By David Herd
Rangers took on Ross County on Valentine’s night, and 48,685 fans decided to forego an evening of romance and spend their Wednesday night at the home of their true love. As well as being the date most associated with affairs of the heart, February 14th also brought back memories for every Rangers fan of that date in 2012. The day that Craig Whyte stood on the steps outside the stadium and confirmed that Rangers were in administration. Nobody old enough to remember that dark day will ever forget it, nor the events that were to follow. It seemed like one of those perfect coincidences that Valentine’s Day 2024 could be the day Rangers returned back to the top of the pile in Scottish football, as a three-goal win over managerless County would propel Philippe Clement’s team above Celtic at the summit of the Premiership.
Such has been the turnaround since the Belgian magician arrived at Ibrox, it felt as if a win by less than three would almost be regarded as a disappointment. And with the visitors in some disarray after ditching a second manager in a matter of months, this looked the perfect night to send out a real statement by overtaking a Celtic team who have been far from convincing in recent matches. The men from Dingwall had lost 5-0 at Motherwell last Tuesday night while Rangers had been celebrating a vital win over Aberdeen, and their recent record of no wins and seven defeats in their last nine games was in stark contrast to Rangers and their perfect restart since the winter break.
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In his pre-match interviews, Clement made it clear that the priority for his team wasn’t the size of any win, but picking up the three points. There would be no instructions around looking to score plenty of goals, as the team understand that they go out on to the pitch in every match with the intention of scoring as many as they can. Whether Rangers or Celtic ended the evening sitting first in the table was secondary to ensuring both clubs had the same number of points. As well as being the respectful and professional approach we should expect, ignoring the issue of goal difference with 13 more games to play also makes sense historically. In the last 20 seasons, the top division has never seen the top two finishing the campaign with the same number of points, and it has only happened twice in the last 50 years in 1986 and 2003. While it might look good to be a goal or two better off, it is points that really make prizes.
After a comfortable Scottish Cup win on Saturday when the manager shuffled his pack and gave all three of his January signings a start, the first question of the night surrounded team selection. When the starting eleven was revealed, all three new men were back on the bench in a team that showed six changes with Ridvan, Lundstram, Lawrence, McCausland, Matondo and Dessers all returning in the same line-up that started against Aberdeen. Interim Ross County boss Don Cowie also rung the changes when he named his team, with five changes from the debacle at Fir Park. There were a couple of names in there that Rangers fans with decent memories would recall scoring against Rangers – former Hibs forward Simon Murray and ex-Kilmarnock striker Eamonn Brophy.
Rangers looked to have read all the headlines about needing goals, as they flew out of the traps. After a couple of early half-chances, it took just five minutes for the big Ibrox crowd to celebrate the opener. A pinpoint Tavernier through ball set Cyriel Dessers clean through, and the big striker showed great composure to lob George Wickens in the County goal. This looked to be the first of many, as the men in blue played some entertaining and high-tempo attacking football, carving out chance after chance. And it was Dessers who seemed to be on the end of most of them, coming close in 10 minutes when hitting the post after being put through by Yilmaz. The captain was also getting in on the act, with a couple of shots that came close, as did Rabbi Matondo when he saw a low effort beat the keeper but just miss the far post after an exquisite Lundstram pass. The winger was unlucky again soon afterwards when he saw Wickens get a touch to his effort and the ball looped up onto the bar and over.
When Dessers dithered and failed to take advantage of a poor backpass in 27 minutes, the score could have been 5-0 on another night. A minute later it was 1-1. John Souttar was caught out by a ball over the top and down the left, and seconds later a low cutback was swept past Jack Butland by Simon Murray. All inside Ibrox could hardly believe what they had seen, and both the fans and the players seemed to have been stunned. The first half then played out towards the 45thminute with regular Couty time wasting, and howls of derision when chances were wasted. The referee Alan Muir decided on five added minutes, undoubtedly due to the blatant running down the clock he had been watching. And the visitors were punished for their gamesmanship.
Rangers missed two decent chances in added time, with Dessers the culprit on both occasions. Then in the last added minute, James Tavernier produced a marvellous cross on to the Dutchman’s head, and he steered it beyond the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner. The roar inside the stadium was as much relief as celebration, and Rangers had grabbed the lead they deserved at a great time. It could and should have been a first half avalanche of goals, but Rangers had the lead, and surely the second half would bring the scoreline the fans were craving.
The second period was a carbon copy of the first, with Rangers creating chance after chance. By then, Oscar Corts had replaced Matondo, and Saturday’s man of the match looked in the mood with some impressive early touches. Goalkeeper Wickens was becoming a barrier that was proving impassable, with a series of saves. Despite his excellent form, Cortes really should have scored in 51 minutes but his rushed finish was straight at Wickens. As the game reached the hour mark, County had brought on regular scorer against Rangers Jordan White, as they sensed there was a chance for the most improbable of points. They spurned a glorious chance when Michee Efete headed over from a corner when totally unmarked, and this would prove to be their last serious goal attempt.
It then became a case of whether Rangers could find a goal to kill the match, but time and again they hit efforts on target only to see the goalkeeper keep it out. Then when he was beaten by a low Cortes shot after clever interplay at the edge of the box, the ball slid past the far post. Philippe Clement brought on Scott Wright, Fabio Silva and then Mohamed Diomande as they continued to bombard the visiting goal, but when the third official indicated seven added minutes, the score was still somehow 2-1.
Then Connor Goldson showed great desire to win a high ball after a corner to feed Tavernier, and his pinpoint cross was headed home at the back post by John Souttar for his first goal of the campaign. This completed a hat-trick of assists for the skipper, who continues his incredible record of goal involvements. Manager Clement urged his team to go find the goal to take them top, but when Wickens tipped over a Tavernier shot in the 98th minute, time had run out. The match ended 3-1, it wasn’t to be the Valentine’s Day Massacre that it could easily have been, and Rangers were now joint top of the table, sitting behind Celtic only on goals scored with their goal difference level. Despite this slight disappointment, this was a night Rangers created countless chances and hit the target an incredible 23 times. If they keep doing that, they won’t drop many points in the run-in.
In his press conference, manager Clement was delighted with the number of shots on target his team created, and praised the opposition goalkeeper. But he spoke with great pride about his team continuing to grow, and was delighted with the hunger they continued to show in a match they could have grew frustrated at started doing the wrong things. When asked about the chances of the title, he played it down, stating that he is ambitious to win as many prizes as possible but there was still a lot of football to be played. Rangers have the most testing fixture schedule with being in three competitions. But if the team continue to show the same quality and hunger, goals and prizes will follow. He feels there is belief and momentum, with six wins in the six matches since the break. Rangers are in a good place, even if that place isn’t yet top of the table.
