Rangers receive 'a hiding' but steal the points. Iron curtain defence keeps Aberdeen at bay

at the after-match press conference at Pittodrie on how we should report

the game.

No-one, not even the most committed Rangers supporter, would have said

anything other than that the Ibrox side were fortunate to return to

Ibrox with all three points.

But there was a salient point for the rest of the premier division

clubs, and for his own club, too, that Aitken didn't mention as he

talked of how his team had given Rangers ''a hiding.''

This was a patched-up Ibrox side, with five first-choice players

missing from the starting line-up, two more playing while carrying

nagging injuries, and another forced back into action after an injury

lay-off without the benefit of a run in the reserves.

And, yet, Rangers won the game and remained at the top of the table,

pushing Aberdeen further behind them.

That they could do this without major stars is a problem for the rest

of Scottish football. Aberdeen, in contrast, had been unchanged for nine

games and, therefore, were able to benefit from a continuity of

selection.

This, of course, remains the problem for the Ibrox team and for

manager Walter Smith. No sooner do they get one player back than another

limps out of the campaign.

After the game, midfielder Stuart McCall, whose tigerish tackling and

non-stop running made him one of Rangers' most effective players at

Aberdeen, pointed out the problems his side have faced.

''If you take a look at the defence, where there have been fewer

changes than in the rest of the team, then you can see the benefit of

continuity,'' he said. ''Our defence has been the most effective part of

the team, especially in recent games, while, middle to front, we have

been struggling a little because of the changes we have been forced to

make in these areas.

''Aberdeen have had nine or 10 games unchanged -- I wish we had had

that luxury. If so, then our performance today would have been so much

better. I don't think any of us were particularly happy with the way we

played but the result was tremendous.

''The manager doesn't look too far ahead when he is looking at the

league programme. However, there are times when he sets us three-game

targets, and he did that last week. He spoke to us before we went to

Celtic Park about the importance of the games against Celtic,

Motherwell, and Aberdeen -- with two of them away from home. So, at the

end of that test, we have come out with maximum points. Yet, before this

game we might have settled for a draw with the position we found

ourselves in.''

McCall then praised the performances of the defence this season. He

said: ''We had another clean sheet today and that is down to the way the

lads at the back are playing. Richard Gough has been so consistent and

Gordan Petric and Alan McLaren have been solid alongside him. Then we

have the best goalkeeper in Europe -- Andy Goram -- behind them.

''Andy had one superb save in the second half from Eoin Jess, but that

is what we have come to expect from him.''

The goal which decided the match came from second-half substitute

Craig Moore following a free kick from McCall. The midfielder's curling

kick eluded Petric and Gough as well as the Aberdeen defence and Moore

was there, lurking at the far post, to bend low and head the ball over

the line.

In the remaining 11 minutes Aberdeen did their best to save the game

but, as McCall indicated, they ran into this new Iron Curtain defence

that Rangers have constructed.

Afterwards, when Aitken had finished instructing us on how the various

reports should be written, he declared: ''I'm obviously disappointed

with the result. I would have to be, after the hiding we gave Rangers

this afternoon.

''Football is a cruel game, as my players found out today, but if we

continue to give performances like that then we will win a fair

percentage of our games and will be in there challenging at the end of

the season.''

Certainly, there is no comparison between the Aberdeen of this season

and the disorganised and disgruntled group of players Aitken took over

early this year when they were favourites to be relegated to the first

division.

However, if they are to challenge then they may have to add some of

the grit McCall gives Rangers in midfield, and they must win games like

these when the opportunity presents itself, as it did on Saturday.

The weakened champions would happily have settled for a draw and, when

they are this vulnerable, then teams with title ambitions must kill them

off.

It is the one hope they have of stopping the Ibrox juggernaut.