A victory over Dundee United at Tannadice was not just welcome, it was a necessity. We actually got a decent enough performance in the first 30 minutes and Rangers did enough to win the game. It’s just a shame we didn’t get more goals.
Tom Lawrence had a good match and could have got quite a few goals. I make it five very decent attempts as well as his excellent goal and his challenge is to make that impact in games going forward. He is injury-free and, by his own admission, as fit as he has ever been. Hopefully, now he can take that performance forward.
I’m not fooled by 25 minutes here or a decent 90 minutes there. We need a lot more and we need it consistently, but for the position we were in heading there on Sunday, it was a good result and a job done.
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Jefte and Oscar Cortes impressed me. They looked dangerous and Jefte continues to do a little bit more every time he plays. I have been quietly impressed with his running power and he seems to just clear it when the time is right. He doesn't overplay it and I like that. I don’t like the amount of cautions he’s getting so I hope he’s not becoming a target for officials.
Cortes will need time but he has ability. I think he will be a good addition for us but he’s at least a month away from being in full flow. When you think about it, in Mohamed Diomande, Connor Barron, Jefte, Cortes and Igamane, Rangers have now got a promising batch of young players. Barron was once again impressive at Tannadice and makes a habit of winning the midfield battles.
But again, there will be bigger challenges for this group. They will need to perform consistently time and time again and they will all need to improve along the way. That is not meant to be critical, but an acknowledgement that this is a promising squad and that continued progression is needed.
But in that group it would be wrong not to mention Igamane. He looked every bit the raw, exciting livewire we want him to be. Strong, good touch, holding up the ball, he looks a real handful. But, again, there is a lot to show us before we can declare him to be the new hope. Back in 2017 a young Columbian arrived and stole our hearts and this support are ready to love again. Hopefully, we see more of Hamza on Saturday as Dundee come to Ibrox and Rangers look to progress in the cup.
Off the field, John Bennett stood down from his position as chairman on Saturday. I would like to go on record to wish him all the best in his health recovery. I’m grateful to Bennett, the Parks, Dave King and every investor who has steered Rangers since wrestling the club back in 2015, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have questions for every one of them who has taken us to this position that we are in now.
King's statements this week and his wish to come back as chairman gave me mixed emotions. The stuff he said rings true and part of you wants to go ‘Give him it, let him sort it out’. But the other part of me wants to ask so many questions surrounding the decisions King made and how he left.
That doesn’t make me anti-King, or even anti-board. I also think, though, it’s fair to say that there have been so many instances that caused the support to question the many decisions that have put the club in a difficult position. What I don’t want is a King versus Park war in public. This club urgently needs stability and to make the right key appointments off the field to give us leadership.
Those in charge, need to ‘Park’ their egos and do the best for the club so that the fans can get behind this team and manager and focus their energy on winning matches. It’s important we get these key decisions right.
We had more positive news commercially in recent days. Elior have returned in a record deal and now another record deal for front-of-shirt sponsorship with the Kindred Group. These are the moments and bits of news we want to champion. We don't want to be worrying about statements, words like ‘crisis’ on national radio and what is going to go wrong next.
I want to worry about when Igamane is going to start and when will Cortes get fully fit. That’s our job as supporters, not struggles off the field. Those in charge need to sort that sooner rather than later.
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