Michael Stewart blasts ‘horrendous’ Rangers second-half footage v Kilmarnock
Michael Stewart was less than impressed after watching Rangers beat Kilmarnock 4-2 at Rugby Park on Wednesday night.
The Gers managed to come back from being two goals down during Barry Ferguson’s first game in charge of the Ibrox outfit.
While there’s no chance of them beating Celtic to the title due to the 13-point gap that currently separates the two, that doesn’t mean they should stop trying to shorten it.
Although Cyriel Dessers’ second goal of the game was a more than solid strike, Stewart was left unhappy with the defensive effort the saw on BBC Sportscene.
Stewart left aghast by defensive work from Robbie Deas
Rangers have had it tough this season and even though they managed to add three points to their tally on Wednesday, their rough edges still showed.
Under Philippe Clement, the Govan-based outfit seemed to have no vision and often put in rather unremarkable performances.
And, while it felt like it was headed that way for Ferguson’s first game, the second half of the clash proved otherwise.
| Team | Position | Points |
| Celtic | 1st | 72 |
| Rangers | 2nd | 59 |
| Aberdeen | 3rd | 41 |
| Hibernian | 4th | 40 |
Speaking live on BBC Sportscene (26 February, 19m, 50s), Stewart gave his verdict on the Nigeria international as well as the defending of Derek McInnes’ men.
“It’s a brilliant finish but it’s horrendous defending,” he said.
“But yeah, take nothing away from Dessers, he just side-foots it into the corner of the net.”
Ferguson has a point to prove at Rangers
While the Gers’ performances under Clement were often uninspired, now that they have hardly anything to play for, the Ibrox outfit should just throw everything they have at finishing the Scottish Premiership season strong.
Indeed, Rangers may find themselves in the latter stages of the Europa League but when looking at the quality of the other teams in the competitions such as Tottenham and Manchester United, it’s unlikely that the Scottish outfit will get much further.
In fact, they might not even make it past their next game against Fenerbahce, unless they perform as well as they did in the second half of their game against Kilmarnock.
In football, anything can happen of course but the thoughts of the Gers getting into the semi or quarter-finals of the Europa League feel like they’re nothing but a pipe dream.
Of course, only time will tell what the future holds but if Ferguson manages to make a good name for himself in the Gers’ hot seat, he could end up making a case to be kept on past the end of the 2024/25 season.