Rangers finally got back to winning ways to ensure a difficult period ended on a positive note for the club.
James Tavernier scored a double as Abdallah Sima netted his third goal in a week to ensure they comfortably beat St Mirren 3-0 in Paisley.
Here are five things talking points from today's game...
Ending a dismal week on a high
Defeat to Aberdeen. Michael Beale sacked. Utterly embarrassed by Aris Limassol. It’s been a tough week for Rangers fans watching matters unfold at their club. A trip to face St Mirren wasn’t exactly the fixture Steven Davis and his players would’ve handpicked to try to get the club back on track. However, all three points never really looked in any doubt whatsoever for the Ibrox club today. A much-needed win that cuts the gap to Celtic back to seven points going into the internationals.
Stupidity from Strain
What on earth was the Australian thinking? The right-wing-back has been outstanding for the Buddies so far this season and in his time at the club in general. Similar to James Tavernier, his crossing ability is a real strength of the Australian. But he was unable to show it here after picking up a red card for handling the ball close to the goal line to deny Sima. VAR checked the incident after it was originally missed by Nick Walsh and a penalty was rightly awarded. Stephen Robinson’s side couldn’t get back into the match after this point.
Lovelace start
Handed his first league start by Davis, the 17-year-old didn’t let himself down at all. In fact, he was somewhat of a breath of fresh air. He was dynamic going forward and didn’t look in awe in any way as he made the step up to the first team. He was instrumental prior to the first goal after turning Tanser inside out in the lead-up to the penalty award. A real shame to see him go off injured after 40 minutes. Replaced by another youngster Ross McCausland.
Message from the fans
‘Heartless. Passionless. Leaderless. Not fit to wear our colours.’ Rangers fans made their feelings clear prior to this game with a no-holds-barred banner aimed at the players. They may have bitterly disappointed and let their fans down time and time again, even just in this season, but they stood up to the task today and clearly paid heed to the message.
End of the interim period
Davis, Alex Rae, Stevie Smith, Brian Gilmour and Colin Stewart were appointed as the club’s temporary coaching team after Beale’s dismissal last week. With a pause in the domestic game, the full focus now lies on James Bisgrove’s manager search. At this moment it remains unclear who that will be, so it will be interesting to see if things move swiftly during the break, or whether the interim team will still be in place for the next match against Hibernian.
