Rangers 3-0 Hibs: Hughes left in blue funk

JOHN HUGHES is by no means the first and he certainly won't be the last manager to be perplexed by the conundrum of how to confront the Old Firm in their own backyard.

Do you adopt a safety-first approach in the hope of holding out for 90 minutes and perhaps even snatch something on the break only to be accused of running scared? Or do you throw caution to the wind to a certain extent, take the match to them and be upbraided for being too cavalier?

Either tactic can, of course, reap a rich dividend on any given day – even if the focus unerringly is always on how poorly Rangers or Celtic played rather than due credit given – although, more than likely, the final result goes the way of whichever half of Glasgow's big two you happen to be playing.

Emboldened perhaps by victory at Celtic Park only a couple of weeks ago and a draw last time out at Ibrox in what Hughes described as one of the best SPL games of the season, but more likely by the firepower at his disposal, the Hibs boss opted for the latter option, fielding a 4-2-4 formation with Merouane Zemmama, Anthony Stokes, Abdessalam Benjelloun and Alan Gow up front with Derek Riordan and Colin Nish held in reserve.

On this occasion, however, fortune didn't favour the brave although Hughes and his players could argue with some justification that the final scoreline did them a dis-service, Steven Whittaker's stunning opener followed by a contentious penalty and a third as substitute Kevin McBride slipped deep into injury time.

In saying that, however, Hughes was willing to concede the Ibrox outfit, determined to cash in on Celtic's slip-up at Pittodrie 24 hours earlier, had dominated the second period while his side had been unable to take full advantage of having held the upper hand for much of the opening 45 minutes.

Rangers manager Walter Smith agreed in as much as admitting his team were lucky to have been heading up the tunnel at half-time on level terms, Steve Davis having found himself in the right place at the right time to nod Paul Hanlon's header off his own line.

While both Smith and Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor were thankful for that break, Hughes observed: "I don't recall my goalkeeper (Graeme Smith] having too many saves to make."

It was a valid point for Hughes to make as Hibs, with Benji dropping off the front to take possession, and Zemmama giving Sasa Papac a torrid time on the right flank, stretched Rangers time and again although the Ibrox defence, the tightest in the SPL and a major factor behind the title looking as if it will be heading to Govan once more, stood up to the close examination it received.

More of the same would have been Hughes' instructions at half-time while well aware Smith, the man he regards as the "Godfather" of Scottish football, would have used those 15 minutes to good effect. Even so, Smith admitted it was going to take something exceptional to break the deadlock and it duly arrived, former Hibs star Steven Whittaker exchanging passes with the much-maligned Kyle Lafferty to hammer home his tenth goal of the season with just six minutes played of the second half.

As Hughes pointed out: "I told the players Walter would have been in about them, that we should stand up to it, show plenty character and self-belief.

"Lo and behold we give a goal away when we had possession and that knocked us a bit. If we could have had 20 minutes it might have been a different outcome." Having seen his side come back from a goal, and even two, down to salvage something from a game eight times this season – most notably at Ibrox and Celtic Park – Hughes would even then have had cause for optimism, particularly when he saw Zemmama fire in a vicious shot which McGregor spilled but managed to recover before it crossed the line.

However, his hopes were dashed within 60 seconds as Kenny Miller went down in the penalty area, far too easily according to Sol Bamba who was identified as the perpetrator by referee Steve Conroy, the decision allowing Kris Boyd to step up and slam home the spot-kick.

Ever the diplomat, Hughes professed to the need to see the incident again on television before passing comment, but Zemmama was in no doubt Conroy had got it wrong, even questioning whether Boyd should still have been on the park after appearing to throw an elbow into the little Moroccan's face.

Boyd got a yellow card, although Conroy's decision that only two points should attach to it means the striker will be free for the third Old Firm clash of the season in a couple of weeks' time, but Zemmama claimed it could quite easily have been red.

He said: "I felt Miller went down too easily while Boyd caught me in the face with his elbow. The Rangers fans seemed to think I was a cheat but I was not. The referee was right to give him a yellow card but maybe in other countries it would have been red."

Nevertheless, the game was over at that stage as Hibs began to wilt with Rangers looking likely to add to their tally, Bamba enjoying a great slice of luck as he stepped over a low cross from Kenny Miller only to see the ball crash off the legs of Nacho Novo and wide from only a couple of yards out.

Rangers did extend their lead as McBride slipped, allowing Miller to be fed in to slot home what Hughes described as "an irrelevant goal". To all intents and purposes it was, but it's worth noting that of the 24 league goals conceded by Hibs this season eight have come in their three clashes with the champions.

Zemmama said: "It was very disappointing, we'd come here to get three points, to have a real go. We had a couple of chances in the first half but couldn't score. And after they got the penalty we couldn't get back into the game."

Hughes concurred saying: "It was a massive disappointment. But one thing was evident, we came and gave it a real go. Zouma was lively as was Benji, we got at them and the game was quite even.

"If I have to be critical of my side, we just didn't pass the ball as crisply and quickly as we should have done in the second half. But I am proud of them, we had nothing to lose and even in defeat I felt we had the best performer on the park in Liam Miller, I thought he was outstanding while Paul Hanlon acquitted himself well."

So what was the difference between yesterday at Ibrox and the other week at Celtic Park? "We carried a lot of luck that night," said Hughes, "but we got to the last ten minutes still hanging in there and as a result there was a lot of nervousness going about and we capitalised on it."