RANGERS....1
DUNFERMLINE....1
AS they sample the winter
sunshine and luxury of Marbella this week, some Rangers players must quickly realise a fact of
footballing life - the premier
division championship is never won easily.
Manager Walter Smith knows it, club captain Richard Gough knows it. They have both been over the course so many times before.
However, they must convey to the rest of the Ibrox people that winning the Scottish champion-ship requires more than a stroll on the park.
On Saturday, Rangers looked like a side who expected nothing less than a convincing victory over Dunfermline, whom they had hammered 7-0 on the last occasion the Fifers visited Ibrox.
That attitude came horribly unstuck when Rangers failed to get themselves into
top gear and realised too late they had
contributed to Dunfermline's game-plan.
Bert Paton's side proved they had learned a lesson from that early season drubbing at Ibrox when they drew 0-0 at East End Park just before Christmas and, on Saturday, they were superb again in their plan to stop Rangers playing.
Rangers, it appears, have not learned any lessons, which is why this week's trip to the south of Spain will be all about working towards putting their
ship
on an even keel rather than rest and recreation.
The big stick should be
wielded, because in a performance that was slightly less
energetic than a normal training kickabout, Rangers were conned into playing the game at a pace totally dictated by Dunfermline.
I don't blame the East End Park side for what was a bore of a match. The onus was on the multi-million pound side from Glasgow to set off some kind of
spark,
and they didn't do it.
Afterwards, Gough said: ''There are slight chinks in our armour at the moment and since I came back we have only played really well in three or four
matches.
''We have to concentrate on regaining consistency and we can't afford many
more
slip-ups.
''I believe we have the best squad of players in the league, but we have to stand up and be
counted and show some character. It takes more than ability to win the championship.
''But as long as we are still up there with six games to go we will be hard to
beat.''
Rangers looked to have clinched all three points when they scored in 73
minutes.
Jorg Albertz swung over a
corner and when Gregg Shields cleared Marco Negri's effort off the line,
Sergio
Porrini came charging in to head home.
As Dunfermline had previously had only one shot on target, no-one really expected them to come back.
But, as the match moved into injury time, they won a free kick and, when Andy Smith's close-range shot was charged down by Anti Niemi, the Rangers defence was slow to react and substitute Harry Curran blasted in the equaliser for his
first goal of the season.
Dunfermline assistant manager Dick Campbell said afterwards: ''At least I'm
not
crawling into the press conference like I did back in October. We've had that
7-0 defeat rubbed in our faces - and quite rightly so - but, as you can see, we've learned from that.
''There was tremendous
pressure on our lads today. We are well aware of the fact that we don't have the best squad in the league in terms of quality, but good organisation and great spirit got them this result.
''We set out a game plan to let them have the ball and try to hit them on the break, and although we didn't plan to lose a goal we have no complaints with anyone.''
Complaints were what the Rangers fans had. No-one in their side seemed
prepared
to take responsibility at the sharp end. The pattern remained the same throughout - a slow build-up with passes being spread across the pitch until Rangers reached the Dunfermline penalty area where one of the Fifers thumped the ball back up the field and the whole process began again.
Paul Gascoigne's meagre contribution was a disappointment. There were
certainly
neat little touches and the odd piece of trickery, but what was needed were those strong, incisive runs which send a shudder of horror among defenders. They just weren't there.
Brian Laudrup played only in fits and starts, Rino Gattuso looked busy without
seeming to do too much that was positive, and Tony Vidmar was unhappy with his
role wide on the right.
Said Walter Smith: ''It was very disappointing to lose two points in a game in
which we had 99 per cent of the territorial advantage. Dunfermline defended very well, but after we got ourselves into a winning situation we didn't
defend
well enough at a free-kick and lost a goal because of it.''
Next league games: Rangers - Hibernian (a). Dunfermline - Dundee United (h).
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