More STEEL and PLUCK than “steal” and “luck”! Thistle … 1 GERS … 2 (Part 1)

Hunger, passion, determination. I’m sorry but that’s what I’m taking from the smiting of the Maryhil Magyars yesterday. We’ll leave the “neutrals” of the world to lament Thitle’s ill-fortune, to contest that Britton’s dodgy sending off was a turning point, to praise the oh-so-close-ness of a famous victory for the Firhill faithful.

I’m afraid, even as a glory-hunting Big-Team lover, I’ve experienced the hard side of that coin too often to entertain any sense of guilt when Rangers win this type of match in this type of way. We only have to look back through our near-misses in Europe over the past few years, Champions League and UEFA cup, to remember how we felt when the Bayerns and Feyenoords of the world stole single-goal victories from us when we’d played so “bravely”. The “vanquished heroes” plaudits are the most patronising and hurtful of all. If you lose, you lose - there’s no “deserve” in football. I won’t insult Thistle by feeling sorry for them. I won’t insult Rangers by denegrating in any way what could well be one of our most significant performances of the season.

First three minutes or so we started brightly, looked classy and there was a hint of a three or four goal victory. Even in that smallest opening period I could see Lovenkrands, Mols and de Boer doing things a whole yard faster than their opponents.

But with their first real attack, Thistle realised all the pessimistic portents I’d been dispensing to my nearest and dearest pre-kick-off. John Lambie’s “battlers” were on a terrific run of almost half-a-dozen straight victories at home; We were without Arteta, Arveladze, Ricksen, McCann, Numan and Ross; Our worst SPL troubles have all come away from home this season - all the points we’d dropped were lost at the homes of total no-mark teams: Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Sellik.

So I was left languishing in a pit of “I KNEW this was gonnae be a bad one” when, with seven minutes on the clock, Thistle were 1-0 up. Young Allan Hutton is the easiest to blame for the goal, largely because he is so young and also because this was an enforced debut but also because he didn’t just miss Gerry Briton’s cross with his head but he also let Kenny Milne then put the ball through his legs and back into the box. Alex Burns couldn’t miss but the Firhill striker was still fortunate to see his shot evade both Stef and Bazz on the line.

Young Hutton, in because we’re losing fullbacks as quick as Martin O’Neill’s losing the plot with the press, wasn’t the only Ranger I’d rather not have seen on the pitch. Russell Latapy - why was he playing? Russell Latapy - WHY? Probably because, as in Hutton’s case, Big Eck was running out of a squad this week but, if ever there was a player who’s clearly just here for the beer, it’s wee Russell.

The goal completeley dismembered any fleeting image of co-hesion we’d created in the first seven minutes. Latapy’s nadir was a one-minute cameo, up towards the closed end of the ground, at the corner near the dressing rooms. Through Thistle’s incompetence he was given three successive chances to deliver a ball into the opposition box - each time he failed to clear the first defender with his “cross”. Taxi for Latapy.

And, in fairness to Mr McLeish, he was the man who picked up the phone and called that very cab. No Advocaat-style obstinacy with Eck - it was going wrong and he didn’t mind admitting it. The ginger gaffer wasn’t even waiting til half-time. Latapy was taken off in 38 minutes and Caniggia came on. At last we had some direct drive and some more apparent determination.

Most of our problems yesterday were tactical and personell-based. Ricksen was the most conspicuous absence of them all and that sending-off against United was annoying me more at Firhill than it was at Ibrox eight days previously. Hughes, Arteta and Ferguson across the middle didn’t work against Dunfermline in the CIS Cup and so Latapy, Hughes, Ferguson was even less effective against Thistle. Canigia’s introduction changed that noticeably.

Also, I know Shota Arveladze has a lot of critics at Ibrox these days - particularly for his often unpredictable finishing - but, by Goram, his mobility and his determination in and around the box were missed terribly yesterday.

Allan Hutton was sticking rigorously to his defensive duties - who can blame him - but this meant we aso lacked the wing-back play which Maurice Ross or, if so required, Nando Ricksen, brings so often down the flank. We all know Kevin Muscat is no Arthur Numan.

BUT, one thing to be said about Muscat which could not be said about a certain Champions League winner from Holland for long periods yesterday was that the Aussie was determined to get involved. He wanted to do something - even if it was nasty, even if it was risky. He and countryman Craig Moore responded to the opening goal and the subsequent lack of invention from their colleagues up front, by putting the boot in. It could and arguably should have seen one or both of them dismissed from the play - at which point we’d really have been up sh*t creek and I’d presently be condemning Muscat and Oz for their indiscipline - but they got away with it … and it let Thistle know EXACTLY what they’d have to go through if they were to protect their lead. In the end, Glasgow’s second team couldn’t keep up with the single-minded, bloody-minded, bloody, unscrupulous, amoral, 100% bona-fide determination to win which poured out the men in blue. We were wounded and, to a certain extent, cornered - so proud of certain Gers for doing EVERYTHING they could to ensure we escaped to victory.

Find out exactly how we did that in Part 2.