One point clear, but concern over Rangers’ form | OneFootball

It’s a strange position Rangers are in, but if we’d been offered top of the table halfway through October we wouldn’t have said no.

The ‘division’ from fans is the manner in which we’ve got here – the side hasn’t convinced at all, and statistically is poor, not just compared with last season, but compared with other SPL sides, and yet despite not having the most goals or least conceded, we find ourselves still one point clear.

That IS the most important stat at the end of the day, but as we said after the toiled win in Dundee:

And while the first half was enterprising football yesterday, the second was a real struggle and plunged back into the worst of Rangers this season. And we got punished for it.

A win is a win, correct. But when it then isn’t a win, it’s a problem, as it was yesterday.

The stats for this season make for difficult reading, even if they’re far from awful – they’re just a lot more like pre-55 Rangers.

Vulnerable at the back especially is a big problem, and now we’ve a new one of goal shy. As many have remarked, 27 shots yesterday and unable to convert more than one.

Many might attempt the ‘on a different day it would have been a cricket score’ argument, but which different day this season do they mean? Motherwell? Utd?

Steven Gerrard’s Rangers this season are extremely patchy. Some good performances but too many poor ones, and too many players who are a yard off the pace. Nearly into November and far too many personnel haven’t scaled the heights at all, with most of the stars of last season sadly falling significantly short of last season’s level.

It’s a merciful fact that Celtic are so poor this season, and like Rangers have stuttered so far. But it shows how underwhelming Rangers are that despite this rotten Celtic being way off the lead, we’re still only one point clear of Hearts.

However, there is hope. Despite playing this poorly and even dropping quite a few points this season, we are holding onto top spot and no one seems good enough to take it from us.

We also have the stunning form and quality of John Lundstram who certainly dragged us singlehandedly yesterday, so he’s giving fans some real belief.

But we have to be honest – the stardust which had us so incredibly impressive last season just isn’t there now.

We play well enough with fancy-dan football but lack the clinical edge to hammer those goals away – we try to walk the ball in the net with intricate footwork and end up wasteful. It’s all a bit Warburton at times.

Last season we destroyed teams with our tiki-taka style, but this season it just doesn’t work like it did.

We’re good enough to remain top of the table of a very, very bad bunch, for now.

But more results and displays like yesterday surely won’t sustain that.

We need to get better, and quickly.