Rangers 4-0 Falkirk. Poppy Day.

Saturday at Ibrox, there were different kinds of feeling, a strong aura of pride, with all of ingredients: The L118 artillery gun, heat, color, noise, and song, scream. Since I have use of reason, Ibrox usually expect events such as the Poppy day, when the first frosts of autumn, with a liturgical representations, ambiences, more admirable as an institution that any other the practice of football. The honor the people who gave their lives for that nation. Rangers always had its own identity characteristics, where are reflected the combination of the best Scottish and British traditions. Lest We Forget.

Rangers are no more vulgarized by the more conventional adversaries. Before imposed on the scoreboard, McCoist´s team had to play one of those intense, crashes, closed, more aerial game and a referee predisposed to interrupt the game and not to give continuity, regardless of the side. Rangers was a team bluntly, less patient (one pharmacy in Glasgow had exhausted the stocks of anxiolytics), more intermittent at first, and with the turbo a mile a minute in the second half.  A piece of braided football after the sequences that produced the game was endless waterfalls of long balls. Some of the long balls, well addressed sought a direct attack, effective in the opponent´s error, others did Boyd back off, by the head, but not always find a partner to give continuity to the game.

In the symptomatic, Rangers begin to take a liking for the ball. Surprisingly, there was returns and worked the mechanism of manual to combat the offensive transition of Falkirk. There was a strengthening in the spirit of solidarity. The surprise was to see how The Light Blues won the actions divided and the second plays, example of industriousness now. Until a few months ago the team had all their assets ahead and neglecting the rearguard, if we want win against celtic, one of the prerogative is to contain effectively. Everyone did an excellent job in the return, to cover the spaces. The team bitten, robbed and planted himself fast in the opposite area. Although Boyd stays milned-up, without access to the ball. Rangers pressed up with many people, especially when found on clearance of McGregor their offensive weapon (neither good nor bad).

Falkirk closed more spaces, pressed on our receivers, led Rangers to the uncomfortable place. At that transit of the game, the ball was long in the air, without orientation, Simmo undertake bullying to the ball for long periods. Striking again and again, hurriedly. Rangers need to take better care of the ball. No immediately seek the orientation change, do not rush. Have to offer, supporting the teammate, and make the rival stay running behind the ball for the maximum amount of time as happened at times in the two games with Dumbarton or Saint Johnstone.

At times, the contribution of Black is ethereal and vaporous, difficult for him than usual massaging the ball, can recover it but is poor in delivery. This is something I see in the latest series of games. Is it necessary to be all the time nyaff? Is it necessary to be on all the squabbles? Rangers lacks on footballers for crash, Law is the two areas and accompanies on defense cooperation but not the kind of player. Often times, any errors penalizes, Law warns that and made of switch when his rivals wanted to leave of the cave with the ball.

Rangers wanted, since the start of the campaign, a player who gave the final pass in midfield, but found much more. That kid with quiet air bucolic, intuitive and ready, did something seemingly simple: play. Playing short the ball, securing the possession. Touch to for it back. Touching and moving. Yours-mine. There is nothing worse for the rivals to have to go and back and forth up and down the field. Likely lad, McLeod not only supports the weight of attacking it back to work. With the incipient youth appear throughout the field to build game and fix their teammates.

The presence of Law (versatile like no other, treading the two areas) facilitates the sophisticated elaborations of Lewis and trenching for Wallace, with unknown symphonies of touches on a team not always prone to pauses. McLeod is of those players of a tile, which breaks waists a little room of the grass and invents the pass nobody intuits.

Miller, a veteran in his second youth, moved easily from different parts of the attack, and behind the back of the opponent´s defense, avoiding fixate his mark, generating more holes for the arrival of players of the second line as Law or Wallace (blatantly positioned as winger more than lateral, is always a nightmare for rivals) ¿How many lung is Wallace? Give it the berries, have that facility that we saw in his last goal against Dumbarton. Miller not only knows how to play for others, but also has the ability to rectify himself frantically.

McGregor is transformed into the pattern of defense, solid in the marking, unalterable, responds well to nullify the opponent´s moves. In the first half, he pressed, forcing the rival who finished getting rid of the ball. Intuitive and confident in every action, left Loy completely disarmed every time he was got in the way. McGregor arrived at Ibrox in silence (I must admit that when I heard his name, I was surprised), after some errors in one of the pre-season friendly in America, was in the substitutes bench. For the disoriented, who only see the errors of McCoist, this was a wise sign, long term sign.

We stir-up the Bairns area, with an unceasing siege. The ball went from one side to the other in search of a fisherman in troubled waters. More and more confident of his game, Nicky Law embodies both the mutation of Rangers as his versatility, not only bring closer the area as the first goal on Saturday, but also generate spaces and advanced and appear advanced positions to break and surprise as midweek against Cowdenbeath (1-0). Law came forward more the pitch and settled in the most populated area of Falkirk. Cold always, loaded humble with buckets of water when it is burned the ranch of the team.

And it appeared the explosive cyclogenesis of goals, sudden and abrupt. A demolition exercise. With different interpreters, but keeping the same role. McLeod, the second, Miller, the third, Clark the fourth. And Falkirk? Dazed by the artillery.

Scottish, Slang or words not too known:

Geet: A contemptible and/or tedious person.

Likely lad: an alert, smart and/or cheeky youth. A colloquial working class phrase used particularly in the North of England to describe a young man who shows promise or self-confidence. 

Milned-up:  Incarcerated. The term, from the jargon of prisoners, now often refers to temporary imprisonment in, e.g., an observation cell. 

Give it the berries: to act energetically, increase power and/or speed. The phrase was used by presenters on the TV car program Top Gear in 2005.

Nyaff: An irritating or obnoxious person. The term is supposed to be echoic in origin, and is based on the irritating sound of a dog or a small child.