Michael Beale has always said this Rangers squad needs renovation work. And that’s why their win over struggling Kilmarnock at Ibrox yesterday felt like it was merely papering over the cracks.
For 45 minutes, his players had their minds on the job. Goals from Connor Goldson and Fashion Sakala, along with a James Tavernier penalty, gave them the perfect foundation to build on. But Beale has barely been able to get a full shift out of this group since his return to the club.
Even in an impressive winning league run, they’ve only turned on the style in spurts. After the break here they clocked off, got lazy and put their feet up. And that could have resulted in Rangers not getting the full reward for their earlier efforts. When Killie upped the tempo at 3-0 down, Beale’s men struggled to cope. Jeriel Dorsett’s goal gave the home side a fright and Killie had appeals for a penalty.
Gers’ response did nothing to appease disgruntled fans who had already had a direct dig at the Ibrox board with a banner. Beale admits he was shocked by the second-half show after a dominant opening period.
He said: “That’s probably the worst reaction we’ve had from the players in our time. They have to talk to each other on the pitch. They can’t always hear me out there.
“It wasn’t just one player, we were giving away the ball unopposed. We’ll talk about it in the week but after the last few days I’ll take the first half. There was good energy about us (in the first 45 minutes).
“We started slowly but were worthy of being 3-0 up. We showed it in flashes and the first half was as dominant as we could be.”
Beale was also impressed by Antonio Colak’s display after he had struggled to fit into the new manager’s side. Beale said: “Tony was our best player. He linked the play well and you could see he has been doing some fitness work.
“That is the main thing I’ll take away from the game. I went with Tony because his personality and energy was worth a start. I wanted more energy in that position.”
Beale made some of the changes fans wanted after last Sunday’s disastrous Viaplay Cup Final defeat to Celtic. Ryan Jack, Nico Raskin and Todd Cantwell – who all had an impact at Hampden – were drafted in.
Up front, Alfredo Morelos was dropped for Colak. And to be fair, the alterations had the desired effect early on.
Raskin’s energy and forward passing gave Gers a different dimension, something that was badly lacking in the final.
Cantwell was bright and creative while Colak looked desperate to reassert himself as the club’s main striker.
The Croat didn’t get on the scoresheet but his movement and link-up play caused Killie problems and allowed Rangers to take a grip of the game He had a big hand in the first goal. Set-piece coach Harry Watling took the credit from Beale on the touchline after a training ground corner paid off.
Colak dropped short to collect it from Borna Barisic and teed up Cantwell. He had two shots blocked before Colak had a go himself.
The ball eventually broke for Goldson to fire home for the opener at the back post. It was the fast start Beale would have been looking for.
And Sakala should have scored twice before Rangers made it 2-0. Sam Walker denied him before the Zambian slid a brilliant Ryan Kent cross wide of the target. On 25 minutes, Rangers got a second goal. Cantwell’s raking pass hit back-tracking Killie winger Danny Armstrong and fell into Colak’s path. He laid it off for Sakala who, this time, buried his chance.
At this stage Derek McInnes’ side looked like they were on to a proper Ibrox hiding. Colak lashed a shot just over the bar before – with the help of VAR – it was 3-0. As Ryan
Alebiosu tracked a Kent run into the box the ball struck his arm. Rangers players appealed but ref Willie Collum waved play on before eventually being asked to have a look at the monitor.
After a lengthy check, he pointed to the spot and Tavernier dispatched the penalty.
It was an excellent display and reaction from Beale’s players after their Hampen no-show. The second half should have been an opportunity to rack up an emphatic scoreline and get subs such as Ianis Hagi and John
Souttar minutes on the pitch.
Instead, it turned into a real toil after the break. There was slackness all over the pitch. The home crowd sensed it and weren’t happy.
So did Killie, who pounced on it. Jordan Jones was introduced at the internal and gave them more impetus in attack. He whipped a cross in after Rangers fell asleep at a free-kick and Ash Taylor should have scored but hit the side-netting.
Killie felt they should have had a penalty when McGregor upended Rory McKenzie with a clumsy challenge in the box – but Collum waved play on.
A goal was coming and in keeping with Gers’ performance, it was a slack one for them to lose. Alan Power’s cross was met by Taylor and, while blue shirts claimed for a foul on Goldson, Dorsett nodded in.
Neither the defence nor keeper McGregor looked too clever but Cantwell claimed the goal should not have stood. He said: “I had a pretty good view of their goal and maybe I missed something. It looked like there were two arms on Connor – I don’t know how he’s meant to jump with (Taylor) on his shoulders.”
But Killie ran out of steam and Colak’s header was thwarted by Walker before a Jack strike was ruled out for offside. Three points were safe but it should have been more comfortable. And it confirmed what Beale already knew – he’s got serious work to do in Govan this summer.
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