defeat at the hands of Auxerre at Ibrox tonight, a
loss that, coupled with the 2-0 win by Graz against AZ
Alkmaar in Austria means that the Light Blues, despite
winning the first two group games, somehow finished
fourth in a five-team section.
The result must surely have serious long-term
consequences for both the club and for Manager Alex
McLeish whose team selection and tactics tonight
contributed greatly to this disastrous loss.
There was a sharp intake of breath amongst the 48,847
spectators when the teams were announced - Alex Rae
was a substitute, no forwards were on the bench, yet
unbelievably Craig Moore was.
Even more stunning - as the game developed it was
clear that Fernando Ricksen, by far the outstanding
player thus far during the current campaign, had been
moved to right-back with Zurab Khizanishvili moving
forward into his midfield beat, specifically to
man-mark Bonaventure Kalou.
The plan came unstuck as early as the ninth minute
when following a Rangers corner a swift Auxerre
counter-attack saw Kanga Akale feed Benjamin Mwaruwari
whose cross evaded Khizanishvili and fell to Kalou who
struck the crossbar with his first effort before
turning home the rebound.
Auxerre looked much the more comfortable side, clearly
boosted by the early goal, and with the Ibrox midfield
all at sea Benoit Cheyrou tested Stefan Klos in
nineteen minutes with a snap-shot from 25 yards from a
Mwaruwari cross that the goalkeeper held.
Sixty seconds later Hamed Namouchi might have levelled
the score when his header from a Gregory Vignal
free-kick found the side-netting.
Namouchi again was inches away from turning home a
Dado Prso cross following a slide-rule pass from Nacho
Novo in 26 minutes.
The French side continued to look the more likely
however - and Cheyrou created danger once again six
minutes later when his cross found Mwaruwari who
stabbed his shot into the arms of Klos.
The miss of the night occurred in 34 minutes however
when Prso, clean through, sclaffed a Novo cross wide.
Prso again came close in the dying seconds of the
half, heading over from a Ricksen cross following a
superb long ball from Bob Malcolm.
To no-one's surprise, Ricksen and Khizanishvili
changed back to their customary positions at the start
of the second-half, but incredibly there was still no
appearance for Alex Rae.
Disaster struck in the opening minute of the
second-half with another Khizanishvili error when his
header went straight to Akale whose cross found Kalou
- evading Boumsong with ease the Ivory Coast
Internationalist slid the ball past a static Klos.
Seven minutes later Khizanishvili, having a nightmare
time of it, was replaced by Alan Hutton.
Auxerre goalkeeper Fabian Cool denied Novo in 62
minutes when his powerful angled drive was beaten out
- Arveladze's effort from the rebound being blocked by
Jean Mignot.
Cool again defied Rangers with a superb save nine
minutes later he turned over Prso's header from a
Hutton cross.
Alex Rae finally appeared in 79 minutes, replacing the
ineffective Hamed Namouchi - but it was surely a case
of too little too late, and the question that must be
asked is why he was not in the starting line-up.
Gregory Vignal came close with a surging run with
three minutes remaining - his 25-yard shot being held
by Cool.
The final whistle brought forth a crescendo of booing,
signalling yet another early exit from Europe for a
manager whose position must now surely be questioned.
McLeish afterwards reflected:
"We made elementary errors - we blew an opportunity
tonight. We gave Auxerre two early Xmas presents. We
still created chances, but couldn't take them. We let
the fans down."
This for the second successive year Rangers exited
Europe when a draw at home would have ensured
progress.
Perhaps the most telling comment of the night came
from wily Auxerre Coach Guy Rous who commented:
"I was surprised it was so easy."
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Boumsong, Andrews, Vignal;
Namouchi (A. Rae 79), Khizanishvili (Hutton 53),
Malcolm, Arveladze; Novo, Prso
UNUSED SUBS G. Smith, Moore, Mladenovic, Ball, Ross
AUXERRE Cool; Sagna (Jaures 79), Mignot, Bolf,
Grichting; Tainio (Gonzales 79), Cheyrou, Violeau,
Akale; Mwaruwari, Kalou
UNUSED SUBS Chabert, Vandenbosshe, Pieroni, Recorbet,
Coulibaly
REFEREE Franz-Xaver Wack (Germany)
Attendance 48,847