As Rangers’ topsy-turvy season took another swing in the wrong direction, the Ibrox faithful could be forgiven for living vicariously through the unexpected success of a team pulling up trees south of the border.
Rangers suffered Scottish Cup humiliation at the hands of Queen’s Park on Sunday.
As Calum Ferrie denied James Tavernier from the penalty spot in the depths of stoppage time, Philippe Clement’s team entered the annals of the tournament’s long, storied history for all the wrong reasons. As shocks go, this was up there.
And, on a weekend of ‘cupsets’ on both sides of Hadrian’s Wall, Plymouth Argyle acted as inspiration for every other underdog up and down the British isles when they brought the hammer down on Liverpool’s hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.
Plymouth’s winner was scored by a former Rangers striker, no less. Ryan Hardie giving Plymouth an invaluable lead, one shielded by the very essence of his lifeforce by a former Rangers defender.
Nikola Katic even lost a tooth during a stunning rearguard action. A fitting image, really, following a throwback of a performance from a centre-half sticking his head where it hurt en route to a remarkable tally of 17 clearances and a fifth round trip to Manchester City.
Three days later, as Plymouth’s post-Wayne Rooney revival continued apace, Katic again put his sizeable noggin to good use. He headed home his first Argyle goal in a 5-1 mauling of Millwall. The aforementioned Hardie, meanwhile, would follow up his famous Liverpool winner with another cool spot-kick before clipping home a sublime finish which spoke volumes of his renewed self-confidence.
Rangers graduate Ryan Hardie continues stunning Plymouth Argyle form
Hardie has always been a bit of a purple-patch player. A typical ‘confidence striker’.
The Ibrox academy graduate went 18 games without a goal before his late brace saw off West Brom while lighting a fuse under the Miron Muslic era on February 1st.
In the two games and 11 days since, Hardie has taken his tally to five goals in the space of three matches. More than he managed in the previous 37 across all competitions.
“Ryan has been on fire in the last [few] games,” Plymouth teammate Mustapha Bundu, who also got his name on the scoresheet against Millwall, said after helping cut the gap to safety to just one point.
“I’m happy with that, if he’s scoring and making us win games.”
Plymouth boss Miron Muslic explains FA Cup hero Hardie’s return to form
Bundu credits Muslic’s tactical tweak with sparking Hardie’s, and Plymouth’s, stunning revival. The 27-year-old former Scotland youth star is playing wider on the right-hand side these days, with his darting runs into the channels wreaking havoc.
Hardie’s winner against West Brom, and his second against Millwall, both came after he drove into space on the right.
“Ryan is stretching the game, running deep, and I am going up for the duels, headers, flick-ons and stuff,” Bundu adds.
“When you have the momentum on your side, you have a team full of confidence and a striker full of energy and confidence,” Muslic smiles. “And confidence is a big, big part in our business.
“You need strikers who are capable of scoring goals. You need strikers with confidence. And I think Hardie, in this moment right now, is very, very dangerous.”
