Caley victory deserved but doesn't mean Rangers are ready

[Bothwellbear 1,392]

Caley victory deserved but doesn't mean Rangers are ready for top flight

RANGERS were deserved winners over Inverness Caley Thistle in midweek, but I'm not sure we can read much into the result in the grand scheme of things.

Derek Johnstone Football columnist

Friday 19/09/2014

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Ally McCoist was delighted with win over Inverness but will ensure his players remain grounded

What it does show is that, in a one-off game, Rangers can compete with teams from the Premiership.

Whether that proves this team and squad are ready for the top flight, I'm not sure.

Inverness have been playing well this season so it was a good win for Rangers and a really important one to keep up their good form of late.

I thought Rangers played well against a team that themselves were in form up until their 3-1 defeat to Partick Thistle at the weekend.

Caley have had a lot of plaudits for their results and the football they have been playing, but I thought Rangers thoroughly deserved the win at Ibrox. They closed them down and stopped them playing.

I was surprised at John Hughes saying his side controlled the game and passed the ball better.

It is okay passing it around in your own half. Rangers allowed them to do that. Once they came forward they didn't cause any problems at all.

They had one effort cleared off the line and the goal ruled out late on, but that was it, Keeper Steve Simonsen barely had anything to do.

Rangers defended well at the back and closed Inverness down well in the middle of the park. On the night they certainly deserved to go through to the next round.

The result, and performance, will show Ally that, on their day, Rangers can play against the better teams in Scotland. But it is a one-off.

We don't know yet if they could do it week in week out.

Caley are playing against better opposition every week and while Rangers are in a tough league, the teams in the Premiership are obviously better and Inverness have been getting results against those teams.

Both sides have changed since Caley won 3-0 at Ibrox a couple of years ago. Rangers have certainly improved since then.

Ally will be happy with the progress of his side, they put in a lot of effort and got their rewards.

The big thing, of course, is winning the match. It might have been a deflected goal, but they all count and Rangers deserved it on the night.

I don't think anyone could deny them that because they were the better side.

T he one thing you don't do after beating Inverness is get carried away and I am sure Ally will be saying that to the players.

He knows they have a long way to go before Rangers are expected to win cups, but the further you go through the rounds the expectation levels do get higher, especially from the fans.

They are at Falkirk on Tuesday in the next round and we have already won there this season. It is an old cliche, but you have to take it one game at a time.

We have to beat Falkirk, who will feel they should have won the Championship game a few weeks ago, before we can start thinking about what might lie ahead in the League Cup.

Every game is tough, especially in the cups because everybody wants to get to the final and have a chance of winning it.

Of course, Rangers, if they play the way they can, could do well in the cups this year. If they defend and create chances the way they have been in the last few weeks, then there is no reason why they can't have a good cup run.

But that can all end in one game. Ally will be saying to the players that they have set standards for themselves and they have got to maintain them now.

It is no use playing well against Raith and Inverness and then not beating Alloa at the weekend.

You have to keep it going, keep those standards up and keep the momentum going. That is what the manager will be getting into the players' heads.

It has been a good run of form and performances recently but we need to keep that up for a sustained period.

If you want to get into cup finals and back into the Premiership then you need to keep your foot on the pedal. Overall it has been a good start for Rangers but it is only a start.

The team is getting better and the signs are encouraging. Hopefully they can continue getting better and better as the season progresses.

[The Educator 1,572]

A fairly accurate article, we are getting better. Keep it going.

[JamieG54 812]

DJ has been more sense than mince these past few weeks.

[Smile 26,606]

I thought we were murder for 70 minutes against a Caley side that looked quite ordinary. I honestly think our players need to get their finger out as they can play better than they are currently playing.

[Poetry_In_Blue 1,043]

The Caley game made it 7 wins in a row I believe.

[cumnockbear 2,446]

We deserved the victory and played well but we're far from the finished article.

[Courtyard Bear 41,357]

Apart from maybe 5 mins end of the first half and 5 mins at the end I thought we contained Callie easily and if we had took our chances we would've gave them a hammering.

If that's one of the better teams in the top flight then the standards really have took a plunge.

[dalton 1,192]

I enjoyed how positive the attitude and the tracking back as a team

it wasnt just that we won but the actual work rate and work ethic

that in the last two games that has won me over.

As always we have a negative with me but kris boyd is our cheap ballotelli

he is lazy does his own thing but can do it if in the mood

But we are actually looking like a team with a threat .