JONATAN Johansson, the former Rangers striker, last night backed Mark Warburton, the Ibrox club’s manager, over his stubborn refusal to adopt a more direct style of play.
Warburton’s team has only netted eight times in the Ladbrokes Premiership this season and are in seventh spot in the table after losing 2-1 to Aberdeen on Sunday.
Only Ross County and bottom-placed Partick Thistle have hit the target on fewer occasions in the top flight than Rangers so far in the 2016/17 campaign.
Read more: Jonatan Johansson: Joe Garner will come good at Rangers - when he adapts to life at Ibrox
In addition, the Glasgow club have scored from open play just once in their last three league games – Joe Garner netted a header in the 5-1 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead earlier this month.
Many Rangers supporters would like to see Warburton, who remarked last season that his Plan B was “to do Plan A better”, switch to route one football at times.
Read more: Jonatan Johansson: Joe Garner will come good at Rangers - when he adapts to life at Ibrox
But Johannsson, the Finnish internationalist who played at Ibrox in the Nine-In-A-Row and Dick Advocaat eras, believes goals will come if the Englishman keeps faith his system.
“Rangers have only scored eight goals in seven games in the Premiership which is obviously not enough for a club of their size,” he said.
“Everybody has been jumping on Rangers, but I think that it is harsh to judge them after just seven games of the season. The tactics worked well last season and will again.
“The Rangers strikers are good enough to start scoring goals. It comes down to one thing – not getting frustrated about it.
“After being away from the top flight for so many years it was never going to be smooth sailing. They have only played seven games.”
Johansson added: “Every manager has a philosophy, a way he wants his team to play. Mark wants his team to play from the back, retain possession and produce nice football.
“It also has a lot to do with the personnel you have available. He might not be able to swap it around with the players that he has.
“The tactics worked really well last year. This year they have been playing really nice football, but just not scoring. But it would be wrong to make drastic changes.
“The important thing is not to panic and change stuff. I don’t believe in that theory. It has a lot to do with your personnel.
Read more: Jonatan Johansson: Joe Garner will come good at Rangers - when he adapts to life at Ibrox
“You have to look at the players and the strikers. I don’t think playing a long ball game would suit anybody. The way the full-backs and the wingers interact worked well against Aberdeen.”
Johansson believes the return to fitness of Martyn Waghorn, who was the Ibrox club’s leading scorer last season with 28 goals, will help Rangers up front.
“It was great to see Martyn Waghorn getting a hat-trick in the Betfred Cup against Queen of the South South last week,” he said. “He has struggled with injury this season. It will help them having him back.”
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