Where's that team they call the Rangers?

At the end of the victory over Celtic in December, in a rare display of emotion, Steven Gerrard grabbed a TV camera and let out a guttural roar.  It was undoubtedly mirrored by Rangers fans far and wide and for many of us it felt like we were, finally, on the verge of something special.  When the final whistle went just before 5.00 pm on Saturday thoughts of our 55th title seemed further away than ever.

A 0-0 draw against Aberdeen, following the 2-1 defeat to Hearts last Sunday, means we have dropped 5 points in just 6 days and the pendulum in this years title race has swung back towards Celtic.  It's difficult to understand quite what has happened to this team since the season resumed after the winter break.

Prior to the two-week shutdown the Bears had gone to Fir Park and Easter Road and won convincingly with the victory at Easter Road in particular adding belief that this squad of players were ready to make the step up as title challengers.  A home victory versus Kilmarnock ensured confidence was high when visiting Parkhead and this confidence was evident in an outstanding performance which gave Rangers their first victory at Parkhead in nine years.

Following the return from the warm weather training camp the season resumed with a lacklustre performance against Stranraer in the Scottish Cup.  Although missing many regular starters those on the fringes did little to press their way into the managers thoughts, evidenced by Gerrard's team selection in the next game against St Mirren with the only changes from the Celtic game being forced on him by suspension, Morelos and injury, Tavernier.  Although we won the game 1-0 this was far from the same level of performance as this same group of players had put in during December.  

At Tynecastle the level of performance was so far below what we had seen prior to the Winter break it was hard to believe this was the same group of players. Their was a lack of composure, belief and perhaps most worryingly urgency in their play.  Wednesday saw a slightly more routine 2-0 victory against Ross County before we witnessed Saturday's 0-0 draw against Aberdeen . Where's the Rangers team of December gone?

It's extremely difficult to pinpoint where things have gone wrong in the last couple of weeks.  Were the players worked too hard on a mini-preseason in Dubai?  Personally I don't believe this to be the case as I feel we have to trust the medical staff and coaches who work with the players on a daily basis.  Have teams worked out how to frustrate us?  To some extent yes but teams parking the bus, particularly at Ibrox, is not something new that the players have had to overcome.  

Do we lack a plan B? Currently the answer to this has to be yes. If you are an opposition manager you know how Rangers will line up and what our style of play will be. Their will be no surprises even if our personnel has to change. This was clear in the games where Defoe played as a result of Morelos' suspension. Despite being completely different players our system did not change and as a result become ineffective due to the difference in style of play between Morelos and Defoe. Our play has become predictable and without the individual brilliance required to make the difference on occasion we have been unable to break teams such as Aberdeen down.   

We also can't underestimate how much we have missed Morelos and Tavernier in the recent games.  Both players at various points this season have individually changed games for us and the balance offered to us by Tavernier and the focal point created by Morelos have been sorely missing.  Although Morelos was back on Saturday he lacked match sharpness and was perhaps not even fully fit.  The absence of Ryan Jack has also upset the stability and dynamism of our midfield.  Losing three hugely influential players all at the same time has also highlighted the lack of quality deeper in our squad.

This has been addressed to some extent with the arrival of Ianis Hagi and Florian Kamberi.  Hagi comes with a glowing reputation whilst Kamberi is a proven SPFL player. We have to hope that one or both will add the missing spark that Steven Gerrard has been quoted as saying the team is missing. 

What is clear is that the drop in performance level has to stop now and cannot dip at any point again this season if we wish to remain in the title race.  Currently winning our 55th league title remains in our own hands and we must ensure that it remains this way for as long possible.

WDTCR 💙