RANGERS really don’t like Dens Park. There is something about this famous old Scottish football ground that brings out the absolute worst in the Ibrox side, no matter who the manager is. This was a dreadful performance from Steven Gerrard’s men against a team, less we forget, which began the day bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Rangers had lost on their two previous visits to Dens and this would have felt like another defeat.
They could have gone level with Celtic on points but got what they deserved. If there is to be a title challenge from Ibrox them games such as this one must be taken care of. By the end of the match, few in blue were brave enough to be the one to make something happened.
And this was noticed by their manager. It would come as little surprise if a few were not seen again for a good while.
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Dundee always seem to be bottom of the table when Rangers go there and for whatever reason there is an upset – although is it an upset anymore?
Graeme Murty once cried after a defeat. He also did a headstand. Gerrard did none of those things but he did utterly fillet his players after the game.
The supporters probably felt like crying.
ALFREDO MORELOS WAS A BIG MISS
So, too, was Scott Arfield. Both were suspended and these red cards are beginning to cost Rangers.
Morelos, for his faults, is a fine player. He scores and makes goals. He makes defenders do daft things.
As the clock ticked with nothing really happening for Rangers, it was hard to shrug off the thought that had Morelos not been sent off against Aberdeen then he would have come up with something in this game.
Arfield has played well of late but he’s no use in the stand. It really is that simple.
As Gerrard made clear, there aren’t many who have shown they are good enough to stand and be counted when given a chance, which means the squad isn’t as big as the manager probably thought.
Joe Worall doesn’t look up to it. Kyle Lafferty did have a goal wrongly taken away from him but he did nothing in the second half.
Well, that’s not quite true.
With minutes remaining, Lafferty took the ball on the run, a simple touch for an international player, and he put it right out of the park. That summed up Rangers.
And before the break, Lafferty and Genserix Kusunga had a coming together right in front of the fourth official. They were both at it but Lafferty did kick out which was missed by referee Alan Muir who booked the Dundee man. Lafferty got lucky.
BEATING CELTIC HAS BECOME MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
As things stand, Celtic will have a game in hand and a few points of a gap when they go to Ibrox on December 29.
Rangers have to win. A draw would be okay but if Gerrard’s side are to mount a challenge, which of course could well happen, they have to win the derby.
Celtic will have looked at this performance, and the defeat against Aberdeen, and will strongly fancy themselves.
Gerrard makes mistakes. He is new to all of this. However, his players owe him and they need to find the grit which got them a point at Tynecastle.
KENNY MILLER WILL REALLY GET GOING WHEN HE'S IN HIS FIFTIES
Honest to goodness, he really is something else.
He ran Rangers ragged, scored a fine goal and was voted man of the match. Miller will be 39 on December 23. He is a remarkable example of what a professional footballer should be.
“He’s doing fantastically well and he’s leading by example,” said the Dundee manager Jim McIntyre.
“Every day on the training ground he has that enthusiasm. Even if it’s a warm-up or wee touch of the ball with ball skills, he does everything the way it should be done and that’s why he’s still playing at his age and doing what he’s doing.
“I thought the ball was just a punt up the park and he just reacts quicker because he’s really switched on upstairs. He puts it away great and he was unlucky not to score again straight after the red card when Allan McGregor makes a good sae with his feet. I’m delighted with his contribution.”
FOUR GAMES WITHOUT DEFEAT MEANS THAT DUNDEE'S SEASON HAS FINALLY STARTED
McIntyre is getting a tune out of a squad which had zero confidence not so long ago. For sheer spirit alone they earned this result with Paul McGowan in particular just superb. The resolve shown after Nathan Ralph was sent off – for a tackle on Daniel Candeias on the edge of the area that saw him catch the Rangers winger on the ankle with his studs up – was exemplary.
“I have watched the red card again and the referee told me it was for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity,” McIntyre revealed. “So that is going to be appealed because Andy Boyle is round on the cover so it’s definitely not that. So that was disappointing but I would rather talk about how good the players were, rather than that decision.”
Indeed, Rangers helped Dundee through some astonishingly bad attempt sat attacking but that’s the bold ‘Dee off the bottom of the Premiership for the first time this season – much to the delight of McIntyre and his players. “Nobody wants to see themselves sitting at the bottom of the table and we have aspirations to be higher than that but it’s one small step at a time,” he said.
“There will be wee waves along the way in terms of ups and down and it’s about how we react to that, that’s the biggest thing for me. But the boys are in a happy place at the moment, there is a real spirit and togetherness there that you see in the training ground every day they enjoy working hard for each other and when you do that you sometimes get the wee breaks you deserve.”
All of a sudden, the Tayside men don’t look doomed.
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