Dowell experiment needs to end – Three things learned from Motherwell v Rangers
Rangers fell to a disappointing draw against Motherwell in their opening league game, and there was plenty to dissect.
James Tavernier gave the visitors an early lead after heading home from a corner, but his side did little more to add to the scoreline, and were punished late on.
Rangers threw away their lead as Motherwell left-back Emmanuel Longelo netted a late equaliser, and the Gers were perhaps lucky not to lose after a woeful second-half display.
Russell Martin has failed to win his first Scottish Premiership match in charge, and Ibrox News has picked out three key takeaways from a fiery match at Fir Park.
Martin needs to drop Kieran Dowell
Kieran Dowell spent last season on loan at Birmingham City, but has found himself back at Ibrox and starting on the right wing.
The midfielder has failed to impress, in both games against Panathinaikos, and was particularly poor against Motherwell.
- Rangers have failed to win their last three opening day games – for the first time since 1984.
This experiment from Martin, in playing a midfielder out wide, has not worked, and with Mikey Moore and Oliver Antman coming in, Dowell cannot continue to be selected in this winger role.
Dowell’s defensive awareness for the equalising goal was simply unacceptable, and Martin will find himself under even more pressure if he continues to select him from the start.
Danilo fails Rangers striker audition
Rangers currently face a crisis upfront with Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane looking likely to leave, and neither were named in the starting XI.
Danilo started upfront, but failed to show that he could be an adequate replacement, offering very little threat, and also did not offer the physicality provided by Dessers.
| Stat | Danilo |
| Minutes | 63 |
| Shots (on target) | 3 (0) |
| Passes (completed) | 13 (10) |
| Chances created | 1 |
Martin now needs to urgently sign a first-choice striker if the aforementioned pair are to leave, with Danilo clearly failing his audition to step up to replace them, and this should arguably mean that his long-term future is away from Ibrox.
Martin got substitutions wrong
Joe Rothwell was impressive in the middle of the park as a positive for Rangers, but Martin made a fatal error with regard to his midfield substitutions.
All three of Rothwell, Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande were withdrawn in the second half, and Rangers lost any sense of control in the middle.
Rothwell’s set-piece threat also disappeared when he came off, and there is clearly a lesson to be learned for Martin, that he cannot surrender the midfield battle with his substitutions.
One central midfielder should have stayed on, and given that Dowell ended up playing 90 minutes, fans will be frustrated at the decision-making process which eventually led to the equaliser.
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