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Rangers crashed to a comprehensive
3-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield
United at Bramall Lane on Saturday
afternoon. Three horrendous
individual errors gifted the goals
and this was compounded by a
decidedly shaky defensive
performance all round as The Blades
gave Rangers a lesson on how to
defend and clinically take your
chances.
After the midweek win at Swindon,
Dowie had some decisions to make
regarding team selection. Did he
stick with the side that had
performed pretty well or mix it up
with returning players from the
opening league game? Cerny was back
in goal behind a back four of
Connolly, Hall, Gorkss and Delaney.
Ledesma, Parejo, Leigertwood and
Cook were across midfield with
Balanta and Blackstock up front.
Rangers started the game abysmally
as they had against Barnsley the
weekend before. On the weekend that
the Olympic 100 metres final was
run, Rangers didn’t go on the B of
the Bang, in fact they hadn’t even
got out of the blocks by the time
Sheffield United had romped Usain
Bolt style through the winning line.
The Blades won a throw in fifteen
yards from the corner flag and Greg
Halford wound up one of his
trademark long throws. Darius
Henderson got to the ball before
Hall and flicked it on toward the
far post. As Billy Sharp made his
move Matt Connolly just stood there
leaden footed and watched the little
striker nip in front and head past
the hopelessly exposed Cerny. It was
a shocking piece of defending from
Connolly, he didn’t have the
faintest idea where Sharp was until
he suddenly appeared in front of
him. Three minutes played and a goal
down, Rangers had somehow managed to
shave a minute off the time they
conceded in last week!
Sheffield United had their tails up
now and the pressure on the
shambolic Rangers defensive unit was
incessant. Leigertwood was offering
no protection in midfield; Parejo
was getting through more tackling
than he was. He blocked a Halford
effort away when the right sided
midfield man had a pot shot from
twenty yards. Hall and Gorkss looked
all at sea and both full backs were
getting turned with alarming
regularity.
Barely ten minutes had elapsed since
the opener when Rangers conceded a
sloppy second. Rangers were actually
moving forward when the ball arrived
with Leigertwood in midfield and he
took his customary three touches to
get it under control. By the time he
had Gary Speed was all over him and
pinched the ball before sending a
great pass with the outside of his
left foot into the path of Sharp.
Gorkss was left for dead as Sharp
burst goalward before coolly
slotting past Cerny.
It was an awful bit of play from
Leigertwood and Hall called the team
together as Billy Sharp continued
his overly long celebrations to try
and get them working as one. Quite
why skipper Delaney wasn’t doing
this as anyone’s guess. At the same
time Cerny was getting roundly
abused by the R’s fans despite the
fact he had shipped two goals he
could do nothing about. The reason
for the abuse was seemingly that he
isn’t the all conquering Lee Camp.
Rangers should have been handed a
lifeline shortly after the goal but
they were the victim of a bottle job
from referee Laws. Delaney and
Halford went for a loose ball on
halfway and the Sheffield United man
went in two footed, luckily Delaney
saw him coming and managed to get
his feet off the floor before his
leg was smashed to pieces. Delaney
reacted by shoving Halford. Referee
Laws booked both for their trouble
when he should clearly have
dismissed the home player.
Any time that Rangers managed to
stem the incessant waves of United
attacks they were looking to get the
ball to Parejo to set up the
attacks. The young Spaniard was
clearly head and shoulders above any
other R’s player on show and had
some of the others matched his work
rate and application then this may
not have been the cakewalk it
eventually became. Rangers just
couldn’t keep the ball though,
Balanta was surrendering possession
every time it came near him,
Blackstock wasn’t getting any change
out of Morgan and Cook wasn’t doing
anything at all. He is another that
is seemingly beyond the criticism of
the Rangers fans.
Cerny held a poor header from
Henderson before Leigertwood showed
some attacking intent whilst the
home fans and players bayed for the
ball to be knocked out of play. He
cut across the front of speed before
lashing a hopeless effort a good
twenty feet over the bar.
Ledesma managed to escape the
attentions of Naysmith to work an
opening for himself that ended with
his shot being well blocked by Sun
Jihai. At the other end Cerny had to
go full stretch to clutch an effort
from Tonge that drew begrudging
applause from the Lee Camp
Appreciation Society.
Dowie had to change something at
half time. Rangers hadn’t been in
this at all and their failure to
retain possession between midfield
and the forwards was to blame in the
main part. Balanta had looked out of
his depth and was replaced at the
break by Di Carmine who would offer
a far more physical presence.
As they had done in the first half,
Rangers limped out of the blocks and
Cerny made a horrendous error to
gift Billy Sharp his perfect
hat-trick (header, right foot, left
foot). Sheffield United won a corner
and Tonge delivered into the six
yard box. Cerny thought he could get
it but completely misread the flight
and ended up running straight under
the ball. Three Rangers players on
the line failed to clear as Ehiogu
attacked it and the ball fell to
Sharp and he poked home from three
yards. Rarely can a striker have
benefitted so much from one team’s
benevolence. Let’s make no bones
about it, this was an awful piece of
keeping from Cerny and you get the
feeling that he could play like Lev
Yashin for the remainder of his R’s
career and he will never win the
fans over.
At 3-0 down and with the game a
millions miles out of reach, Rangers
suddenly started to play a bit and
create some genuine chances of their
own. Cook managed to get himself
involved finally and floated a great
ball to the far post for Blackstock
to attack. He and Kilgallon went for
it and Dexter nodded it over the bar
and ended up in a crumpled heap
against the advertising hoardings
for his trouble.
Cerny then denied the rampant Sharp
his fourth of the game. The little
hitman looks like the player that
scored bundles for Scunthorpe rather
than the pale shadow of himself that
Captain Marvel turned him into. He
could have scored five on the
afternoon had he taken another gilt
edged chances before half time. He
is the sort of predatory striker
that Rangers are lacking. The R’s
fans were singing “You should have
signed Kevin Phillips”, easier said
than done lads unless you want to
relocate the club to the west
Midlands.
Ledesma combined beautifully with Di
Carmine on the edge of the box
before cracking an effort against
Kenny’s right hand post with the
keeper well beaten. The ball rolled
back out to Blackstock but as he was
about to strike it Ehiogu snaked a
freakishly long leg round him to
take the ball off his toe.
Blackstock had another good chance
when he expertly pulled down a cross
from Connolly only to see Kenny get
off his line quickly to block his
shot away for a corner. Ledesma
swung the ball in and Hall attacked
it at the near post but only managed
to plant it onto the roof of the
net.
Parejo had a chance with a free kick
from distance but his shot was well
saved by Kenny. Despite all the
madness going on around him Parejo
seems to play the game at his own
pace and once some of the other
players get onto his wavelength then
he could do some real damage, and if
we keep defending like the Dog &
Shit Second XI then he will have to!
Parejo had another crack from
another free kick and forced Kenny
into another save. Leigertwood had
another effort, if you can call it
that, that was almost as wild as his
first half strike. The R’s fans were
turning ugly now, there were
sporadic rows kicking off and one at
the back of the stand threatened to
erupt as one fan dared to stand up
to people singing for De Canio.
The players were greeted with a
chorus of boos at the end and
deservedly so. They were poor,
defensively especially, but there is
a time and a place for it and that
is at the end of the game. Cerny and
Gorkss were taking pelters
throughout and I am not sure that it
will do either of them any good.
Right, soapbox time! I have never
understood why there always have to
be certain players that are beyond
criticism for Rangers whilst there
are certain players that will never
get any praise. Think back a few
years, Dan Shittu could have a
terrible game and give away a goal
but would still have his name sang
proudly, poor old Georges Santos
could play like Bobby Moore and he
would be getting dogs.
Lee Cook is another; having
contributed nothing at all yesterday
he had his name sung loudly as he
left the field. Why? What had he
contributed to the game? Nothing is
the answer. I am delighted to have
him back but he is a long way away
from the player that left us but
people won’t have that and he is
still Lee Cook, Golden God.
Lee Camp is another; I thought it
was harsh that he was left out of
the side in favour of Cerny as he
had done little wrong last term.
Cerny though had performed well at a
higher level last season but has
started shakily this season. He had
no chance with the first two goals
yet people are attacking him. He
kicked the ball long and got stick
for it; that is all Camp does every
time he gets it! Does that matter?
Does he deserve to stand there
getting stick during the game, is
that going to help him improve?
Personally I think his rick for the
third will see Camp back in but just
because he isn’t Lee Camp it doesn’t
mean he should be getting abuse.
Congratulations Radek and Kaspars,
you are the new Zesh Rehman and
Georges Santos.
Things need to be improved at the
back and urgently before the game
against Doncaster Rovers next
weekend. I personally think Camp and
Ramage will be back in and Mahon
will come in for Leigertwood. In an
attacking sense I can also see
Rowlands replacing Cook in the side
and potentially having to play wide.
Whatever happens, they need to start
quickly and solidly or the baying
mob will be hot on their heels.
simon@qprnet.com |
