High anxiety as champions blow hot and cold

McCoist will have to ''wheel and deal''. This is a euphemism for waiting until the Barclays Premier League and Championship clubs decide whether to buy his best players, then manage the consequences through loan deals or by buying the untested or the veteran half a yard short of pace but hopefully still capable of a shift.

The major conclusion after this victory over a depleted Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday is that McCoist's side are still vulnerable. Rangers could have won by five clear goals but the management team is aware that the visitors could also have snatched a draw.

The victory was achieved by dint of an own goal that was contrived in the most absurd manner and a penalty that was so soft it should have been accompanied by a gambolling Andrex puppy.

Rangers, though, were almost undone by a player operating on one leg. Joe Cardle scored a goal that owed much to his excellent technique but also to the gaps that can appear when the Rangers full-backs surge into attack and the team loses the ball. He also crossed in the second half to provide Andy Barrowman with an excellent opportunity to volley an equaliser. The Dunfermline striker missed, as did Paddy Boyle with a shot later from inside the area and Alex Keddie with a free header from a corner with two minutes to play.

Cardle, who this week faces a steroid injection to address chronic tendinitis in his knee, was taken off after 68 minutes as his lack of training told. However, he left an indelible message: Rangers are not as impregnable in defence as earlier in the season suggested.

The Ibrox side, too, seem to find it strangely difficult to score goals. The first 30 minutes only needed Michael Caine in pith helmet and on horseback patrolling the Dunfermline lines to invoke direct comparisons with Zulu.

Yet Rangers' two-goal lead was achieved when Keddie could not avoid Paul Gallacher's attempt to clear a pass back from John Potter, before referee Steve Conroy awarded a harsh penalty; Sone Aluko going to ground with Gary Mason in attendance.

The penalty, which Jim McIntyre, the Dunfermline manager, called a "disgrace of a decision", will, as early as today, be investigated by the SFA's compliance officer, Vincent Lunny. The charge that Aluko dived to win the spot kick can be dealt with under the association's fast-track procedures.

Nikica Jelavic scored from the spot, which was the only way the Croatian striker was going to hit the back of the net on Saturday. He regularly missed with head and foot, straining the patience of some Rangers fans who believe that the striker's mind may be elsewhere, most particularly in England.

Jelavic was once a regular solution for Rangers but now poses something of a problem. With Steven Naismith and Davis, he forms the triumvirate of excellent players in the side. However, McCoist may be forced to sell him if, as anticipated, a reasonable bid is lodged. The striker has a good scoring record, an excellent technique and the ability to play up-front alone. There will be no shortage of suitors for his services.

McCoist would then be left with a strike force that comprised Kyle Lafferty. One wonders if any sale of Jelavic could be assuaged by a loan move for David Goodwillie of Blackburn Rovers.

The Rangers manager has already addressed the lack of invention in his side by bringing in Aluko, man of the match on Saturday, persevering with the raw but potentially dangerous Gregg Wylde and introducing such as Thomas Bendiksen, who has been offered a long-term contract.

All offered degrees of hope against Dunfermline. Aluko has the ability to cause apprehension in defensive ranks with his pace and ability on the ball, while Wylde has an impressive burst of pace but, at 20, has still to perfect his crossing. Bendiksen was bright and busy behind Jelavic but did not give the impression of being a prolific goalscorer, at least at the moment.

Dunfermline, stricken by injury and overcome by early caution, were almost overwhelmed early on, but endured to stretch Rangers.

McCoist, whether through injury, suspension or transfers, faces a more consistent stretch on his team's resources over the remainder of the season.

It was once the prerogative of a Rangers manager to emerge from any transfer window with a couple of expensive signings and the rational expectation of therefore having improved the side.

McCoist, by contrast, may come out of the transfer season with a weaker squad in terms of quality. One suspects he is braced for such a possibility and may have to be creative in how he shapes his team for the second half of the season.

This talent may be the crucial factor in adapting a handsome lead in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League into a title victory.