably didn’t even occur to him.
Newcastle were appealing for a penalty when Simpson’s header
struck Buzsaky. His arm did come out but replays showed it had struck him in
the chest. Taylor saw a shot blocked by Young before Kenny went walkabout and
almost had his pants pulled down. Having run from his goal the ball went out
for a throw and Newcastle were alive to the possibilities. The throw was
quickly taken to Gutierrez and he attempted to lob Kenny only to find Gabbidon
well positioned to nod the ball away.
Ben Arfa and Best were soon combining down the left to fire
a ball into the box that was deflected by Ferdinand and then Hill before Ameobi
could make a connection at the back stick. Hughes looked to change things
firstly by sending on Smith for Helguson and having Wright-Phillips play off of
Bothroyd. He then sent Macheda on for Buzsaky, dropped Wright-Phillips into
midfield and sent the Italian to play up with Bothroyd. Macheda and Hill almost
combined to send the left back in on goal but his final ball back gave Hill no
chance.
The game somewhat petered out in the final quarter of an hour.
Newcastle were having plenty of the ball but couldn’t break down a resolute
Rangers defence that was well marshalled by stand in skipper Ferdinand. At the
final whistle it was disappointing to have lost again but the game will have
served to show Hughes where the shortfalls are.
Rangers are struggling in both boxes at the moment. We
created as many chances as we have in weeks in this game but you never felt
like a goal was coming and it was typical that having been solid and compact as
a defensive unit, the one clear cut chance that Newcastle created ended up in
the back of the net. It’s the sort of thing that happens when you’re struggling
unfortunately.
What was annoying was the tenacity and application the
players showed for Hughes’s first game in charge had been missing for weeks
under Warnock. That says to me that some of them, whilst not throwing in the
towel, hadn’t exactly been busting a gut for the old gaffer. That’s simply not
on.
The FA Cup replay against MK Dons is next up before a huge
run of league games. Wigan, Wolves, Fulham and Everton are the next four home
games and I think we need to win them all. I remember saying some weeks ago
that four winnable home games against Sunderland, Norwich, Wigan and Wolves
could make or break the season. Having lost the first two of those this next
run of games is now the key to whether we are going to stay in this division or
not.
Anton Ferdinand The skipper was
excellent against Best and Ameobi. He has come up short against physical
strikers this season but he was very good indeed here.
