It was all looking so good!

On leaving the ground, disconsolate, after the 2-1 defeat at home to Norwich, I was privy to the following comment from a fellow Hoops fan:

“Well, the Championship is more exciting than the Premiership, and it’s more our level really”.

My, how quickly that early season optimism that diffused throughout the club following the Tony Fernandes’ takeover has seemingly evaporated into the ether! Football is, of course, a results business and for all the plaudits gained by the team earlier in the season, a winless streak of eight matches –six defeats and two draws - has really dampened the mood and set the alarm bells ringing! Inevitably, such a slump only serves to fuel the rumour mill and indeed there is talk of dressing room unrest, a split within the camp, and a possible change in management. Against this uncertain backdrop, Neil Warnock has cut an increasingly frustrated figure, blaming the club’s recent poor results on a combination of bungling refereeing, ‘gamesmanship’ from the opposition and just sheer bad luck. Uncharacteristically, Warnock seems increasingly reluctant to criticise his charges for their ever more lacklustre and incompetent displays, readily trotting out the anodyne line that he “couldn’t have asked for anything more” from his players.

This change in Warnock’s media persona is perhaps telling. Is his reluctance to criticise members of his expensively assembled squad due to his own reluctance to admit that, blessed with a generous and supportive chairman for the first time in his career, his own managerial skills have been found wanting? I must admit that, like most Rangers fans, I did get carried away with the feverish excitement of the transfer deadline day. However, I soon became concerned when further analysis revealed that, with the exception of Luke Young, all the other players signed on that day carried baggage – the same, in fact, could be said of the players signed immediately before the Fernandes takeover.  Warnock did allude to this observation when he stated that he liked players who were hungry, who had something to prove.  At the time of writing, just over halfway into the season, of the new recruits only Luke Young and Armand Triaore and, perhaps, Anton Ferdinand have proved themselves to be definitely up to the mark. The erratic displays of the other new signings only serve to prove that they are still haunted by their own personal demons, be that lack of self-belief, volatile temperament, or susceptibility to injury.

Throughout the season, our progress has inevitably been compared with that of our fellow promoted teams, Norwich and Swansea. Interestingly, both these teams have adopted a similar approach to life in the Premiership, a far more measured approach than that adopted at QPR. There have been no big money, high profile signings for the Canaries or the Swans, just a few prudent additions to the respective squads of players that achieved promotion last season. Both clubs are managed by promising young managers, with no experience of the top flight, no apparent baggage, who share a determination to play expansive, attacking football. Quite rightly, both Norwich and Swansea have been praised for their positive approach, and some impressive results, and at present, seem better equipped to survive in the top flight than Rangers.

Tony Fernandes’ takeover at Rangers has been widely welcomed and certainly, it is difficult to fault his input thus far. He has started to put into place sensible plans aimed at developing the club from the bottom up within a realistic timeframe. Crucially, he has opened up dialogue with the fans, and got them on board.  He has also supported his manager with the necessary funds needed to improve last season’s Championship winning squad. Inevitably, expectations have been raised as a result of the takeover, but a sensible target of 17^th place or better, and so Premiership survival, surely should not be beyond this group of players? Instead, the January transfer window has rapidly and openly evolved into Warnock’s potential ‘get out of jail card’, perhaps a tacit admission from Warnock that his recent signings simply haven’t worked out. This reliance on further new signings, permanent or otherwise, to get us out of trouble, concerns me greatly. Firstly, Warnock’s recent track record in the transfer market obviously does not engender confidence. He has stated that he is looking for young players, but are players short of experience likely to be able to handle a relegation dogfight? Then, even if Warnock does succeed in buying players able to stomach this fight, they will inevitably take time to settle in, and time is in short supply.

If the R’s are going to retain their Premiership status, Warnock will need to draw upon the man management skills that he has become renowned for and eke out a number of match winning performances from his squad. He will need to keep the fragile egos of his higher profile players in check, and combine these players effectively with some of his less able but more reliable foot soldiers. I feel that Warnock needs to be more flexible in terms of formations and tactics – certainly, his reluctance to make substitutions, and his persistence with playing a lone striker has caused much frustration amongst the Rangers faithful. The choice of team captain also needs to be looked at again as I feel Joey Barton has not really delivered in this role. Indeed, the overall contribution of Warnock’s most vaunted and highest profile signing has been disappointing. His displays in the Rangers’ midfield have largely been mediocre, particularly when compared to those of his usual central midfield partner, Alejandro Faurlin, who has impressed all and sundry in his first season playing at the top level. Barton’s reputation for having a volatile temperament means that he will always attract the unwelcome attention of willing aggressors such as Bradley Johnson in the Norwich game. Whilst Barton’s sending off in that particular game was certainly harsh, it is difficult to be sympathetic towards him when one considers his involvement in the sending off of Arsenal’s Gervinho at the start of the season. Joey Barton delights in being far from ordinary, and certainly with his intelligent and articulate musings on everything from the state of the nation, the relevance today of the work of Nietzsche, to the music of The Smiths, he is certainly not your average monosyllabic footballer! However, it is determination to speak his mind, often via popular social media platforms, and his desire to seemingly court controversy at every opportunity, together with his aforementioned volatile temper that renders him a potential liability. Warnock needs to ensure that Barton’s influence on the team and his input to the club in general is a positive one if the club are to stay up.