Rangers farewell to the 55 five didn’t quite go to plan with Michael Beale choosing sentiment over sense, in particular with Allan McGregor and Aldredo Morelos.
The starting line up was clearly with the intention of giving some of the players departing the club one last chance to impress but all it did was prove the gaffer’s point that Rangers need serious change.
Hearts had three shots on target, two goals, we had nearly 20 attempts at the other for the same return.
Sloppy in front of goal, indecisive and slack in front of our own.
The tale of the season.
It’s no coincidence that form and results have been better with Allan McGregor and Alfredo Morelos watching from the sides.
One is a legend – nothing will change that.
The other will have his name in our record books for a very long time and has been one of our best ever value for money signings.
But neither have looked anywhere like the best versions of themselves for over a year.
Allan McGregor and Alfredo Morelos are the past, Rangers must look to future
Richard Gough spoke about the weight of expectation of a Rangers player.
Never mind your let game, you’re only as good as your last pass.
It felt as if Michael Beale was more trying to draw a line under the past at Ibrox against Hearts than thank long-term players for their service.
Going forwards, if Rangers are to be successful, the manager can’t reward failure or pick players based on what they used to be able to do.
Players who consistently underperform can’t keep their place in the team.
Sir Alex Ferguson always spoke about being proactive rather than reactive.
Rangers have been two years too late in moving on all but Filip Helander of the five experienced players released.
Good players, all with big moments but, if they were so important behind the scenes and so important on the pitch, why have they only won two trophies since 2018?
Michael Beale can’t tolerate ok, he needs to speak to Richard Gough and instil a standard that has been missing for too long.