Kelly’s Heroes – Rangers v Athletic Bilbao

Barry Ferguson hailed his Rangers players for a quite incredible defensive display, to keep their Europa League dreams alive against Spanish giants, Athletic Bilbao after a battling 0-0 draw at Ibrox. It was another night of drama, on a Thursday at Ibrox which saw players dropped, others brought in from the cold, a red card, a penalty save and Rangers finishing the game with only 9 men to end a horrible run of 5 straight home defeats.As a Rangers player Barry Ferguson has seen and done it all but, even he couldn’t have imagined a game quite like that.  On a night where he made no fewer than six changes to the side that had capitulated so badly against Hibs at the weekend, the players dug deep and coped with everything that Bilbao, roared on by a noisy away support, could throw at them.My heart was a bit all over the place during the game but, I’m really proud of the effort and commitment that my players showed tonight. It’s obviously difficult when you go down to 10 men and you need to go to the two banks of four but, I thought the players worked incredibly hard to cope with the Athletic Bilbao threat, who are a quality team.Pre-game the Rangers gaffer had promised changes but, I’m not so sure anyone expected it to be that sort of number number and even then, some of the changes that were made didn’t appear to fall within the ‘obvious’ category. In many ways, Barry was on a hiding to nothing. Stick with players who had continually let themselves down and he would’ve been slaughtered, especially if there had been another blunder from the goalkeeper. Make so many changes prior to a crucial European quarter final and people are unhappy anyway.I was satisfied with the changes for the first ten minutes when they were all on the pitch! Look if I’m not happy with the performances I’m going to make changes and give people opportunities, that’s part and parcel of being a manager.  Some of them are difficult but, you see an 18 year old kid like Bailey (Rice) coming in and felt he handled himself ever so well. I feel like he is behind in his development but, I think there is a real footballer there. For others you know what you are going to get with Liam (Kelly) or Leon (Balogun) coming in. In fairness to the manager I don’t think there was too many questioning the decision to drop Butland, it’s just that they don’t have a lot of confidence in Liam Kelly. For me that is a little harsh and he did his chances of more game time, no harm at all as he made a crucial late penalty stop on the back of two very good saves just before halftime. Kelly, for me anyway, has never let himself down in our shirt and to perform the way he did after being thrown into such a massive occasion, he deserves huge credit, as does the manager. On dropping Jack Butland he had this to say:It’s one of the toughest thing I’ve had to do. I have a very good relationship with Jack, I’ve known him a long time and I think he is a top goalkeeper. I know he is hurting to be left out so it was a really difficult conversation. As for Liam Kelly I thought he done really well tonight. After a turbulent weekend where some very harsh home truths were spoken by Ferguson both publicly and privately, he was delighted at their resilience. Rangers had set up very much like they had away to Fenerbache and Celtic. Happy to surrender possession and look to hit a very composed and organised Bilbao side on the break. Given those have been the best performances since the manager came in, it’s hard to argue with the logic of it. Of course that all goes out the window with the early red card but, credit to the players and manager, they regrouped quickly and still carried a threat in that first half, with Cyriel Dessers going closest with a fizzing half volley on the turn that had shades of Man Utd about it, only this time it whistled just past the post.The second period was of course a different story with Bilbao camped almost exclusively in that Rangers half but, some dogged defending, last ditch tackles and the aforementioned heroics from Kelly keeping the tie alive to record the Gers first clean sheet since the start of February.Conceding goals have been a problem for us and we’ve tried to work really hard at that this week. That tonight is what I want to see from my defensive players, guys who want to go and defend and it isn’t just about them either. You need your midfield and sometimes forward player to chip in and of course your goalkeeper to make big saves.In fact, that penalty save was to be the Spaniards only attempt on target in a second half  that lasted 57 minutes where they enjoyed 80% possession. There were openings for them, which you would expect but, Rangers looked solid for long spells, even after they went down to 9 men following an injury to Sterling. Getting through this tie next week will be no mean feat but, you get the impression that Bilbao have been given something to think about as well. I didn’t care if they had 100% of possession after we went down to ten men; we had to set up and play a certain way and remain tight together. I’m delighted the guys took the information and it was key that we had to do that.  What I seen tonight isn’t how I wanted us to play but, anyone watching seen a team who is willing to run through a brick wall for you and that’s all I can ask.Rangers now travel to Bilbao knowing they are on the brink of another historic European night. No one gave them a chance before a single ball was kicked in this tournament and it feels like every tie has followed the same narrative. So many keep saying that this will be the one where they finally falter? I honestly wouldn’t bet on it.We are still in the tie. I told them before the game to make sure we stayed in it and we have a great chance to go and make the semi finals. I’m proud of them and that’s the way we need to feel every game. That’s the effort they need to put in and if they do that, you have much better chances of winning games of football.  We will go there next week and give it our best shot.  Lee Clark