Darren McGregor's clearing header to deny Sean Higgins the chance to register an undeserved equaliser was vital in terms of how this Championship encounter ended.
Darren McGregor's clearing header to deny Sean Higgins the chance to register an undeserved equaliser was vital in terms of how this Championship encounter ended. It was fitting not least because a home win was the only fair outcome and few could be better placed to put in proper context what it is that confronts the Rangers defender and his colleagues.
Recovering from THAT defeat at Alloa last week may have been tough but as tough as coming back from one career threatening anterior cruciate ligament rip only to suffer another?
As for any question of it having been tough to contemplate returning to work, McGregor needed only to recall his days folding jeans in a clothes shop when he could only dream of playing for Rangers.
This is a player, too, whose senior professional career began relatively ignominiously with a couple of spells at Saturday??s opponents, either side of one in junior football at the wee-er than wee Rangers . . . the Arniston variety.
There have, then, been darker days than were faced last week by someone who, as he was entering his 30th year this summer, was given the opportunity to help one of the country??s biggest clubs reclaim their status in the top division.
None of which should be taken to suggest McGregor was in any way down-playing the significance of last week??s exit from a competition that Rangers and their supporters once thought they would never contest. He has done his share of soul-searching.
??It has been terrible,?? he said bluntly.
??From a personal point of view I thought I could have done better in certain situations. I beat myself up about that.
??It lasted until Friday before I started to feel a bit better about myself. I told myself I needed to get over it.
??It is inexcusable and there is no point making excuses. All the boys know it is not acceptable.
??It is probably the lowest I have felt in football, if you take away my two cruciate operations.
??In the circumstances it was really hard to take, but, you need to use it as fuel because you never want to feel like that again.
??We had a meeting afterwards and the slate is wiped clean in that regard.
??We can??t let it affect us from here on in.??
The first task, then, was achieved and he fully understood how Cowdenbeath, whose boss Jimmy Nicholl, was rightly unapologetic for having sent his players out to frustrate his former club, had gone about their business.
????I have seen both signs of the coin. It would be hypocritical of me to say Cowdenbeath should come here and play open, attacking football,?? McGregor observed.
??The stuck to their strengths and fair play to them. It is up to us break them down.??
Ultimately Rangers did so thanks to the 58th minute moment which saw the ever willing Kenny Miller use his head to best effect, both in terms of having the vision to identify opportunity and sufficient skill to utilise it in offering Dean Shiels the opportunity which proved decisive.
Whether Nat Wedderburn??s attempted intervention ultimately diverted a ball that was missing into the goal or merely prevented it from doing so was neither here nor there as far as Miller, Shiels, McGregor et al were concerned.
Once that solitary moment of alarm was subsequently dealt with the three points required had been secured and Rangers can now re-focus upon what looks like a two-horse Championship race when Hearts?? win over third-placed Queen of the South is aligned with fourth-placed Hibs?? defeat at Falkirk.
Of course there was unhappiness around the place before, during and after, then, but again over to McGregor for a bit of perspective.
??I don??t think it will be remembered as a great game,?? he said, employing sublime under-statement.
??However it was important after Wednesday to get a positive result.
??A neutral wouldn??t have enjoyed it but we are delighted to keep a clean sheet, get three points and rectify what has been a poor week.
??We would rather have scored a few more. The fans pay their money and they expect good football. We always go out to try and fulfil that but sometimes it doesn??t work out that way.
??You hear them [the boos] and you are aware of them, but, you just try to do your job and keep believing in yourself and the guys up front. If we let it affect us them it wouldn??t be good for the football club.
??You can understand why they would be booing after a result like that on Wednesday so it is justified. We have to turn the tide, put in good performances and bring the crowds back.
??I??ve been booed all my life,?? McGregor went on, with a wry smile.
??It is magnified at Rangers because there are more people in the stadium and it is more intense... but if you perform and win games they will disappear.??
The boos that is, of course. Not even more of the supporters.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article