Kris Commons has joined Chris Sutton in questioning the mentality within theRangers camp ahead of the Glasgow Derby in just two days’ time.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Commons points to key moments in the season already where theRangers have wilted under pressure, including that 3-3 draw in Dingwall on Saturday lunchtime.
And Commons believes these ‘flaky’ performances are becoming such an issue that theRangers would be performing cartwheels to leave Celtic Park with just a draw on Wednesday night.
“I believe Van Bronckhorst would bite your hand off right now if you offered him a point. Why? Because there is a flakiness and a fragility to (the)Rangers at the moment which has been evident for much of the season.
“We saw it back at the start of August, when 10-man Malmo came from a goal down at Ibrox to dump them out of the Champions League qualifiers. We saw it when Hibs went 3-0 up after little more than half an hour of the League Cup semi-final at Hampden in November. And we saw it again on Saturday with the concession of three utterly calamitous goals in the 3-3 draw with Ross County.
Lasse Nielsen and Veljko Birmancevic of Malmo celebrate after the UEFA Champions League qualifying win over theRangers. Photo: Ludvig Thunman
“After conceding just 13 goals in 38 games across last season’s unbeaten campaign, there was always a feeling that (the)Rangers might struggle to replicate those sort of incredible numbers. But, by the same token, nor should there be an acceptance of mediocrity and sub-standard defending. This time around, they’ve already conceded 18 goals in 23 games thus far.
“That’s a huge difference and it’s pretty clear to me that the likes of Allan McGregor and Connor Goldson to name a couple just aren’t operating at the same level as last season. That’s as poor a performance as I can remember from McGregor on Saturday, two howlers which led directly to two County goals.
“He turns 40 today and had set the bar at an almost impossibly high standard for himself over the past couple of years with some truly remarkable saves for (the)Rangers. But he’s not been at the races this season. That performance on Saturday had been coming for a few months.
“The same applies to Goldson, who has been dragging his heels for months over a new contract whilst making some ill-advised comments about a ‘loss of hunger’ following the loss to Hibs.”
It should be remembered that Celtic are a team at far from full strength. with injuries to key players such as top goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi and captain Callum McGregor. Meanwhile the best performing player in Scotland, according to manager Ange Postecoglou, Tom Rogic is away on international duty with Australia, alongside the player signed to act as cover for Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, who is on his World Cup qualifying travels with Japan.
Yet Commons still feels Celtic should have the upper hand on Wednesday night and points to Abada and Jota as potential match-winners, as was the case at the weekend.
“Despite the fact they could be missing half a team, I still expect them to have too much firepower for (the)Rangers. Celtic’s pace and movement up front is frightening at times. Jota has been a revelation in that respect, and Abada has also been superb since joining the club in the summer.”
Commons makes some valid points as to the drop off in standards at theRangers, but it should be pointed out a propensity to wilt under pressure isn’t something new to theRangers this season.
As Celtic chased 9-in-a-row, theRangers won at Celtic Park and were making noises that they were Champions in waiting, instead they faded. And after a defeat at home to Hamilton Accies, many of their fans were demanding Steven Gerrard be sacked.
Since then, they’ve won a title, but in the sanitised and false environment of empty stadiums, piped in crowd noise and no pressure from the stands. Now the pressure is on it appears old habits may be returning.
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