St Johnstone 0 - 4 Rangers: Rangers show zest for new era

IF IT is to be a new era, then Rangers christened it in positive fashion with a victory that rounds off the most seismic season in the club’s history.

Scorers: Rangers - McCulloch (23), Aluko (56, 62, 73)

Bookings: St Johnstone - Sandaza; Rangers - Bedoya

Attendance: 6,459

Queues snaked out of both ends of McDiarmid Park, where the away fans congregated. Rangers supporters also gathered outside front entrance of the main stand in the hope of catching a glimpse of the new owner-elect, Charles Green. He took his seat in the directors’ box next to Sandy Jardine and looked on as Rangers swept aside a poor St Johnstone team.

It was the home team who looked to have other things on their mind. Rangers, by contrast, disposed of St Johnstone with clinical precision, enduring a difficult opening spell before ending deserved and emphatic winners, thanks, in the main, to Sone Aluko’s hat-trick.

The striker adorned what could be a farewell appearance with three good finishes, making it seem all the more crucial Rangers get themselves into a financial position where they can make good their promise of a two-year contract offer to the player.

There was a mood of cautious optimism on a day when Rangers’ future might just have been secured. Whether many of those who played yesterday stick around to play a part in this new era remains to be seen. McCoist acknowledged that youth might have to be relied on next season in the event of the Scottish Football Association’s transfer embargo being upheld later this week.

Rangers finished the match being represented by players bearing numbers such as 69 and 34 on their jerseys. The former number belonged to substitute Barrie McKay, who contributed a spritely shift on his competitive debut for the club. What will be the next move for the more familiar faces in yesterday’s line-up remains the most significant question.

Yesterday was their last game for the club on reduced wages, and their commitment during this time of cutbacks has to be applauded. Rangers have been beaten just once in their last eight matches and yesterday saw their third multi-goal victory since the league split. Aluko stole the show with a hat-trick after Lee McColloch had given the visitors the lead after 23 minutes.

For St Johnstone fans, this was particularly galling. Needing a win to claim a European place, and well aware that rivals Hearts were being heavily beaten at Parkhead, the home side slumped in rather pitiful fashion, racking up their fifth post-split defeat.

Aluko began a day which ended with him taking home the match ball home by helping out with some frantic defending. St Johnstone had threatened first, with Allan McGregor reacting smartly to a Cillian Sheridan header. Aluko was on hand to boot the ball clear from danger. Rangers eased their way into it and McCulloch nicked a header past Alan Mannus only to see the covering Frazer Wright clear. Alejandro Bedoya then shot over before McCulloch began what became a long, long afternoon for St Johnstone. His fierce shot, after a Maurice Edu flick into his path, flashed past Mannus from 20 yards.

St Johnstone, from this moment, struggled to get back into the game. They watched what became the Aluko show from the back seat. The striker got his afternoon up and running with a nerveless finish 11 minutes after the interval and, following a through-ball from Edu, Aluko drew the goalkeeper and then picked his spot in the far corner.

St Johnstone’s frustration was evident in the clumsy challenge on Rhys McCabe which saw Fran Sandaza booked on what looks likely to be his last appearance for the Perth team. The early promise of his striking partnership with Sheridan has faded somewhat, with the latter not having scored a league goal since October.

Sandaza, meanwhile, finished the season on 18 goals, having failed to find the net since the split. St Johnstone, indeed, have scored only once in the last five games – in the 5-1 defeat to Motherwell. He did have the ball in the net once yesterday, but was correctly judged offside after Chris Millar had played a ball to the back post when he should really have shot himself. Aluko was showing St Johnstone how it should be done, tapping the ball into the net in 62 minutes after Bedoya’s cross across the face of the goal. He then completed his hat-trick ten minutes later with a flourish, slamming the ball high into the net after Callum Davidson had blocked an Edu effort.

Aluko was replaced by McKay soon after, his work every much done. Ally McCoist was the first to offer him a congratulatory handshake, before whispering what was a possibly a plea for him to stay in his ear.

As for St Johnstone, giving some indication of just how drastically their season has unstitched is that they must now rely on Hearts lifting the Scottish Cup in order to sneak into Europe. Not so long ago they were sniffing the intoxicating scent of Champions Leagie football. Yesterday summed up a bitterly disappointing end to the season for Steve Lomas’ side. He described it as a “reality check” for a team with one of the lowest budgets in the league.

As many as five of their starting XI could have made their last appearance for the McDiarmid Park side, including captain Jody Morris. This wasn’t the way they wanted to be remembered and they almost sneaked off the at the end, although Morris did make a point of applauding the home supporters after a productive stay in Perthshire.