WELL, you couldn’t blame the pitch for this. Then again, after a pedestrian, uninspiring Rangers display that lacked gumption and verve, Steven Gerrard may just call for grass pitches to be banned after a glum stalemate.
He didn’t, of course, and the Rangers manager was quietly withering in his honest, no excuses assessment of his troops.
READ MORE: Rangers 0-0 St Johnstone: Steven Gerrard's side held to costly Ibrox stalemate
The St Johnstone players, meanwhile, sported beams as wide as the Squinty Brig’ as they ended a run of five successive defeats and departed Ibrox with a thoroughly deserved point.
It could’ve been better as Blair Alston was thwarted by the woodwork and Joe Shaughnessy was denied by a fine Wes Foderingham save.
Rangers, too, had their chances, but they appeared to be a blunted force. They had numerous shots on goal but just the one on target. Tommy Wright’s observation in the aftermath was telling. “I’ve had afternoon’s here when we had tin hats on but that wasn’t the case today,” said the St Johnstone manager as his side comfortably kept Rangers at bay.
Without the spark and clinical edge of Alfredo Morelos, Rangers stuttered and stumbled in their futile search for inspiration and incisiveness. Poor old Jermain Defoe ploughed a dismal furrow up front and was given the kind of pitiful service that draws damning reviews of a restaurant on Tripadvisor.
READ MORE: Kilmarnock will be ready to make most of Celtic's away-day European hangover
The fare was pretty unpalatable for those of a Rangers persuasion and a Celtic win at Kilmarnock today would put the champions eight points clear and push them on their merry way to another domestic crown. “Right now forget titles and forget closing gaps,” said Gerrard bluntly when asked about his team’s faltering title tilt.
The opening period was a largely tousy affair which was short of finesse and flair. St Johnstone managed to get in behind the Rangers backline a couple of times which caused some crotchety grumbles from the stands while the hosts engineered one or two opportunities which provoked gasps and hollers of a more rousing nature. Daniel Candeias thrashed one over the postage stamp after being teed-up by Ryan Kent while Connor Goldson’s towering header had plenty of oomph in it but it was straight at Cammy Bell.
Despite these morsels of activity, the proceedings were largely turgid. Both sides were guilty of hopeful punts and misplaced basics which made the spectacle about as alluring as an abandoned shopping trolley in the shallows of the Clyde. Defoe’s fresh air swipe at a cross into the box summed up the general scene.
Glen Kamara tried his best to inspire with an energetic start to his Rangers debut but his bursts of industry and artistry were lost amid the morass of mediocrity which had set in at Ibrox.
As half time approached, the visitors, who may not have been dazzling but were certainly dogged, engineered a couple of chances for themselves. Chris Kane’s prod was saved by Foderingham before Matthew Kennedy clattered a volley over the top.
And that was that as far as the first 45 minutes were concerned. Even the half-hearted boos that greeted the whistle sounded more relieved than brassed-off.
The Rangers Under-17 squad which had won the Al Kass International Cup were jubilantly paraded at half-time. The way things were going for the senior outfit, you half-expected Gerrard to bolt out of the tunnel and say to one of the young 'uns, ‘get your boots, son, you’re on’.
There wasn’t a heck of a lot of improvement after the break. Rangers had plenty of the ball but simply couldn’t do much with it. Candeias certainly should have done something with an opportunity that fell his way after the hour but he thumped his shot into the stand instead of the net against a backdrop of howling, growling profanities.
At the other end, Scott Tanser must have provoked similar hissing and cursings in the St Johnstone ranks when he was sent scampering into the box. Instead of angling a low ball across the face of the goal, though, his composure deserted him and he sliced it high and hopelessly out of play. It was a fine chance spurned but the Saints carved out another not long after as Shaughnessy met a free-kick with his head only for Foderingham to spring to his left and brilliantly palm the ball to safety.
The Rangers custodian couldn’t do much on 78 minutes as St Johnstone, in the midst of their best spell of the match, were denied by the woodwork. Alston won the chase for the ball and lifted it over Foderingham only for it to rattle the bar and bounce back into the Rangers’ keeper’s grateful clutches.
St Johnstone’s previous visit to Glasgow the other week ended in a 5-0 walloping in the cup from Celtic. This was a commendable response which reaped the rewards. They could’ve been greater than the one point. “Nobody would’ve given us a cat in hell’s chance after losing 5-0 to Celtic but we believed,” added Wright. “They showed great character to lose five to Celtic and come here in their next game and almost win the game.”
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