



Having seen much of Brentford’s

success under Warburton recently, the acquisition of the Bees’ old manager

really was quite a coup. The new boss has been feverish in the transfer market,

rebuilding the team from scratch and tonight’s test in the form of visitors

Burnley, albeit a friendly, would be a very good workout and indication of where

the 52-year old Ibrox manager’s Rangers is at.

After a 90-minute display in

Govan, the verdict has to be:

Promising, but not quite the finished article yet.

Debuts were handed to almost all

the new acquisitions, with only Jordan Thompson remaining on the bench. As

predicted, the defence was Foderingham, protected by a back four of Tavernier, Wilson, Kiernan and

Wallace. The midfield saw Law, Holt and Halliday instead of Thompson, Halliday

and Murdoch, while up front utilised two flankers in Templeton and McKay, with

new signing Waghorn leading the line.

And in truth there was a lot of

good in that first half. The defence looked surprisingly cohesive for a group

of players playing their first serious match together. Kiernan and Wilson

seemed to have a good partnership, with only that one loose ball letting the

side down and slipping past the former Hearts man to allow Burnley

to snatch the win.

Otherwise the defence looked

pretty solid, and while Lee Wallace was rather ordinary, Tavernier was superb,

and easily the best right back Rangers have had since the SPL days. While some

of his passes were a little astray as he cultivates an understanding with

others, his general wing play was impressive, and his defending even better.

Into midfield and after a slow

start Law got going – still not what we would expect, but better. Halliday was

excellent, covering every inch of grass and proving himself a very able holding

midfielder. Holt had a quiet and relatively ineffectual game, and would not win

a deal based on that display alone.

Up front McKay struggled –

looking a pale reflection of the starlet who burst onto the scene in 2012, he

failed to make any real impact on the match, with his counterpart Templeton

only managing to have a brief foray into the match inside 15 minutes, before

disappearing entirely himself.

Waghorn was bright and

hard-working, but sadly his composure was poor, and we are starting to see why

he only got 7 in 29 for Wigan. An honest

player, he works doggedly but struggles to put them away.

Overall the team unit was

actually good – the defence and midfield worked well, with good use of the

ball, sprayed passes and high pressing when chasing. Unfortunately the attack

was pretty toothless, and cries out for a reliable striker Rangers can depend

on. There simply is not one currently in the squad. The wingers also struggled

to impact, and one suspects Warburton has a dilemma of a three-pronged attack

or the two flankers and one striker combination.

The one big disappointment was

once Burnley scored they simply were the

better team. Up till then Rangers looked some of the most free they have in

years, with energetic running, enthusiastic one-twos and overall unity. But

when that goal went in it all seemed to sap out of the players and Burnley stepped up.

The visitors, goal aside, did not

make Foderingham make a worthwhile save, but then, Rangers did not get a single

useful shot on target either. But the visitors, once one-up, controlled the

match and while the hosts had their moments, they were second best thereafter.

This was a friendly, and there is

no judging to be done here, but what we can tell from simple football economics

is Rangers are badly in need, at least, of a striker. Eustace too looks like he

could be a very important signing if he can prove his fitness, as his

experience in midfield will help guide the younger minds around him. Especially

when their heads go down, as they did tonight.

If a good striker can be sought

by Saturday, there is every chance this Rangers team can travel to Easter Road

and overcome Hibs. Otherwise, while the defence will be more solid than we

would normally expect, and midfield far harder working, the lack of cutting

edge up top will make the job a lot tougher.

There is definitely a feeling

Rangers are going in the right direction, but the finish line is not quite in

sight yet.