Rangers signing slated by Mark Hateley after 'weak and blunt' Champions League show

Rangers missed Alfredo Morelos and learned nothing about their Champions League qualifying opponents Union Saint-Gilloise. That is the scathing assement of the first leg defeat from Ibrox great Mark Hateley.

A goal in either half placed the ambitions of last season's Europa League runners-up on the brink in an uncharacteristically lacklustre European show from Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team.

They left Belgium relieved to be still in touch, just. And Hateley did not hold back after watching with disappointment shared across the spectrum of the Rangers support.

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“It was a poor, poor show – weak and blunt,” he said. “Union figured Rangers out after 25 minutes.

“We don’t even know if Union’s back three are any good. Is the goalkeeper any good? We don’t know.”

Rangers rarely threatened the Belgian runners-up beyond the opening half-hour yet are clinging on to hope of overturning the two-goal deficit next Tuesday when the tie returns to Glasgow.

Hateley is a man who knows all about leading the line – a tall, attacking figurehead who dominated Scottish defences throughout the early-1990s at Ibrox.

And he branded the latest player to fit the mould in van Bronckhorst’s team – Antonio Colak – a ‘waste of time’ following the defeat.

Rangers' Antonio Colak and Union's Christian Burgess fight for the ball (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)Rangers' Antonio Colak and Union's Christian Burgess fight for the ball (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Rangers' Antonio Colak and Union's Christian Burgess fight for the ball (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking on BBC Sportsound he went on: “Colak, for me, was a waste of time. If Morelos is playing, the ball goes in to him. Colak didn’t demand the ball.

“At the end of the day, Rangers are very, very lucky to come away with a 2-0 defeat.”

Morelos missed the game while still recovering from his thigh injury but is eligible to play next week, if fitness allows, as is Ryan Kent.

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