Graeme Murty: This is what Rangers must do after Kilmarnock loss
Rangers manager Graeme Murty believes his side know they need to turn Ibrox into a “fortress” after a second home defeat in the space of a week.
The Gers fell 1-0 to Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock to round off a disappointing seven days following last weekend’s Old Firm defeat put an end to any title hopes the Gers had.
The Light Blues have recorded their worst home record in over a century with at least three home fixtures remaining this season.
Murty thinks his side didn’t take their chances against Killie but insists there “wasn’t a lack of effort” as his players struggled to get going after a bright opening spell.
“We know we need to turn this place into a fortress, we haven’t managed to do it and didn’t take our chances and you don’t do that you won’t win games,” Murty said, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“There wasn’t a lack of endeavour, there wasn’t a lack of effort. We found it difficult against a very, very organised team and we didn’t do enough to pull them apart out of their shape.
“I thought the tempo was flat. I thought we were too slow with the ball and our first pass in transition wasn’t good enough, wasn’t sharp enough.”
The Gers face Motherwell next when they travel to Fir Park on March 31st and look to pick up some momentum going into next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic.
Murty’s side are two points ahead of Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership although the Dons have a game in hand and could leapfrog the Ibrox side into second-place.
Football Insider verdict:
Rangers’ home record has been nothing short of embarrassing over the last three or four years. Teams no longer fer a trip to Ibrox like they once did and head there confident of being able to get some sort of result. If the Gers can’t turn it around before long they can wave goodbye to any hopes of taking the title from Celtic in the near future. Opposition managers are content to come to Ibrox, sit deep and then hit the Gers on the counter. Murty needs to show he has it in his locker to turn that around if he wants to land the job long-term in the summer.
In other Rangers news, ‘Clown’, ‘Sour grapes’ – Gers fans blast Barry Ferguson for claim about win v Rangers.
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