Boyd blasts ‘absolutely woeful’ Rangers duo after what he saw v Kilmarnock
Rangers will hope to be able to quickly erase the opening half-hour against Kilmarnock from their minds as quickly as possible.
Barry Ferguson selected an unchanged Rangers XI for his first game in charge after replacing Philippe Clement, but quickly amended his selection after a horrendous defensive display in the first 30 minutes.
Ferguson’s side went on to hand the former captain a 4-2 win in his inaugural match as they recovered from 2-0 down to claim all three points against Killie, but they certainly did it the hard way.
Kris Boyd laments Rangers opening
Kris Boyd watched on as his two former sides faced off, and was scathing in his half-time view of Ferguson’s side, live on Sky Sports (26 February).
Gers found themselves two goals down at Rugby Park in the early stages and Clinton Nsiala was withdrawn before the half-hour mark by Ferguson in a ruthless call.
It could easily have got worse before it got better for Rangers who looked wide open at the back, making consistent mistakes before the tide began to turn, ready to take full control in the second 45 minutes.
Cyriel Dessers‘ second-half double secured what first appeared an unlikely victory, after Vaclav Cerny’s strike before the break restored hope and Nedim Bajrami sealed it late on.
“Let’s be realistic, it was Nsiala who came off, but Barry Ferguson could’ve taken any one of those Rangers players off,” Boyd raged.
“They were absolutely woeful to start the game. It could’ve been him or Propper, the two of them were getting absolutely bullied by the [Kilmarnock] strikers.”
Rangers were poor, but Killie defended worse
For all the fallout from the horror show Rangers opened Ferguson’s reign with in the opening 30 minutes, they were clinical in attack.
Dessers – much-maligned for the chances he has missed during his time at Ibrox – was at the heart of it and delivered when it mattered, but Kilmarnock were dreadful themselves at the back.
They certainly left the draught in as top league marksman Cerny scored, the winger having all the time in the world to pick his spot with ease; the goalkeeping from Kieran O’Hara was poor to allow Dessers his equaliser.
| POS | Rangers top league goalscorers 2024-25 | GOALS |
| 1 | Vaclav Cerny | 10 |
| 2 | Hamza Igamane | 9 |
| 3 | Cyriel Dessers | 8 |
| 4 | Danilo | 5 |
| 5 | James Tavernier | 3 |
For the decisive strike, as good a finish as it was from the Nigerian, Dessers had Lewis Mayo to thank for playing him onside as Gers streamed forward at will early in the second half.
Bajrami’s goal could see Killie excused somewhat as they pushed forward in hope of an equaliser, but realistically barely threatened aside from a smart Jack Butland save at 3-2.
Ferguson would have been desperate for a victory and they certainly gave themselves some obstacles to get there, but Rangers opened his tenure with a comeback for the travelling crowd to remember in Ayrshire.