Rangers Vs St Johnstone: Don't lose focus

Hello all, Rangers are back in action at 8pm tonight against St Johnstone. I was bemused by this kick off time but apparently it's due to some kind of run taking place in Glasgow today.

I think we could have said the Saints were a fully known quantity as an opponent just last week, we dispatched them easily enough in the cup at Hampden. But they've just appointed Simo Valakari, an experienced Finnish manager whose managed across a few different nations. I don't know lots about his style of football but he's got European football experience from managing clubs like Tromsø and Riga. So I think we can expect him to know how to set up in a tough away game.

No one likes playing a team with a new manager, especially given how difficult Rangers have made playing football look recently. We can't change our approach, but we have to be switched on as a team for the threat of a team playing to impress a new boss.

Elsewhere I ran into Big Phil when I was out for dinner last night. Didn't get much of a chance to speak to him unfortunately. But he seemed unflustered by the pressure on him at the moment.

I'm actually too early with this article to quote any press conferences this week. The club has been quiet following the disappointing result on Thursday. Things are at a bit of a low ebb around the club again. It felt like after the Dundee and Malmö results and performances we were back on track. But then we're right back down to earth with Hibs and Lyon.

Unfortunately it looks like that's the cycle we can expect this season. I'm not looking forward to it, and I don't see how a few signings in January will change our trajectory as it seems like the Manager is right at the heart of these issues. It's fine though, he's only contracted till checks notes 2028, brilliant.

For the team I really don't want to see too much rotation, if Lawrence isn't fit then he better not play Kieron Dowell. But then our options are limited all over the park really. I'd like to see McCausland come in for Cerny, the Czech hasn't done much to keep his place recently. Igamane might come in for Dessers again? He does need more minutes to get sharp, but with the pressure on after a poor result, I expect he'll stick with Dessers. Phil hinted at dropping Tav if performances didn't improve, but I expect him not to back this up and we'll see Tav starting. Elsewhere the team seems to pick itself at the moment.

I actually saw Les Miserables in concert last night, but I couldn't help but feel that the real misery was no doubt awaiting me tonight.

I find it hard to suggest improvements to our style of play because we don't have much of a blueprint to begin with. At the moment the left hand side of Bajrami and Jefte seem to be our only creative outlet. But I think that's more down to the quality of their partnership rather than a stylistic choice. If we cast our minds back on 2017/18, it felt like at one point we had a similar theme with the partnership of Candeias and Tavernier on the right providing all the creativity. In both instances this wasn't some masterstroke by the manager, it was just two players who were able to form a strong partnership.

That's all for today, hopefully everyone manages to enjoy their Sunday before having to watch Rangers.