PERHAPS he genuinely didn’t think it was good enough. More likely he wanted to convey the impression to his players that, no matter how well they performed, he would always want more from them. Whatever the motivating favour, it has certainly had the desired effect.
The occasion was the aftermath of Mark Warburton’s first competitive match in charge of Rangers. His team had just beaten Hibernian 6-2 in the Petrofac Training Cup, a real marker against a side who would be their main rivals in the league. Warburton, though, was not for doling out the high fives and patting his players on the back for a job well done. Perhaps to their surprise, their new manager instead labelled the first-half display as “not good enough” and felt it deserved no greater than “four out of 10”.
It was something that has stuck in the mind of Lee Wallace. As Rangers prepare to return to Easter Road for a match that could prove hugely significant in the league campaign – a Hibs win reduces the gap to five points, an away win would see Rangers streak 11 points clear – the club captain recalls that as the moment when the players realised that this was a manager who would not settle for second best. Aside from a League Cup cuffing by Premiership side St Johnstone, Rangers have won every match since.
“We certainly knew the manager’s demands and the standards throughout training from the first time he spoke to us in the meeting room,” revealed Wallace. “But at that game - the fact we went to Easter Road, scored six goals and advanced in the Cup - it was great, really pleasing, that that was the mindset of the manager afterwards. I remember he actually gave us a four out of 10 in terms of the performance.
“I think that attitude has stuck ever since that moment. So it’s great for us that there cannot ever be a moment– whether it’s in a warm-up in training, a pattern of play, a small-sided game, doing our rehab or up in the kitchens - where we dip our professionalism or performance. That is set by the manager and his standards.”
Warburton reiterated just why that is significant. “We’re not shouters and screamers but if players aren’t doing what we want them to do then we don’t pick them. They wouldn’t expect to be picked. The moment we start doing that and showing a weakness as a group of players or staff then we will be on a downward spiral. Our job is to maintain the highest levels of standard and be better every day. And it sounds really corny and basic but it’s true. The best things are the simple things. And we need to make them better every day.”
This afternoon’s encounter at Easter Road should be a crackling, intense atmosphere, not too dissimilar to when the teams met in the play-offs at the end of last season. Wallace, as a former Hearts player, will get it in the neck more than most.
“We’ve been to Easter Road in play-off and Championship games and I know as an ex-Hearts player it can be a fiery atmosphere,” he added. “It’s up there with the old Edinburgh derby atmospheres as well. The norm is to come in for abuse from the home support and it will be intense because Hibs will be wanting to win the game at all costs. We’re just looking at calmness and composure in our play, fully believing that if we do what we do best to the best of our ability then we’ll certainly have a good chance of winning the game. But Hibs’ form is good, they have individuals that can hurt us if we’re not at our usual standard.”
At the start of the season Wallace and James Tavernier, the Rangers full-backs, spent as much time in the opposition penalty box spent as they did their own. The opposition, though, have soon learnt to block off that mode of attack, denying Rangers space in the wider areas, and Wallace admits it has represented a new challenge.
“We’ve not been winning by four and five in the last few games, the margins have been narrower. We’ve had to face different opponent shapes. But we’re well guarded against counter attacks. We know that's a potential game plan for other teams, home or away, to deep block defensively with two banks of four and look to counter. So effectively we’re in the mindset to counter the counter.”
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