Rangers’ character has been shown countless times this season, so to accuse them of lacking it is nonsensical.
Yesterday’s 1-0 defeat at the Tony Macaroni Arena to Livingston has brought criticism from all quarters. The majority of it is merited after a dreadful display along the M8 at Livingston.
Calling Rangers poor and weak on the day are both accurate statements. It was a well-acknowledged dreadful performance from every single Gers player yesterday.
Yet, one of the big criticisms to come out of yesterday was that Steven Gerrard’s side lacked character.
It’s an easy accusation to toss around once a side has lost a game of football. If a team doesn’t win, they lack character. It’s easier to say that than to actually look at the reasons why they lost, eh?
Rangers lost at Livingston because they were complacent and poor on the day. Too many players had bad off-days and it led to a woeful combined team display.
Complacent and poor
To use character or lack thereof is just totally dismissive of what Rangers have achieved this season so far. Without character, Rangers would’ve went out of the Europa League to either Osijek or Maribor. If they lacked a bit of inner strength, they would never have nabbed a 2-2 draw in Villarreal.
When it’s come to the defeats to Celtic and Livingston, Rangers have been poor on the days. It’s been nothing to do with lacking a bit of inner steel. You simply can’t go from praising Rangers’ mental qualities early this season to questioning whether they have it in the first place.
Gerrard perhaps shouldn’t have rotated too much for the trip to Livi either. Everyone knows Ryan Kent should’ve played from the start, and the manager may also now realise that two up front isn’t working. Playing Joe Worrall and Connor Goldson together raises another question mark after yesterday.
If those three selection choices hadn’t of been made and Rangers nicked a result, would anyone be questioning their character?
Rangers have shown plenty of fight under Gerrard. Fans, media, and even opposition supporters would admit to that one.
What people have to realise, however, is that Rangers aren’t a perfect team. There’s still a lot of growth and potential in this squad that’s yet to be realised. There’ll be more days like yesterday too, when things just don’t click.
Trying to criticise the team’s character is unfair on a group of players who’ve performed well in the main. Yesterday’s defeat came from a variety of aspects – non-existent character certainly wasn’t one of them.
