Forget Diomande And Raskin: Rangers Must Axe ‘Disastrous’ Star And Buy Replacement In January fans demanding
Forget Diomande And Raskin: Rangers Must Axe ‘Disastrous’ Star And Buy Replacement In January
Rangers’ clash against Hearts on Sunday afternoon proved exactly why Danny Rohl needs to strengthen one key position in January. The Gers fell to a 2-1 defeat against the Jambos at Tynecastle in a costly blow for their Scottish Premiership title hopes. It means that the Glaswegian side are now 12 points behind Hearts, albeit with a game more to play.
A number of players failed to impress in Edinburgh, most notably en Mohamed Diomande and Nico Raskin, who left fans hugely frustrated with their ’empty jersey’ display. However, the afternoon was even worse for one star who endured an afternoon to forget.
Jack Butland Lets Rangers Down Again
While he wasn’t the only poor performer at Tynecastle, Jack Butland played a huge part in Rangers’ defeat against Hearts. With the Gers already 1-0 down, Butland endured a moment to forget as he allowed a Lawrence Shankland effort from a tight angle to squeeze through his arms and into the back of the net.
Jonny McFarlane, Head Of Sport at Newsquest Scotland, took to X after the incident and said: “Butland, no matter how well he’s playing, will always make three or four howlers a season. That’s a huge mistake at his near post to let that Shankland shot through him.”
In 90 minutes, Butland made just three saves, conceding two goals and was directly responsible for one goal. He completed just 64% of his passes and just 22% of his attempted long balls.
Rangers Need A Goalkeeping Upgrade
After Let’s Talk Rangers described his display as a ‘disaster’, Butland could find himself increasingly vulnerable at Ibrox. While he’s been a reasonably consistent performer at Ibrox this term, the 32-year-old has also been responsible for a number of errors that haven’t aided Rangers’ cause in the slightest.
While bolstering their outfield options may seem like a priority, a new goalkeeper would breed newfound confidence into a team who look way off the pace at the moment.
Sitting 12 points behind league leaders Hearts now, it seems like a tall order for Rangers to push themselves back into title contention, particularly given their inconsistent form. If they can enjoy a strong January transfer window, they may find themselves in a position where they’re able to compete again next term.
Hearts defeated Rangers 2-1 at Tynecastle to tighten their grip on top spot and dent the visitors’ hopes of forcing their way into the Scottish Premiership title race.
Danny Rohl’s side arrived in Edinburgh buoyed by an 11-game unbeaten run in the league, but they were undone by first-half goals from Stuart Findlay and captain Lawrence Shankland before Youssef Chermiti’s stoppage-time consolation.
Hearts have now won all four of their matches against Celtic and Rangers this season as their quest to end the Glasgow giants’ 40-year monopoly of the Scottish top flight continues to gather pace.
Derek McInnes’ side, already assured of being the first non-Old Firm side to top the table on Christmas Day since 1993, made two changes in their defence as the injured Craig Halkett and suspended Harry Milne were replaced by Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley.
Gers – unbeaten in the league since losing at home to Hearts in mid-September – made three changes to the team that started Monday’s win over Hibernian as Nasser Djiga, Chermiti and Findlay Curtis made way for James Tavernier, Nico Raskin and Bojan Miovski.
After a scrappy opening 10 minutes, the Ibrox men thought they had taken the lead when Emmanuel Fernandez’s header from a James Tavernier corner was touched over the line by Miovski, but the North Macedonia forward was deemed to have stepped offside following a lengthy VAR check.
