Kris Commons sends Rangers title race warning after ‘awful’ form
Rangers have been told to sort out their ‘awful’ form or risk getting left behind by Celtic in the title race by former Scotland international Kris Commons.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men raced into a 2-0 lead over Motherwell on Sunday before being pegged back and drawing the game 2-2. It means they have won just three of their last eight league games and sit three points behind Celtic.
But after their European heroics against Borussia Dortmund, Commons told the Daily Mail [print edition, Page 72] that the manager must find a way to balance the Thursday-Sunday schedule which is something their rivals no longer have to contend with.
“For Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the numbers since the winter break do not make for kind reading. In fact, they are awful,” he said.
“Since the Premiership returned in January, Rangers have now played eight games in the league, winning on only three occasions.
“They have now dropped 11 points in those eight games, blowing a six-point lead over Celtic at the turn of the year to now trail their rivals by three points.
“Van Bronckhorst needs to stop the slide, which won’t be easy given their continued progress in Europe. That could stretch the squad to its limit to keep on going Thursday-Sunday, Thursday- Sunday. The blessing for Celtic is that they no longer have that problem.
“It’s something they need to address as soon as possible. If they don’t, then Celtic might well be out of sight by the time they visit Ibrox for the next Old Firm match on April 3.”
Pattern
Van Bronckhorst hasn’t got much wrong during his time with Rangers so far, but the failure to address the consistency of his side since the new year is concerning.
After defeat to Celtic in February, things seemed to get back on track, but they’ve recently dipped again although the performances against Dortmund seemed to have papered over those cracks.
With a less glamorous tie in the next round against Crvena Zvezda, that won’t be allowed to happen. The focus must be on closing the gap at the top of the table and winning the league again.
Fans want that more than anything, and pipping Celtic to it will just be the cherry on top of a wonderful cake. The team aren’t performing though and things need to change.
Whether it’s personnel, tactics, formation or a mixture of everything, Van Bronckhorst must get it right and quickly if he is to capitalise on the good spirits at the club currently to surge towards the title.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Rangers should trust their instinct over GvB signing despite Feb stinker