Rangers exhibit new problems amid Ross County shocker as Celtic handed massive advantage
Rangers having to win at Parkhead gives Celtic a “massive” advantage in the SPFL title race after the defeat to Ross County, says Tam McManus.
The pundit said on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show on 15 April that the “shocker” of a Light Blues result, as they fell to a 3-2 loss in Dingwall a day earlier, contained negative elements that he had never seen in a Philippe Clement Gers side, handing the Belgian a brand new set of issues to rectify.
And with a poor recent record at Parkhead he claimed the fact that it will now likely require a win away to Brendan Rodgers’ side has hit Rangers with a major blow.
McManus said (3m 50s): “That’s the little cushion that they had, they had the draw in their pocket until this game [at Ross County], they had the draw, if they could go to Parkhead and not get beat they were still in the driving seat.
“It gives Celtic a massive advantage. They’ll know if they can beat Rangers at Parkhead, they’ve all but won the title.
“And I thought Ross County totally deserved it, they looked as if they wanted it, they were more hungry. [For] a couple of the goals they ran off Rangers players, which I’ve not seen since Philippe Clement came in.
“They deserved it. At the end you thought Rangers were going to go and put some pressure on Ross County, once it went to 3-2 you thought seven minutes added, Rangers will really go and push [but] didn’t really look like scoring an equaliser.
“It’s a shocker, it really is, and it puts Rangers well up against it now.”
Have the wheels come off for Rangers?
At this stage of the tightest title race in years Clement would be hoping to iron out the final issues he hasn’t yet dealt with, not seeing new ones turn up in the play.
A first defeat to Ross County in the league has come at a dreadful time, and while the Dundee debacle wasn’t ideal preparation it can’t go down as anything other than an unacceptable performance.
Rangers had got out of jail at Ibrox against Celtic, having handed the Hoops two advantages through sloppy play, but the rousing late equaliser from Rabbi Matondo didn’t spark a reaction in the next game like it should have.
It is undoubtedly alarming that so many big players are suddenly all off form at once, with the likes of Connor Goldson, John Lundstram, James Tavernier and possibly even Jack Butland below their best.
In terms of this season the loss has indeed handed Celtic the advantage, but at the same time Clement is going to need to find a way to break the three-and-a-half-year run without a victory at Parkhead sooner or later whatever happens.
He’s found a way to revive a flagging side and a non-existent title race once this season, and to do it again he will need that key Old Firm victory, but he will have to shock his players back into the sort of form that saw them win every game through January and February first.
In other Rangers news, Simon Jordan claimed that one Ibrox star hasn’t shown he wants to “be the best” after Jim White backed him for international recognition.
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