And on to the last fixtures of a season we’d rather forget, we go…
In midweek, we saw us lose to Aberdeen 2-1, St Johnstone beating Hearts 1-0 (rumours of a fight between Cathro and Johnsen being the only excitement there), and Celtic thumping Thistle 5-0.
For the upcoming weekend:
St Johnstone v Rangers
We face a trip to Perth in our final game, and after the disappointment of Wednesday, it feels like an afterthought rather than something to look forward to. Caixinha made a comment after the Aberdeen game which suggested we may see a number of younger players starting, and it would give some of our squad an extra few days to recover at the end of the season if we just shelved them for this one. I felt Bates and Aidan Wilson did not do too badly together, so I’d expect them to start, and injury to Hodson would suggest Beerman will come back in. I think Barjonas will get a start, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Atakayi in there as well.
Like the players, the fans are already looking to next season. Rumours and sources suggest Ryan Jack, Stevie Naismith, and Bruno Alves are all but signed up, and we’ve been linked with a huge number of players already. With only a couple of weeks break before the players get back for pre-season, and Pedro seemingly wanting far more from our squad in terms of work rate and fitness, we’ll need signings to be done quickly if we want instant progress. Our young prospects aren’t ready yet, and we can’t trust the current squad in the early European qualifiers, if both players and management don’t want to work together fully, as seems to be the case.
With no information at this time, and using total guesswork, I think the team on Sunday will be:
But as said above, we may see more by way of youth prospects playing.
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Given the nature of the game and likelihood of a young, inexperienced team, I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost on Sunday. It doesn’t matter either way really. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.
Elsewhere in the top six on Sunday, Celtic have Hearts at home, and will probably skelp them, and Aberdeen face a trip to Thistle, and again will most likely win that game. Both cup finalists will want to get the results to take them into that game.
We’ll have a look at the season next week, and hopefully, by then we’ll start to see serious signs of what players we’ll have next season and what direction we’re wanting to go in.
Is there anyone you hope starts the game on Sunday? Tweet us @rangersnewsuk with your thoughts!