Rangers failed in their efforts to get through to a second successive Scottish Cup Final with a pretty dreadful display against Celtic.
Far from being the heavyweight showdown many pundits and fans predicted in the lead up to the match, the Hoops dominated their city rivals in a one-sided affair that in truth looked like a mis-match.
It was Pedro Caixinha’s first big test as Rangers boss. Tasked with closing the gap on Celtic over the next twelve months, he must be scratching his head and wondering how he is going to achieve that now.
Fans were left bitterly disappointed, they probably didn’t expect to win but at least hoped to see some sort of fight and desire in their Rangers heroes.
Where did it all go wrong? What did Caixinha get wrong? What can he do differently next time?
These are all questions we answer as we take you through the four key errors the Ibrox boss made…
Joe Dodoo didn’t start
Despite calls from the vast majority of the Rangers support to finally give Joe Dodoo the start he needs to show exactly what he can do in a Gers shirt, Pedro Caixinha again opted not to utilise him from that start.
The Light Blues had no attacking outlet in the first half, when they had possession they had nowhere to go and more often than not they would find themselves chasing Celtic passes once again.
Perhaps if he’d started the 21 year old they could have offered more in the first half. When he came on at half-time with Barrie McKay, it’s not surprise the Gers started to look more dangerous and actually looked capable of providing the likes of Kenny Miller in the final third.
Will the Rangers manager learn from this mistake and start the attacker at Ibrox? You’d be hard pushed to find reasons against it.
They showed Celtic far too much respect
The space Rangers gave Celtic on the ball in the first half an hour of the fixture was frankly appalling by this derby’s standards. Far from the blood and thunder we’re used to seeing, all Rangers fans got was a Andy Halliday tackle in the opening moments that failed to upset the flow of Patrick Roberts whatsoever.
They treated the Hoops as if they were Barcelona, not a team they drew against just last month on their own patch. Where was the desire of that second half under Graeme Murty? Where was the passion?
Pedro Caixinha failed to get his players up for the game and it wasn’t until the last 15 or 20 minutes that they even looked like a side capable of doing something.
This was a national semi-final in front of a 50/50 crowd and yet the players were shellshocked, rather than inspired and ultimately the buck for that stops with the manager.
Andy Halliday’s return was a disaster
Halliday had only started one game since February prior to Sunday’s kick-off and it’s clear to see that perhaps he shouldn’t be trusted to put in a performance for the Gers anymore.
Early in the game he let the occasion get the better of him to charge into Patrick Roberts, a challenge he was lucky did not earn him a red card by most people’s standards. If Rangers had gone down to ten men at that point then the defeat may have been even more disastrous.
Aside from that he was completely ineffective in the midfield, unable to deal with Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong or Callum McGregor. He barely touch the ball when he was on the pitch and eventually got hooked at half-time.
You get the impression that relying on the boyhood Rangers man may not be high in Pedro Caixinha’s priorities going forward.
He failed to understand the threat of McGregor
Pedro Caixinha put all his eggs in two baskets; one was to stop Scott Brown and the other was to stop Stuart Armstrong. Ultimately in doing that, he failed to realise that Celtic have depth across their XI, especially in midfield.
He overestimate his side’s ability to deal with these two players and when they managed to combine, the Hoops overran Rangers.
That opened up the door for the pacy and technical Callum McGregor to have free reign of the Hampden pitch in the first half. He was afforded space that frankly he shouldn’t have had and ultimately the Gers paid the price when he passed the ball into the back of the net.
In setting his sights on Brown and Armstrong, Caixinha failed to understand the threat of McGregor nor foresee that he has the finishing ability to really punish teams.
