Many Rangers fans have blamed Steven Gerrard’s over rotation for the stuttering performance against Hamilton at the weekend, forgetting that the players who came in have not let the gaffer down before.
Bongani Zungu bore the brunt of it but Cedric Itten also came under fire – even though his own form has demanded that he be given a chance from the start – that he was starved of service is as much his fault as the team’s lack of control on the game was his South African teammate’s.
There was a noticeable change in tempo – perhaps born out of necessity – when Ryan Jack and Steven Davis came on and Alan Hutton, speaking to Football Insider, believes that there is a justifiable reason why the Scotland international was left on the bench for so long despite his obvious quality:
“The plastic pitch is a nightmare but then again, everybody has to play on it, it’s not just going against your team.
“I think sometimes with certain players, you have to be careful with them, especially players that have had knee problems in the past like Ryan Jack for instance. You have to look out for the welfare of the players.
“He did leave a lot on the bench, it was an opportunity for other players to come in and really stamp authority on a game and really get in the forefront of Gerrard’s thinking for the upcoming games, especially the European game coming up.
“It didn’t seem that many of them had taken their my chance against Hamilton and it was a poor display.”
Vital Rangers wasn’t far away with the predicted XI in that we saw Kemar Roofe and Ryan Jack sitting out because of the injury problems they have had this season, the starting line-up should also have been strong enough to beat the team bottom of the table.
Hamilton, to their credit, were outstanding and even though there is a huge difference in resources and squad quality, sometimes it happens in football, Rangers were seconds away from a victory that would have been praised as “the mark of champions” but were pegged back with a deserved equaliser.
Was Gerrard right to rotate?
Yes
No
Jack and Davis would have made a difference had they started but we have learned before that you simply can’t play the same eleven players, week-in, week-out and expect them not to break down, especially one closer to 40 than 30 and another who has spent as much time on the treatment table as the training pitch.