Rangers run out of title challengers

JAMES TRAYNOR

19 Feb 1990

Rangers 0, Hearts 0

THE manager, Graeme Souness, continues to disabuse all comers of the notion that Rangers are certain to retain the premier-division championship, and anyone caught dwelling on the subject within the Ibrox dressing room is liable to have his boot laces tied together and made to cross Edmiston Drive during the evening rush hour.

There is a long way to go, insists Souness.

There are, in fact, nine matches left and despite Souness's caution it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify the club which could catch Rangers, who stand alone at the opposite end of a seven-point chasm.

Rangers dropped a point on Saturday and the previous week, but still their lead remains intact.

Aberdeen, Hearts, and Celtic do not appear to have the ability to deny the Ibrox side the main prize.

Indeed, this is all particularly alarming, since Rangers are not exactly playing with a panache which takes your breath away.

They seem to be playing within themselves, doing just enough to stay ahead and one must wonder how they would fare were they able to hear the pounding hooves of a team in close pursuit.

Souness's side is the best in the premier division, there is no doubt about that, but they are not being extended and, consequently, it is not easy to gauge the true quality of their work.

Their passing game continues to impress, but they don't always seem able to move up a degree by introducing the sort of play which excites and draws gasps from the terracings.

However, rarely are they required to do so within the confines of the domestic playground, and that is hardly their fault.

Perhaps a better indication of how much more they have to give will be found on Sunday, when they play Celtic in the Scottish Cup, a match which will determine whether or not the Parkhead side's season will close early.

If they are to maintain interest Celtic realise they must break down a defence which has been the most secure in all professional divisions on both sides of the Wall.

Rangers have conceded only 14 league goals and at no time on Saturday did it look as though that sum would be increased.

Hearts, despite their three sharp and talented front players, Colquhoun, Crabbe, and Robertson, never threatened Butcher, who again was without his regular central defensive partner, Gough, and played alongside the versatile Brown instead.

With Stevens charging on the right side of the back four and the unsung hero, Munro, vigilant on the other, Hearts toiled in vain.

Eventually, the Edinburgh side, who had come seeking a win which would have breathed some life into their championship challenge, were pushed deeper into defence and were fortunate to escape Ibrox with a point.

Rangers had the ball in the net twice in the second half, but on both occasions the referee, Hugh Williamson, decided on offside and then a foul against keeper Smith.

Williamson had a much quieter day than many had anticipated memories of the last time these teams met, at Tynecastle in December, when Walters was sent off, four were booked,and Souness and McPherson allegedly were involved in an incident after the game.

Decorum prevailed this time around, although there were one or two hefty tackles, the first from the referee, who collided with McCreery early in the game and left the Hearts player face down in the dirt.

His team-mate, Mackay, who hurt his back and had to leave the field at the start of the second half, and Rangers' Brown were the only players to see yellow cards.

Rangers did enough in that second period to have won the game, but were not terribly disappointed at the outcome, especially since results elsewhere also suited them.

As Souness observed, his team are better off because they now have a game fewer to play.

It is not known what the Hearts manager, Alex MacDonald, made of it all, since he had to rush away straight after the game. He said he was running because he had a boat to catch -- and did not hear the comment that his team have already missed the boat.

RANGERS -- Woods, Stevens, Munro, Ferguson, Spackman, Butcher, Steven, Walters, McCoist, Johnston, Brown.

Substitutes -- Dodds, Vinnicombe.

HEARTS -- Smith, Kidd, McKinlay, Levein, McCreery, McPherson, Colquhoun, Mackay, Robertson, Crabbe, Bannon.

Substitutes -- Sandison, Wright.

Referee -- H Williamson (Renfrew).