I don't know about you, but I'm approaching the double header against the
Yahoos with a spring in my step. I'm delighted to see the press gushing on
about O'Neill's kick and rush set piece specialists doing well in the UEFA
Cup, it takes the public eye off the fact that Rangers have only lost 2
domestic games in the last calendar year, neither of them against Sellik.
Obviously at Faulty Towers, they're harder to beat. Our last visit there saw
a 6 goal thriller but I honestly felt that poor defending let us down late
on in that game and since then the 'Gers defence has improved hugely. Klos
in particular is our unsung hero this season, a player who seems to have
benefited from the new Management teams' attention to detail. Much better at
clearing his lines, far less inclined to the mad leap and punch and still
the best shot-stopper in Scotland by a distance.
The big defensive question for me on Saturday will be about whether or not
this game comes too early for likely starter Jerome Bonnissel, who looked
accomplished and lively against Livingston. An experienced pro who has
played Champions League football for Bordeaux, he should rise to the
occasion rather than be phased by it.
In midfield Rangers have a trio more than a match for their probable
opponents. The only potential fly in the ointment is over the Arteta/
Ferguson partnership. In much the same way as with Stuart McCall and Ian
Ferguson, opinion amongst Gers fans divides over whether their games are too
similar for them to play alongside each other.
I'm one of those who thinks Ferguson has shone this season largely because
he's enjoyed the chance to hurt teams in the last third - but I'm not sure
McLeish sees it that way. Expect to see Baz in the slightly more withdrawn
role, with Ricksen as the holding player and hopefully continuing his mature
displays against opponents out to provoke him. On form, that trio has
already shown it can play around and beyond the ageing Lambert, one-paced
Lennon and the more dangerous Petrov.
As always this season, it is up front where we have a concern. In Mols and
Arveladze Rangers have 2 front men seemingly unable to convert a percentage
of good chances. Ronald De Boer should play and will pose an occasional
threat, but unlike our opponents who have 3 - sorry 2 - proven finishers,
the Rangers side now topping the Scottish scoring chart has strikers firing
blanks.
My own view is that Caniggia would worry a static Sellik defence for at
least an hour and if McCann continues his high standard of last-ball
delivery then the Argentinian could be the suprise selection to successfully
unpick their back-line. Thompson and Lovenkrands fit and on the bench give
McLeish genuine options if things go awry.
Add to this the huge pressure on the home side to win (no other result will
do), the psychological pressure of their Manager's dismal record against
Alex McLeish, then add the loss of the talismanic Larsson and serious
goalkeeping problems and all of a sudden the Yahoos look eminently
vulnerable.
This Rangers side under this Manager can win the Title AND retain both the
trophies we currently hold. The message delivered on Saturday to O'Neill's
hooped horrors should be the same, word-for-word, as that delivered by
Oliver Cromwell to the Rump Parliament on 22 January 1654:
"It is not fit that you should sit here any longer... you shall now give
your place to better men."
BEARWOOD BEAR