Never Mind the ba'-heids, get on wi' the gemme

LAST night we forgot all about refereeing disputes long enough for a rather good football match to break out at Ibrox.

Manchester United won, which wasn't really a surprise, but they needed a soft, but correct, penalty to break a resilient Rangers team. Given that both sides were some way short of full-strength, the game did, however, show that the gap between the top of the SPL and the top of the EPL isn't that great. With a bit more luck and belief, Rangers might have won it, but I think their display put to bed any doubts as to their inability to survive, should they ever be allowed to play in an all-British Premiership.

To me the big difference between the two teams was in the quality of the passing; United linked with much more assurance than Rangers, while giving the ball away a lot less often. In top-flight football, possession is everything: Rangers can get away with slip-shod passing in the SPL, because they'll very quickly get the ball back. Against the likes of United, failure to retain possession means a long time on the defensive.

I've long said Walter Smith doesn't need a transfer "war chest", or to recruit new players in the January transfer window; what he needs is the energy to get out onto the training field with his players to sort out their deficiencies and teach them to hold onto the ball once they've got it.

There's an old story of how they decide if the Dutch canals are ready for the annual winter festivals of outdoor speed skating. The theory is, if a canal can sustain a ten-year-old standing on the ice, it will hold a 14-year-old skating. If it will hold for an Under-15s ice hockey match, it will take a bunch of adults skating and so forth.

By the same token, if Rangers can keep possession and a clean sheet against Hamilton at home, then, with a bit more application, they can do this against Hearts away. They can then progress to doing the same against Celtic at home and so on into Europe. To extrapolate further, they ought to be challenged to beat a bottom six club by three clear goals away from Ibrox, then a top six club by the same total at Ibrox and if they can do this consistently, the step-up in class of opponent forced by Europe should not be beyond them,

Challenge your players to earn their vast salaries Walter, don't just dole it out to them.

By the way, Allan McGregor is a top-class goalkeeper, but, like so many today, he doesn't hold enough shots first-time. He made two crucial saves last night, but, in not holding either shot, he offered Manchester United potential follow-up shots from the rebounds, chances a Law, a Greaves or a Muller would have taken - fortunately, there are not many stirkers of that quality around in football today.