Rangers reaction: Why embattled manager might stay, St Mirren player 'who should be at Celtic or Ibrox', player ratings

St Mirren's Ethan Erhahon was singled out for his performance against Rangers.St Mirren's Ethan Erhahon was singled out for his performance against Rangers.
St Mirren's Ethan Erhahon was singled out for his performance against Rangers.
We pick out three talking points from Rangers’ 1-1 draw with St Mirren and give the players a rating out of ten.

If you sack Gio, who do you bring in?

A number of Rangers fans now want manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst dismissed by the club’s board. They trail leaders Celtic by nine points in the cinch Premiership, were eviscerated in the Champions League with the poorest group-stage performance in the tournament’s history and recent performances have fallen well short of the standard expected at Ibrox. Saturday’s 1-1 draw with St Mirren was no exception. All of this now begs a big question of the Rangers board: do they axe Van Bronckhorst now and give a new manager the World Cup break to prepare, or do they stick with the beleaguered Dutchman and hope that a slew of players returning from injury can spark an upturn in fortunes? Part of their decision-making will no doubt centre on who they could bring in. Sean Dyche, the former Burnley manager, was mooted earlier this week. There are no obvious candidates – surely Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale are not viable at this stage – and Rangers would want a swift appointment to give a new man maximum time to get the squad in order. Talks are planned between Van Bronckhorst and the Ibrox hierarchy imminently. The situation is perilous for the ex-Feyenoord boss and he cut an ashen-faced figure when leaving Paisley. The next few days will be fascinating.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Alfredo Morelos should be ashamed

The press room was in unanimous agreement about the worst player on the pitch: Alfredo Morelos. The bigger debate was what adjective to use to describe his performance. The Colombian striker was making his first league start due to Antonio Colak’s injury. He was awful. Truly awful. Disinterested, lazy, a rotten touch, poor runs and a stupid yellow card for a barge five seconds into the second half. What is so incredibly frustrating about Morelos is that we know there is a player in there. We’ve seen how good he can be. Rangers need a firing Morelos and quite frankly, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, he needs to get into shape quickly, otherwise he won’t have many suitors.

The Buddies man who should be at Ibrox

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was understandably a pleased man after the draw. He gushed about his team but reserved the best praise for one midfielder in particular. “Ethan Erhahon,” he said, “he should be playing for Rangers or Celtic. I tell you that boy is a player.” He then went on to also hail his engine room partner-in-crime Mark O’Hara. They certainly shone against their Rangers adversaries in this match.

Player ratings

St Mirren: Carson 6; Strain 7, Fraser 6, Gallagher 6, Dunne 6, Tanser 6; Kiltie 6, Erhahon 7, O’Hara 8; Ayunga 8, Main 6. Subs: Baccus n/a. Greive n/a, Gogic n/a. Rangers: McGregor 6; Tavernier 6, King 5, Sands 5, Barisic 5; Lundstram 4, Kamara 3; Wright 5, Tillman 5, Kent 6; Morelos 2. Subs: Arfield 4, Jack 4, Ure n/a.