Cammy Devlin’s five-minute cameo at Ibrox? Man, it was a total head-scratcher. This guy, brought in to add steel and be a leader, gets himself a deserved red card for a completely needless lunge that absolutely fried the brain. He was supposed to nurse Rangers’ flimsy 1-0 lead to the finish line against Jablonec, not contribute to the same mental frailties that plagued them last season. Honestly, his dismissal could’ve thrown the whole win into jeopardy, good thing Jablonec was mostly just committed but unthreatening, more into histrionics than actual goal threats.
A “12-Course Banquet of Huff and Puff” That Barely Scraped a Win
This was a tough watch, period. Rangers’ job was to break down Jablonec, and they made an absolute meal of it, serving up what the pros called a “12-course banquet of huff and puff.” It took one of the few coherent bouts of football all night to finally get Ryan Naderi’s winner. Look, there were a few positives: they secured a one-goal lead to take to Jablonec next week, kept a clean sheet, Djeidi Gassama and James Penrice showed some industry, Olwethu Makhanya was assured in defense, and Naderi looked improved. Plus, the final whistle wasn’t met with boos, unlike the half-time whistle. But let’s be real, the first half was an eyesore. No movement, no cleverness, zero X-factor. Defenders looked upfield for a pass and just saw teammates staring back, tightly marked and glued to the spot. Poor Emmanuel Fernandez had another rough night, constantly having to go backward because he had no options forward, which drew groans from the crowd. When he gambled and missed, the uprising was angry, angry, angry. He even gestured, like, “Hey, where are the runners?”
£60 Million and Still Not a Smart Team?
It’s hard to watch that and not wonder what Andrew Cavenagh, all the way in America, is thinking. Derek McInnes is experienced, wily, and hard-working, but his team? Not smart, not yet. They aren’t coached to find space or drag defenses out of shape. They’re mostly just workmanlike, honest, but man, they just lack inspiration. Rangers have shelled out fortunes, close to £50m-£60m on new players, with 11 new signings recently and nearly 30 since Cavenagh’s consortium took over last summer. That’s a huge spend! Yet, we’re seeing largely dull, pedestrian football in a hushed, tired stadium with 15,000 empty seats. It makes you wonder if they’re spending badly. McInnes himself spent most of the night pacing his technical area like a madman, probably hitting 10,000 steps in 15 minutes. Maybe he needs another coach, a different skill set, some new and imaginative thinking to make these players click.
Rangers bagged a narrow 1-0 win, so they’ve got that one-goal lead heading into the return leg against Jablonec next week. They absolutely need to knock Jablonec out of this competition. They should, honestly. But with this kind of performance, where the coach is practically doing a marathon on the sidelines, there are no guarantees. Hope for a European story lives on, but they better bring more than just “huff and puff” next time out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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