Queen's Park v Rangers - League Cup first round

[houstonspider]

These days you never know which Rangers side will turn up and last night it was the one that huffed and puffed, ran out of ideas, reverted to route one and by the end looked extremely ragged.

I feared the worst after 5 minutes when the expected mullering looked on the cards but it failed to materialise and all credit to QP for digging in after the early goal.

I was really pleased for Tony getting his goal. You may recall he missed an absolute sitter in the last D3 Glasgow derby and he probably thought he would not get another chance to score against the Gers.

Into the second half Rangers went route one and were content to break up our counters by persistent fouling.

It was truly remarkable watching Gers pulling back everyone to defend our set pieces.

Solid team performance but special mention for Vinnie Berry and Shaun Fraser who were terrific and for Wullie for the amazing save in the first minute.

[QPStu]

I went to this game with low expectations and was delighted to see us rise to the occasion. Gus showed his mettle as a manager last night with his team selection and tactics and the team put in a fantastic effort, far exceeding what I expected to see. Clyde, that's how it's done.

We're not as good a team as 2 years ago so what that says about Rangers I don't know. It says something that the biggest cheer from their fans all night came on hearing about a result elsewhere. I'd be worrying more about my own lot.

We can hold our heads high and will hopefully kick on a bit and keep well away from the wrong end of our league. As for Rangers, don't kid yourselves you're any good.

[calum_gers]

Rangers ALWAYS pull everyone back for set-pieces. It was a Walter Smith tactic and McCoist can't think for himself.

[an86]

I was not at the game last night but I would be interested in hearing the views of Rangers fans that were.

Were we really as bad as the QP fans are making out?

From what I heard, then it was a fairly entertaining tie, with QP having a right good go but Rangers retaining the vast amount of possession, I heard we hit the woodwork 3 times, had a goal chalked off and the QP goalie had a number of good saves to keep his team in the tie, I also heard the QP goal came from an absolute blunder by Simonsen when he tried to punch and completely missed, gifting Queens only goal.

You're shite, basically. Like a pished karaoke singer trying to imitate the real thing and failing hilariously.

[thepundit]

I was not at the game last night but I would be interested in hearing the views of Rangers fans that were.

Were we really as bad as the QP fans are making out?

No. I watched the match on Rangers TV at 12:00am and whilst Rangers weren't at their best, there was only going to be one winner. It didn't seem like a struggle for Rangers at all. There was the notion that Rangers were in first gear and, if required, could have stepped up their game without too much difficulty.

I have to say, and this surprises me, Lee McCulloch is playing really well at the moment. (Probably should have scored with a header as well but the keeper made a fantastic save)

[QPStu]

I concede Rangers were sharper out the blocks than us and we could have been a goal down within a couple of minutes but for an excellent save from our keeper before Boyd's first goal. After that though, we got some good possession, grew in confidence and were worthy of the equaliser. Goalkeeing blunder or not, Quinn got his head there first and it went in and that's all that matters. Rangers spend a lot of time playing little one touch triangles in their own half which is a waste of time. Defensively, they are there to be got at as everyone they've played so far this season, bar Falkirk, have managed to score against them. It was one of those games where I felt the only difference between the sides was one team was full time and the other wasn't.

[No8.]

I forgot about their Keepers save before the opener. What a save!! We started well and created a few chances and Boyd took his goal well enough. We had another perfectly good goal chalked off for off side...A ridiculous decision and were denied a clear penalty for a comical challenge on Peralta even Mohsni would have been embarrassed by. Peralta was standing waiting for a bouncing ball to come down when a QP defender just launched himself into the wee Honduran knocking him arse over tit in the box. Nobody was that upset over it as we were too busy laughing.

The game wore on and tbh it became a bit of a drag with the players simply going through the motions and Queens Park offering nothing. Other than their Keeper they were very poor. Their goal came from a set piece. Easy ball into the box ... Keeper shouted and everybody left it to him but he was beaten to it and it was knocked into an empty net.

We created quite a few chances but slack finishing and poor final ball kept the scoreline respectable. Once Boyd got his second it was all over. It was similar to the Clyde game...The difference being everything we hit that night went in...last night it didn't although we probably created as many clear cut chances

Mohsni is still a fucking nightmare and has to go. He is going backwards and it is frustrating as we have McGregor at right back and Faure on the bench. That simple change would really strengthen the backline and the team as a whole.

[The Spider]

I suspect that I will be a lone voice on here amongst Queens’ fans, with the vast majority revelling in last night’s turgid display from our once-mighty opponents, but as someone who believes that Scottish football overall benefits from having a strong Old Firm, I was actually quite depressed by what I witnessed last night. Perhaps the pitiful attendance was an indication of what to expect, with many absentees disillusioned by events both on and off the pitch, but I genuinely couldn’t believe how far Rangers have moved backwards during the last two years.

When we played you in the bottom league, you had a young mobile side who moved the ball about quickly, and who at times were streets ahead of us. However, at times last night and ignoring the different physicalities of the teams, it would have been difficult for a novice observer to tell which team was the amateur outfit. Queen’s are also a shadow of the side that we had two seasons ago, so many of us feared a right good pumping, but that never really looked to be on the cards.

Similar to what other spectators have posted already, three aspects of the game especially caught my attention:

1. midway through the first half, Queen’s won a free kick on the left touchline some 40 yards away from goal – given the vastly superior height advantage that Rangers enjoyed at the back, the sight of McCoist yelling at Boyd to retreat from the halfway line to your own area was farcical at worst and almost comical from a tactical standpoint as it left no-one up front at all.
2. with Queen’s playing a solitary striker, you had a flat back four sitting 10 yards inside your own half, who then played neat little passes between themselves and Law for long periods without ever crossing the halfway line – sorry that we spoiled your plans by not doing a Clyde and playing a pressing game to leave a huge gap behind our midfield for you to exploit, but was your contingency plan B really to then launch 40 yard arial passes towards Boyd in the hope that he would either head or chest them down to a team-mate? Boyd is a prolific goalscorer (as we saw) when facing goal, so why on earth would you be using him as an out and out target man (if you’re really that desperate then McCulloch does a better job of that)?
3. when I saw a team-sheet, I immediately noticed a lack of youth in your starting line-up, with Black, Shields and Templeton your likely “go-to” players if you were struggling – where have all your good young players gone, because when you do get back to the premier league do you really believe that McCulloch, Boyd & Miller are the guys that are going to keep you there?

No doubt there will be plenty of Rangers’/McCoist apologists who will use the astro-turf pitch / “a bad day at the office” / “well we won didn’t we” as excuses, but sorry guys, you’re clutching at straws. You put out your strongest-available side (many of whom are full internationalists) and deservedly won, but for long periods of the second half when your superior full time fitness should have helped you, you struggled against a team of amateurs, ten of whom made their debuts for us a month ago.

Queen’s made a decent job of making things difficult for you (unlike Clyde who were tactically very naïve), but we’re far from being an accomplished side at this level, and based on what they saw last night Inverness will be far more confident about their forthcoming trip to Ibrox than they ought to be at this stage in your four year plan for world domination.

[No8.]

I forgot about the Mohsni 'goal' and pictures have shown it was clearly over the line. The fact the QP defender was on the line and had to stretch his leg BACK to get the ball should have made the decision easier for the officials.

[QPSAFalkirkFirm]

Well, well, well. Two diametrically opposed views on the same series of events. Who'd have thought, eh?

Good luck to Rangers in the next round- I suspect you'll need it but as underdogs your players have the opportunity to flourish.

For QP - another brick in the wall. Let's hope the momentum is carried through on Saturday. As for Quinno scoring - I fully expect Dundee United to offer pre-contract terms within the next few days.

[houstonspider]

Reaction from the Rangers fans on this thread has been very interesting. Perhaps we expected too much of Rangers and the reason for a lack of objective comment is that Tuesday was a normal Rangers performance and the support have got used to mediocrity.

On some of the points made, I dont recall our woodwork being struck 3 times, I do recall Peralta executing an outrageous dive that should have got a yellow card, I do recall a really good penalty shout of ours being waved away and the linesman being well positioned for both the offside goal and the off the line.

Good luck to Rangers in the next round. Better hope more of their players are up for it than appeared to be the case for this game.

[forever_blue]

any sights of that mysterious "watp ftp" jumper wearer by anyone. I could not spot him anywhere

[54_and_counting]

• midway through the first half, Queen’s won a free kick on the left touchline some 40 yards away from goal – given the vastly superior height advantage that Rangers enjoyed at the back, the sight of McCoist yelling at Boyd to retreat from the halfway line to your own area was farcical at worst and almost comical from a tactical standpoint as it left no-one up front at all.
• with Queen’s playing a solitary striker, you had a flat back four sitting 10 yards inside your own half, who then played neat little passes between themselves and Law for long periods without ever crossing the halfway line – sorry that we spoiled your plans by not doing a Clyde and playing a pressing game to leave a huge gap behind our midfield for you to exploit, but was your contingency plan B really to then launch 40 yard arial passes towards Boyd in the hope that he would either head or chest them down to a team-mate? Boyd is a prolific goalscorer (as we saw) when facing goal, so why on earth would you be using him as an out and out target man (if you’re really that desperate then McCulloch does a better job of that)?
• when I saw a team-sheet, I immediately noticed a lack of youth in your starting line-up, with Black, Shields and Templeton your likely “go-to” players if you were struggling – where have all your good young players gone, because when you do get back to the premier league do you really believe that McCulloch, Boyd & Miller are the guys that are going to keep you there?

for 3 years ive wanted rid of the fucking clown, ive seen nothing in they 3 years to convince me that there is a manager in there somewhere wanting out

3 points above are part of a dossier that a lot of rangers fans have on mccoist and his unbelievable failings as manager

[houstonspider]

Aye, it is funny how things are seen from opposing camps, during the game I spied this from the two opposing twitter feeds.

Queen's Park's twitter:

14: Strong claims for a QP penalty waved away by referee Muir after Berry appeared to be felled inside the box.

Rangers Twitter:

'14 - YELLOW: Paul Woods is the first player into Alan Muir's book for a dive inside the #Rangers box. The Gers leading 1:0 through Boyd.

Yes in Woods case I thought it was a dive but interesting that the Gers twitter doesnt mention the incident second before when Berry appeared to be up ended.

Thought it interesting that Law got hooked towards the end. We suspected it was to avoid a sending off as having got booked earlier had started to commit some silly fouls.

[QPSAFalkirkFirm]

And they say Rangers get favouritism from refs

They've all switched to Clyde for some reason this season

[Anonymous Spider]

Poor poor stuff on and off the pitch from the the rangers.

Decent from the Spiders given how we thought it might go. Performance will give the boys a lift for rest of season.

[houstonspider]

Tactical naiivity shown by McCoist in the second period of the second half when it was clear the instruction was to break up our counters by fouling.

What he failed to realise was that by doing so he was giving us our best chance of an equaliser via a delivery into the Gers box from a free kick. It was unlikely we would score from open play.

[The Spider]

not often that you hear (read) the words "tactical" and "McCoist" in the same sentence, but all credit to Scotland's newest club for knocking Scotland's oldest one out of the cup

[thepundit]

Tactical naivety shown by McCoist in the second period of the second half when it was clear the instruction was to break up our counters by fouling.

Obviously McCoists tactic to prevent your team from scoring was not to give away silly free kicks allowing them to get balls into the box. It was the only way Rangers would concede a goal so why would he say that?

Also, he criticised the team for giving away as many fouls as they did in his post match interview.

But lets be honest, it was an easy match for Rangers and they never got out of first gear, nor did they have to. Your team were out on their feet after about 65 minutes and there was absolutely no chance Rangers were going to concede another goal.