Rangers dropped points at Firhill tonight and once again they didn’t make the most of a game they seemed to control.

It’s the third game in their first six Scottish Premiership fixtures that Rangers have dropped points in and that’s simply not good enough if they want to dominate in the league.

When I say dominate, I’m not even suggesting top spot I actually mean finishing in comfortably in second place and doing that by going on a significant winning run.

The problem Rangers have is that even when the boss halves of football, like they did in Maryhill for the first forty-five minutes, they struggle to put games to bed. In the second half Partick Thistle attacked, added more aggression to the game and found a way back into it.

Teams don’t fear playing the blue half of Glasgow at the moment, even when they are behind opponents still believe that they can get something from the encounter and that Rangers will give away opportunities.

Defensively the Gers still look weak. Playing with attack-minded fullbacks is all fine and good when you have the ball but when you’re on the back-foot and they struggle to get goal side then you have lots of problems.

Fabio Cardoso is still finding his feet in the Scottish game. The Portuguese defender struggles with the physicality that you get in the Scottish Premiership. He can be very naive in certain situations with Connor Sammon and Miles Storey capitalising on that a few times.  I wonder if it could be the right time to allow Fabio a break and giving Danny Wilson a run out in the first eleven.

You can still see Mexican duo Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera are also still getting to grips with the tempo and intensity that you get playing in Scotland. That won’t come for a few more weeks, at least.

Wingers Daniel Candeias and Josh Windass typify the inconsistency that has hampered Rangers this term. They’ve look bright, lively and dangerous in certain games and in others they’ve went missing and provided little in the way of a final ball. The two tonight were poor and they didn’t do enough to help their team’s cause.

Another player who has been struggling of late has been veteran forward Kenny Miller. The elder statesman has linked up well with new boy Alfredo Morelos but Miller hasn’t contributed enough in recent weeks and he needs to make a greater impact. Maybe that can come from the bench.

Talking about Morelos, the Colombian looks to be a great find and a man that can get goals. The youngster needs to watch his temperament though, a few times already this season he’s got involved in a few incidents that he needs to stay clear of. He also started to come too deep against Thistle and he needs to stay in and around the box, especially if he wants to grab the valuable goals his team needs. I think the blunt service didn’t help him tonight but he still needs to stay away from the halfway line.

As I’ve already stated, Rangers have dropped points in half of their league matches so far in this campaign and they’ve still not played Celtic, Aberdeen or St Johnstone. Those were the teams that finished in the top four last season and who have started brightly this term.

It’s champions Celtic up next in the Premiership and the Ibrox outfit need to give a good account of themselves in the Old Firm derby. Too many times last year, they were blown away by the Hoops. If things are getting better under Pedro Caixinha then they need to show it at home next weekend.

I’m still not sure Pedro understands that he needs to win games and go on a long winning run. If he does, then he’s struggling to forcefully get that point across to his team.

They continually let teams back into games and give away clearcut chances, do that against Celtic and it could be another heavy defeat.

If the Govan giants can finally find a winning consistency then maybe just maybe they can climb the table and cement a place in the top two!

Posted on September 15th, 2017 by scott
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