Jim and Ally’s View

Jim Duffy and Ally McCoist spoke to the media following Rangers 0-2 victory at Broadwood this afternoon.

The Clyde manager was generally pleased with his team’s performance, but felt that John Neill’s red card was a key moment in the match:-

“I thought we competed well for the majority of the match,” he said. “We asked a few questions of the Rangers defence but I was just a bit disappointed that we didn’t score, to give the fans something to cheer about.

“Jamie (Barclay) has made 3 or 4 fantastic saves and I was delighted for him, he was outstanding. I think on any occasion where a team plays another with bigger resources and a bit more quality, you need your goalkeeper to perform on the day.

“I think ‘frustration’ is only one part of my thoughts on the red card. John’s had a split second loss of control and I really don’t know why he was getting involved. It had nothing to do with him. When there is a melee now, it is standard practice for everyone involved to be given a yellow card. It was a silly incident but it ended our chances of getting anything out of the match.

“Up to that point, we weren’t overly troubled in the second half, certainly not as much as the first half. We were just looking at freshening things up but that happened and we had to regroup a bit.

“Rangers will be delighted and, with the players they have, most people will expect them to go on and stretch their lead now. With a quarter of the season now played, I think the Third Division sides can take a lot of credit. I think everybody thought Rangers would steamroller the league and that was a bit disrespectful to the Third Division. They are only two points ahead and hopefully that competitiveness will continue throughout the season.”

McCoist, speaking after his side’s first away win in the IRN-BRU Third Division, talked honestly about the challenges facing his team in unfamiliar surroundings:-

“I’m really pleased,” the Gers boss said. “I don’t think the game differed a lot from the majority, if not all, our away league games this year; it was hard fought.

“We got a great goal to start, it was a top finish worthy of any league. The start of the second half wasn’t going too well for us but the sending off has helped us. We hit the woodwork a couple of times and if I’m being critical, we should probably be taking more of our chances. Overall though, I’m really pleased.

“The main reason we won today was the workrate of the players. Within a game you will have moments of brilliance – like our first goal – or defensive errors but the one overriding factor that should always be there is that the players work their socks off. They did today and got the rewards.

“We have to match up against the opposition and let them know that we are as much up for the competitive side of the game as they are. It’s safe to say that every team we play this season will be up for the game and be competitive and aggressive, which is absolutely fair enough. We must be equal to that.

“I’ve been telling the players that just because you might not think you are an SFL3 player, if the ball needs ‘humped up the park’ then do it – I don’t care who you are. You don’t take chances at any level of football, the principles are the same.

“If I was playing against Rangers in SFL3 the first thing I would be asking is ‘do they fancy it? Let’s see if they are up for the battle.’ You have to earn the right to play. I don’t have a problem at all with the level of competition and aggression shown towards our team so far. We maybe haven’t matched up to that but I think we’re starting to do it now.”