Prior to his team’s routine 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock, Bojan Miovski was in a major slump. An 11-game goal drought had raised serious questions over whether or not he could cut it at Rangers.
The North Macedonian hadn’t found the net in two months. His last goal had come in a 1-1 draw at Falkirk on October 5, the match which ultimately led to the sacking of Russell Martin.
Signed for £4.2million in the summer from Girona, it was starting to look like Rangers had signed some kind of imposter, rather than a guy who was the best striker in Scotland at one point during his time at Aberdeen.
Miovski served a timely reminder of his talents at Rugby Park, setting Rangers on the path to victory over Kilmarnock with two smartly-taken goals.
An instinctive toe-poke put the visitors ahead just after the half-hour, before he doubled the lead with a trademark clinical finish off his left foot on 54 minutes.
It was a lovely goal. Receiving a pass from Nico Raskin inside the box, he gave Kilmarnock keeper Tobi Oluwayemi the eyes before reversing the ball low into the bottom corner.
‘It feels good,’ said Miovski, having trebled his tally of league goals for Rangers to three over the course of 90 minutes.
‘I was working really hard behind closed doors. I didn’t forget how to score goals. When you work hard, the goals will come. To score two, I hope to continue in this way.
‘I didn’t have a lot of game time in the last year, even before I came to Rangers. Now I am starting to feel sharper. Now we start to understand the movement and chemistry together. I want to keep going like this.’
Miovski clearly feels like the fans will now start to see the best of him. His return to form was interesting, given that he played a different role last night.
Normally a striker who thrives on playing on the shoulder of the last defender and getting in behind, he dropped deeper against Kilmarnock. Far more involved in the build-up play, Rangers looked the better for it. There was a fluency to Danny Rohl’s team at times and a real sense of purpose.
There was also a cutting edge that has been sorely lacking. Mikey Moore came off the bench and added a third with another crisp finish.
The young Tottenham loanee would have had a double himself had a brilliant chipped finish from a tight angle not been ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Rangers certainly seemed more confident. The fact they are much-improved from the rabble they had become under Martin is indisputable. The old-fashioned eye test confirms that beyond doubt.
However, they are now getting results and scoring goals. In every possible attacking metric, their numbers are up compared to the Martin era.
Rohl clearly believes they could yet haul themselves back into a title race at the start of a huge month that will see them take on Hearts, Hibs, Celtic, Motherwell and Aberdeen (twice) over the next few weeks.
The key will be to find a level of consistency. Miovski took the plaudits as the match-winner against Kilmarnock, and challenged his team-mates to go on a run that starts racking up the points.
‘If you win one game, you are (up) for the title race, you lose one game, you are not,’ he said, as Rangers now head to Hungary to face Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday night.
‘There’s still a lot of games, to be honest. And, of course, we want to be there, but we need to be consistent to collect points. It is about consistency.’
The kick-off slot of 8pm on a Saturday was clearly a big turn-off for a lot of fans. Especially at this time of year, and especially with the game being live on TV.
The home stands were sparsely populated. Rangers fans still packed out their end, with a pyro display prior to kick-off likely to land them in hot water with the SPFL.
The club already have a suspended sentence hanging over their head for previous offences earlier in the season.
It was just total stupidity from supporters – and could now lead to the reduction of tickets for upcoming away matches.
The poor attendance in the home stands was not helped by the fact Killie are on a dreadful run of form and haven’t won a game in two months.
Pressure is mounting on manager Stuart Kettlewell, all right. He lost the plot towards the end and was shown a red card by referee Kevin Clancy.
He was incensed by contentious decisions such as the non-award of a penalty for Mohamed Diomande’s tug on David Watson, even though the Killie man was nowhere near the ball.
Kettlewell also felt Rangers keeper Jack Butland should have been sent off for clattering into Bruce Anderson. It wasn’t reckless, though. Butland got the ball.
Killie were also irked by the initial offside decision against Anderson when he raced through on goal during the first half. Play was allowed to continue and he ultimately missed what was a great chance. VAR would have allowed a goal to stand given that Anderson was in his own half, but Killie’s complaints didn’t really matter.
All in all, Kettlewell is under pressure and Killie are sinking like a stone. Defender Robbie Deas didn’t pull any punches afterwards.
‘It’s not been good enough,’ he said. ‘I’ve been at Kilmarnock – this is my third season here – and it’s not been good enough.
‘I’m sick and tired of making excuses. We need to start getting results.
‘We need to really look at ourselves in the mirror and have a good word (with each other) because this wasn’t good enough.’
Read more
- Did Derek McInnes’ Kilmarnock capitulate against Rangers, leading to a frustrating defeat and leaving them languishing in the league’s lower reaches?
- Will Rangers’ defense crumble again against Kilmarnock, leaving fans questioning Danny Rohl’s impact and signings?
- Is Russell Martin’s reign at Rangers already on thin ice as fans demand answers to a series of lackluster performances?
- Is Russell Martin living on borrowed time as off-pitch turmoil and abysmal results leave Rangers fans fuming?
- Are Rangers players facing the axe as Danny Rohl’s patience runs thin after an insipid 0-0 draw against Falkirk?
