THEY failed to contain him and they weren't able to mess with his head, either.

Hibernian did their best to live with Nikica Jelavic at Easter Road but when a striker worth several million pounds is involved in an otherwise characterless and level Clydesdale Bank Premier League match it's pretty likely that he'll be the one who changes things.

There wasn't much evidence that Rangers were going to win in Leith until another penalty came their way after a boring hour. Up stepped Jelavic. It was a big moment in the day. There was a little delay before he was allowed to take his kick and Sean O'Hanlon walked over to whisper in his ear. The big English centre-half, who had decent game, tries to put any penalty-taker off if he can get away with it.

"You want to try and get into their heads," he explained. "It has worked a couple of times over the years. I just told him to make sure he kept the shot down because it was going to go over the bar." He might as well have been mute and invisible: Jelavic did not react, buried the penalty, and then raced away to celebrate with the Rangers fans.

A hot head would have looked for O'Hanlon at some point after scoring but Jelavic paid him no attention. It is an aspect of Rangers' leading scorer which is rarely commented upon. His finishing, strength and range of skills are often praised but his temperament is composed too. He's a cool customer. It's easy to believe the renewed reports that Liverpool want to buy him next month.

When he headed in his 14th goal of the season from a Gregg Wylde corner, Rangers were home and dry. A laboured performance, better in the second half but drab until then, saw them locked in a grinding midfield battle from which the ball rarely emerged near either goal.

You know what you're in for from a midfield including Lee McCulloch, Maurice Edu and Kyle Bartley. They're athletic, powerful and uncompromising, but it's not going to be pretty. Without Steven Naismith, Sone Aluko and, to a lesser extent, Kyle Lafferty, Rangers are short of creativity or unpredictability. Saturday was another example of them struggling to create chances against a team which generally did well at closing them down, but because Rangers keep clean sheets of their own they have the foundation to win a game even from one or two chances.

Hibs mucked up the game's first real chance when Lee Wallace made a mess of intercepting an Ivan Sproule cutback and the ball came to Leigh Griffiths in front of goal. His shot straight at Allan McGregor was dreadful.

Had that fallen to Jelavic it would have been a goal. "He's a goalscorer and that's why so many people want him," said Carlos Bocanegra, the Rangers defender. "But he's a big part of our team." Had Jelavic confided in him about whether or not he would leave? "It's not something you want to ask about, you know? It's his business. Obviously he's been scoring goals like this for a while so he's going to be a target. He's been fantastic for us but you can't really worry about that now. He's a fantastic player . . . and this will be the last time I talk about him moving."

Over the next 24 hours or so the Scottish Football Association will doubtless study footage of Griffiths making, well, let's call it an "up yours" gesture to the Rangers support near the end of the first half. "If he has done it then you can't condone it and we will make sure we sort it out," said Pat Fenlon, the Hibs manager, who had not seen the incident. Time will tell whether the SFA deem it worthy of their involvement, although they might decide that it was no big deal.

The Rangers fans were up in arms about it for a while and weren't slow to give the Hibs striker similar gestures in return. In general, if they hadn't been making a racket Easter Road would have been depressingly quiet yet again. O'Hanlon even credited them with influencing referee Iain Brines into giving the penalty, and he sounded envious rather than critical.

Michael Hart and Lee Wallace linked arms in the box and the Rangers man went down. It was a cheap foul to give away. "There was contact," said O'Hanlon. He felt Wallace had not dived but had been clever. "The pair of them are trying to shield the ball and he [Wallace] has been clever. The Rangers fans are all screaming so the ref has given the penalty. The Rangers fans are brilliant for doing that and putting pressure on referees. That's why it is so important to have a good following and that's why they call it a 12th man. I think they, maybe, helped the ref with the decision." Hart was at fault at the second goal, too, as he lost Jelavic just before his header.

Given that it was Fenlon's first home match the turnout of Hibs fans was poor. Their supporters are deeply unimpressed these days and that vast new East Stand, with its thousands of empty seats even when one of the Old Firm is in town, almost seems to mock the club. Fenlon will get the chance to show what he's made of but he will have to do so without the expectation or bounce that normally comes when a new manager is appointed. His first 90 minutes in charge saw them drop to joint bottom of the league.