of Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Ibrox this
afternoon to fall a massive ten points behind Celtic
in a championship race that is surely all but over for
the Light Blues. Indeed at the present time it looks
like even second place may well be a step too far for
a second successive season.
Today's performance by Rangers was frankly dreadful -
and there can be no doubt that the pressure on Manager
Paul Le Guen is now massive.
There were two changes from the Aberdeen game with
Lionel Letizi controversially replacing Allan McGregor
in goal and Filip Sebo replacing Libor Sionko.
The game failed to ignite from the opening minutes -
indeed it took fully half-an-hour for
the first shot on target when Letizi saved Craig
Dargo's quickly-taken free-kick.
Five minutes later Phil Bardsley tested former
Rangers' goalkeeper Mark Brown with an angled drive.
The clearest opportunity of the half fell to Thomas
Buffel in 42 minutes when he turned on a Charlie Adam
pass only to see his stabbed shot blocked by the legs
of the Caley Thistle goalkeeper.
A dire 45 minutes ended goalless, and the opening
stages of the second-half were little better.
Buffel was denied in 58 minutes when his drive from a
Steven Smith cross was blocked, then four minutes
later the Belgian's volley from an Adam corner flashed
over.
Rangers had a strong penalty claim waved away by
Referee Iain Brines in 64 minutes when Adam was downed
as he homed in on a Buffel headflick.
Kris Boyd had by now replaced the disappointing Dado
Prso - but the Scotland striker failed to make an
instant impact, his turn and shot when a Filip Sebo
drive fell to him flying well over.
Unbelievably, in only their second attack of the
entire game, Caley took the lead courtesy of a Letizi
error in 71 minutes when the goalkeeper failed to hold
Dargo's 25-yard shot, Graham Bayne scrambling the
rebound home.
The French goalkeeper was roundly jeered the next time
he fielded a pass-back, many fans rightly believing
that McGregor should have retained his place.
Rangers were now in desperate need of an equaliser -
and substitute Nacho Novo was inches away from
connecting with Smith's driven cross in 78 minutes,
then seven minutes later Boyd likewise was inches away
from Novo's cross.
Novo again was inches away when he fired across the
face of goal from Sasa Papac's pass in 89 minutes, but
the final whistle brought forth a crescendo of booing.
A crestfallen Le Guen afterwards summarised:
"I am disappointed with the result and performance.
Our confidence is low. We lack inspiration. We had the
vast majority of possession, but that is not enough.
Today was a poor game. I am not a newcomer to
football. It will be difficult to turn this season
around."
The unpalatable truth is that had Alex Mcleish still
been manager there would surely have been thousands
demonstrating in Edmiston Drive following this defeat,
but perhaps the ire should be targeted at the man at
the very top, namely Chairman David Murray whose
financial mismanagement has led the club into the
abyss.
RANGERS Letizi; Bardsley, Papac, Rodriguez (Novo 73),
Smith; Buffel, Ferguson, Hemdani, Adam; Prso (Boyd
58), Sebo
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Rae, Svensson, Hitton, N'Diaye
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE Brown; Tokely, Dods,
Munro, Hastings; Wilson (Hart 86), Black, Rankin,
McBain; Bayne, Dargo (Duncan 83)
UNUSED SUBS Fraser, McCaffrey, Wyness, Sutherland,
McAllister
REFEREE Iain Brines
Attendance 49,494