For a while now July and August have felt like fraught months for Rangers. From 2018 and the arrival of Steven Gerrard onwards it feels like we’ve been served up an apparently never ending chore of qualification for the Europa League group stage football.
I remember standing in the Lord Nelson pub on Nelson St in Glasgow when Rangers were in Russia to take on Ufa, with qualification for group stage football in Europe at stake of the first time since the events of 2012.
The game was at a ridiculous time in the afternoon, so I bunked off work early, skipped over the squinty bridge and made my way to the Lord Nelson which had procured a stream of the game.
When said stream typically failed after about 10 minutes, you had a ridiculous situation of everyone in the pub resorting to standing round various peoples mobile phones to catch a glimpse the game which, despite the sending offs of Jon Flanagan and Alfredo Morelos, went Rangers’ way.
I remember one punter turning and saying to me at one point “there is no work getting done in Glasgow today, eh?”. And it was hard to disagree with him, it definitely felt like a hefty percentage of the city’s population was currently crowded around a telly, phone or laptop watching the game.
My personal highlight of those qualification nights was probably against Legia Warsaw when Alfredo Morelos scored an injury time winner at Ibrox – provoking huge scenes of joy within the home support, and pissing off a certain Artur Boric in the away end. A cherry on the cake moment if ever there was one!
And here we are again, back in the fraught, nail-biting arena that are European football qualifiers – but this time for the Champions League against Servette.
The mood is mixed after the win in the first leg was not as convincing as we would have liked. The fact that the game is on the BBC Scotland channel also makes me feel uncomfortable.
As most know there has been some issues between the top brass and reporting staff at Pacific Quay and Rangers Football Club. Personally I find how BBC Scotland has conducted itself in its reporting, content and position on Rangers to be nothing other than absolutely embarrassing – and the thought of having to put up with the likes of Jonathan Sutherland and Rob McLean for 90 minutes is not a pleasant one. Still, needs must!
Sutherland opens proceedings by saying it’s a crucial game for Rangers, which will explain why BBC Scotland has decided to only allocate ten minutes of build up for the game. As I said, embarrassing.
The team suggests that Beale is looking towards a counter-attacking threat, with Raskin and Jack sitting and Sima, Cifuentes and Cantwell providing the ammunition for Danilo.
Rangers do what they always seem to do in these games and start reasonably well and look in control of proceedings, before deciding to totally lose control of things fairly quickly.
The turning point in the first-half is an outstanding save from Jack Butland to deny Timothe Cognat, who was clean through on the Rangers goal. The moment provides further weight to feeling that Rangers have recruited well in replacing Allan McGregor, but it also breathes belief into Servette and their supporters that they can get something from this game – a feeling that is emboldened further when Servette take the lead on 22 minutes thanks to a very decent strike by Kutesa.
The mood in my house is flat at this point as my son and I look on horrified at the events that are unfolding in front of us, events that should have taken a turn for the worse when Souttar is caught trying to play offside, allowing Kutesa to run in on Butland but fail to either score or cut it across to an unmarked team mate in the box. A sliding doors moment in the tie!
Thing are worryingly bad at this stage, made even more so by a shocking open goal miss from Danilo and having to listen to the dulcet tones of Rob McLean and James McFadden barely concealing their absolute joy at the Rangers’ severe discomfort.
It is a relief to go in at half-time just one goal down.
The second-half, however, is a completely different story. Rangers look more composed from the off, and it doesn’t take long before the they have equalised through a very familiar routine.
Borna sends in another accurate delivery to the box and Tav heads in to give Rangers parity via the much used full-back-to-full-back option. It gives Rangers the foundation and confidence to go an control the second-half.
The main man in that second-half dominance is Nicolas Raskin, who yet again gives a level a performance that makes you believe that if we develop this boy correctly, he could be a star for us before moving on for a decent profit at some point in the future.
We secure the result we need and we move on next to PSV in the play-off – a repeat of last season’s fixture.
We never seem to get the easy route when it comes to qualification for the Champions League, but it is another big night at Ibrox to look forward to and I feel we are looking in better shape now than we were just a week or so ago for such a fixture.
I can’t deny that there is still a nagging concern that we are relying on James Tavernier for goals – and we need the strikers to step up against PSV if we are to have any chance of progression, but there a few more positive signs that the likes of Lammers, Danilo and Dessers are starting to click into gear. Hopefully they can make the difference against the Dutch side.
It’s another huge night at Ibrox and, even though it is undoubtedly a tricky tie, a win on Tuesday puts us in a good position to go over to Eindhoven and get the result we need to qualify.
I just need to confirm if the Lord Nelson is showing the return tie!
WATP!
The Lower Third 