In what was one of our few routine wins of the season on Saturday, there wasn’t an awful lot to talk about in terms of the game itself. As always though, there’s plenty going on worthy of discussion.
One big talking point is obviously the position of the manager, or more specifically, the contribution of Graeme Murty. There’s not a Rangers fan anywhere who doesn’t appreciate what he’s done for us. However, it’s a very different challenge to go from coming in to fix things in the short term than it is to be the main man going forward. The club are putting long term structure and philosophy decisions in the hands of our Director of Football. As such, the manager doesn’t have to be too involved in that sort of stuff. Some may feel that would mean Murty could be a safe choice, but it’s fair to say going from caretaker to incumbent is hit and miss at best in terms of success. The performances of McCrorie at minimum show that Murty is doing well with the development squad. We need experience in the role of manager right now, so overall it would be best to hire a top candidate and let Graeme Murty do what he does well right now. He may prove to be a successful manager in time. Most fans seem unwilling to take a risk with certain names, though, and he very much represents that.
The omission of Carlos Pena comes at a time when rumours are abound regarding his fate. Supposedly, his family has went back to Mexico, and the player would like to leave as soon as possible. I have no idea if those stories are true. I’m someone who believes we could get more out of Pena given time and luck, but he obviously has to want to be here. It may just be the case that Murty felt Barjonas would benefit more than Pena from time on the bench. I’m sure we’ll hear more in coming weeks.
Our other Mexican, Eduardo Herrera, didn’t come off the bench, and in truth it seemed a bit strange. He was warming up for a long time in the second half, and even looking at charts and discussing tactics. It was Ryan Hardie who came on to replace Morelos, though. There’s a chance Herrera felt something during the warm-up, or that Murty changed his mind last minute. The future of both Mexican players will be a topic of discussion when the new manager comes in. Again, we’ll soon see where that leads.
There was an incident involving a Thistle fan and some flags which was regrettable all round. Many jump on the club and blame them for this, but it’s worth remembering that the decision was made by stewards at the time. There’s been plenty of away fans who have flown flags with no issues at all, so it would be remiss to suggest they were under instruction with such limited evidence. I will say this though – there was a Catalonia flag being displayed at that time. I’ll bet the knowledge of Spanish politics is limited to say the least!
The most important thing to take away from the game, though, was the Rememberance Day display. As always, Rangers and the fans got this correct. The Partick Thistle fans also contributed with their respect for the display, as you’d expect from them. There’s far too many discussions surrounding what other teams do for this, or how other supporters act. I find that somewhat uncomfortable at best. The only thing you can really concentrate on is how you and your club decide to honour those who have given their lives. Take pride in how that was done on Saturday.
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