FOR once a Rangers statement which was delivered on the pitch and not in the newspapers.
The Joey Barton rumpus may still have some time to run but this articulate riposte from the remainder of the Ibrox dressing room suggests tearing up the Scouser's contract would be a blessing rather than a curse.
Okay, so last night's opponents Queen of the South reside in the Championship rather than the Premiership, albeit at the very top, but by the end of this match Rangers were rampant.
Read more: Warburton: Rangers ready now for challenge of first trip to Pittodrie for five years
On a night they moved into the last four - beating Celtic into the BetFred Cup semi-finals - somehow it was entirely fitting that all three of the night's goalscorers should have been omitted or unavailable for the starting line-up for the Old Firm mauling at Parkhead.
While Jason Holt got Rangers up and running, and Martyn Waghorn bagged both the man of the match award and a second-half hat-trick, perhaps the biggest cheer was reserved for captain-for-the-night and Barton's apparent nemesis Andy Halliday, who marked a fine individual display with a fine goal of his own.
Queens arrived at Ibrox as the surprise package of Scotland's second tier, an outfit with some serious form for sticking the boot into the Ibrox side. The Doonhamers had proved stubborn opponents to Ally McCoist-era Rangers, and manager Gavin Skelton brought a team which was unbeaten in the league so far, with former Rangers striker Stephen Dobbie up front, the former Swansea City man having helped himself to nine goals in eight matches so far this season.
If the latest lurid revelations in the Barton saga made him the name on everyone's lips, Mark Warburton knew that he too needed a big result to get the critics of his back. This was also a riposte from him, not least to Chris Sutton, a man who previously said the 'job was too big for the Englishman' and inferred that he was two games away from the sack. He shuffled the pack after the goalless draw against Ross County at the weekend, bringing in Matt Gillks, Lee Hodson, Michael O'Halloran and Harry Forrester, while Josh Windass succumbed to an injury in the warm-up, his place being taken by Niko Kranjcar.
This would turn into the kind of match where Kranjcar could strut his stuff, but for much of that first period Rangers were passing the ball around in front of their well-organised visitors, who were using the pace of Dale Hilson down the left to mount counter thrusts.
It was the kind of cagey, tentative opening half-hour from the home side which might have led to fears of a repeat of Saturday's stalemate but that all changed when the opening goal went in. O'Halloran has been a forgotten man in this Rangers side this season but he managed to squeeze a ball across goal, and found Holt getting in where it hurts. The former Hearts midfielder stuck out a foot and diverted the ball in at the near post.
Read more: Warburton: Rangers ready now for challenge of first trip to Pittodrie for five years
Barrie McKay was brought on to replace Holt at half time - like Windass the move was said to be precautionary after a hamstring strain - but it was the visitors who started the second half on the front foot. While a mistake from former Ranger Andy Dowie almost gave Waghorn a goal within minutes of the restart, the home side were wobbling when Dobbie and Lyle both fired presentable chances over.
Two goals in a minute steadied the nerves, though, McKay making inroads down the left, an picking out Halliday cleverly. The stand-in skipper, inheriting the armband in place of Lee Wallace, curled in a fine finish. Sixty seconds later, an almost identical delivery from the Scotland winger led to Waghorn beating Lee Robinson with a similar finish from the edge of the box.
Waghorn saw a goal ruled out for offside before he went on to greedily collect his first hat-trick of the season. He made it four with a flicked finish with the outside of his left boot from O'Halloran's second assist of the night, then benefited from some wicked close skill from Kranjcar to lash in the fifth. Aberdeen away on Sunday will be a more difficult assignment but until then Rangers will be able to enjoy a few days of calm.
-----
Rangers 5 (Holt 33, Halliday 62, Waghorn 63,71, 83) Queen of the South 0
Rangers (4-1-2-3): Gilks; Tavernier, Wilson, Hill, Hodson; Halliday; Kranjcar, Holt (McKay 45); O'Halloran (Miller 77), Waghorn, Forrester (Crooks 72).
Subs not used: Foderingham, Garner, Senderos
Queen of the South (4-4-1-1): Robinson; Hamill, Brownlie, Dowie, Marshall; Anderson (Dykes 48), Millar, Jacobs (Pickard 68), Hilson; Dobbie; Lyle (Brotherston 69).
Subs not used: Atkinson, Higgins, Rigg, Pickard, Moxon, Brotherston
Referee: D Robertson
Booked: Rangers: Wilson, Forrester. Queen of the South: Millar
Attendance: 26,079
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel