“Rangers’ best player – 8” – Rangers rated at Tynecastle | OneFootball

Rangers’ campaign started predictably poorly at a thrifty Hearts today, with a share of the spoils in Edinburgh.

Ibrox Noise brings you our returning player ratings for two dropped points on Leith.

Butland:

Made some good important saves but was also shaky for a moment or two. A definite improvement on his preseason, looked like he was doing what he’s paid to, but he’s been better than this. 6

Tavernier:

A very subdued display from Tavernier, made 7 crossing attempts but only a couple were any good. Caught constantly for position at the back exposing Rangers’ rearguard (as always) but did himself manage to shove 5 tackles in. His typical display really. 6

Souttar:

Some big moments but caught napping a few times as well, Souttar clearly hates playing alongside Davies, but was responsible for a massive 9 clearances. Was admittedly bested by Vargas more than once. 6

Davies:

For all the stick he (rightly) gets, he actually put a (quiet) shift in with 9 defensive moments and did try to keep Shankland at bay. He’s a League One England-level defender, but that’s what the Premiership outside Rangers and Celtic is, so he just about held his own here. 6

Ridvan:

A strong performance, lots of overlaps and while Hearts did get a lot of joy on that side through Dhanda, Ridvan stuck to his task and got in a bunch of crosses. Unfortunately none of them caused enough havoc. He can hold his head high though, he worked hard. 7

Diomande:

Sorry, just nowhere near enough from the Ivorian, he did little wrong but he did little of impact either. The game basically passed him by even if he was neat with his passing. We need more from one of our most expensive players. 5

Barron:

Really impressed in this one, showed growling tenacity and worked like a dog to close down Hearts’ middle, he was by a distance Rangers’ best player and it made absolutely no sense taking him off. Tidy in possession as well. Even offered an excellent shot. 8

Cortes:

What a horrible afternoon from Cortes – sustained a hammy before HT and was inexplicably sent back out by Philippe Clement after HT treatment in yet another appalling call from the manager when it comes (to a lot of things) but especially this player. Who knows how long he’ll be out this time. As for his performance before the injury, looked hungry, worked hard, and tried to get the fitness going. 5

Lawrence:

His usual display where he doesn’t impact matches a big amount but does take some nice touches and shots. He’s the same player every time, can’t shake it up. And he can’t really playmake either. 6

Wright:

A completely anonymous display from a player who continues to be well out of his depth. Removed on 60 minutes. 4

Dessers:

The only attacker who really got any ‘joy’, and while he remains Bambi on Ice, he did cause issues in Hearts’ rearguard and probably should have scored a couple of times. 6

Subs:

Cerny:

Looked rusty as heck, and it’s not really fair to judge him on 30 minutes. N/A

Balogun:

Rangers’ defence became a lot more solid after he came on, wonder why. Ever-reliable. 6

Matondo:

Bad decision-making and not lifting his head will stop him reaching the potential he has. 5

Dowell:

Absolutely no idea why he was brought on. 3

Manager:

Philippe Clement, fresh off his new contract and guaranteed life security, rung sweeping changes in the XI to usher in a new era of Rangers. Did he heck, he predictably began the same old losers from last season and then subbed off the only new signing to actually shine while managing to break Cortes yet again. Why he put Dowell on only he knows. Has already publicly conceded the league before kick off, and went further by saying the squad is no better than last season’s. Well this is your squad now mate, so where do we go from here? 4