A picture paints a thousand words.
However, I can’t just leave a picture on its own so I’ll add a bit of depth to one that will probably trigger some serious post-traumatic stress following our draw against Hibernian at the weekend.
Almost every Rangers fan will be able to tell you that our biggest problem just now is turning possession into chances and improving our decision making in the final third – we are progressing the ball well up to the edge of the box but, as yet, we aren’t quite clicking in front of goal.
This image of Ryan Kent early in the game is a typical example of what we are seeing every week.
He has four options better than the one he chose which was to try and beat the man inside him which is made even more bizarre given that that is where all the traffic is and that it would make his shooting angle worse, what he should have done was:
- Shoot
- Square it to Tom Lawrence
- Cut onto left foot and shoot from closer
- Cut onto left foot and then square it to a potentially unmarked Antonio Colak.
Kent made this chance himself by leaving three Hibs defenders in his wake, think it’s fair to say that Rabbi Matondo and Fashion Sakala probably don’t have that in their lockers but I know what they would do in this instance.
He has to shoot, it’s as simple as that. Giovanni van Bronckhorst now needs to do one of two things; either coach a change of mindset into Kent or pick someone whose confidence isn’t in his boots.
The xG statistics don’t paint the full picture because this “chance” is lost due to Kent’s reluctance to pull the trigger but it is an issue, we can’t carry a forward who is as gun shy when faced with such a good opportunity to score, especially when there are other options on the bench.
It doesn’t matter how we see it, or we interpret Kent’s (or any others for that matter), I’m 57 and been a Bear for as long as I remember.
Players are determined to score by themselves to keep their spot (all teams), so the pressure to go for goal should be paramount, but it’s instant panic once we get into the opposite teams box, our lads no longer play from the hearts, they play from the pocket. So if they don’t take the option to pass, yes it’s because they think they can follow it through on their own.
Then after Lundstrum was removed the game changed, we fell into a defensive game (crap) and that’s not the Rangers way. This is down to the gaffer, his instructions to sit where were just doesn’t cut it.
Then crunch time El Buffalo, gets himself embroiled again, only to be Red Carder after a few minutes, and what do the media say, the Daily Rebel said he laughed in the face of the Rangers fans as he came off.
Well I have it in good faith, direct from the horses mouth, the media picked him up as he just couldn’t believe he was being sent off, he didn’t think it should have been a Red, although he admitted that he may have been wrong in dealing with things at that particular moment, he should have been given a Yellow, but if every man woman or child that follows the SPL will admit, we knew before he hit the field, that he would be shown no quarter.