Dundee United 2 Rangers 1: Doomsday awaits as McCoist's men are punished

Sports Writer

Sunday 18 March 2012

THE phrase doomsday scenario has acquired a wholly different meaning for Rangers fans this season, but it is still a pretty fair description of how most supporters of the Ibrox club, not to mention Strathclyde Police, might view their Old Firm rivals travelling across the city to clinch the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table on their patch next Sunday.

Dundee United's Keith Watson is congratulated after scoring Photograph: SNS

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Stewart Fisher

Such an eventuality has occurred only twice in the history of Scottish football, back in 1902 and 1967, and although the equation still relies upon Motherwell dropping points beforehand, the possibility of Neil Lennon's side completing the hat-trick in a week's time remains a live one.

As admirable as Rangers first-team playing squad were in agreeing wage cuts of up to 75%, that post-administration bounce experienced by so many clubs remains elusive at Ibrox. Rangers have now lost three of their four matches since going into administration and, although they were slightly unfortunate to come away with nothing yesterday, in terms of results it is hard to imagine how things could have been much worse had administrators opted instead for a mass cull of redundancies. Ally McCoist's preparations for Sunday could be disrupted somewhat by negotiations with one of a number of potential new owners, but the Rangers manager wasn't exactly throwing in the towel last night. "I have never been scared of an Old Firm game in my life and I am not going to start now," McCoist said. "We certainly have players that can win the game. The game, without stating the obvious, is a very important match. "But the future of the club, is more important, no argument about it. Hopefully I can do both. I certainly intend to do both." McCoist named a starting line-up which even many of the club's sizeable travelling support must have struggled to recognise. Shorn of Carlos Bocanegra and Dorin Goian due to suspension, and with Kyle Bartley, Kirk Broadfoot, Sasa Papac, Kyle Lafferty, Steven Naismith and Jamie Ness all out due to injury, McCoist surprisingly left Sone Aluko and David Healy on the bench and brought in Northern Ireland Under-21 player Andrew Mitchell for a debut. Even so, he still had the luxury of naming seven full internationals, with another three on his five-man bench.United had performed creditably in the opening half-hour against Celtic last week even in defeat, but they initially appeared out of sorts yesterday against this unfamiliar Rangers line-up. Lone striker Andy Little fed his countryman Steven Davis to sting the palms of Dusan Pernis, then Davis nicked possession in a dangerous area and played a through pass which Salim Kerkar really should have latched onto. Fortunately for United, a bolt from the blue soon arrived. Gary Mackay-Steven levered over a corner which was only partially cleared and right-back Keith Watson met the ball flush with a volley from 20 yards which Allan McGregor couldn't keep out of his top corner. Little almost came up with an immediate equaliser, but his close-range effort was stabbed over. Within two minutes of the restart, Rangers had a mountain to climb. Mackay-Steven skipped past auxiliary right-back Rhys McCabe and speared over a tantalising delivery, and Daly rammed his 18th of the season over the line from close range.The visitors brought on Aluko and the Nigerian international had an instant impact. He made a yard out wide and clipped in a chip which was heading into the danger area before it struck John Rankin and spun inadvertantly into Pernis's bottom corner. There was a lot of youthful enthusiasm and vigour before the end but the closest Rangers came was a snap effort from Little in the dying seconds which flew narrowly over. The win kept United – theoretically at least – in the hunt to take second place and a Champions League finish. Peter Houston afterwards told his players "to stop shaking their heads" about the standard of their performance, although his delight at the three points was tempered by the news that Scott Severin had been forced to retire from football on doctors' advice after years of ankle problems. "It is a huge dampener for me personally because I have known Scott since I was his youth coach at Hearts," said Houston, who has enlisted the player for some first-team coaching duties. So Rangers must rely upon Motherwell if their own doomsday scenario is not to unfold next Sunday.

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Dundee United 2 Rangers 1: Doomsday awaits as McCoist's men are punished

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