FollowFollow.com News · Oct 17, 2026 · 11:23 AM UTC

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@GrandmasterSuckOct 17

The FF Autumn Raffle followfollow.com/forum/threa…

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FollowFollow.com News · Oct 25, 2026 · 12:22 PM UTC

FollowFollow.com News

@GrandmasterSuck23h

Article - Match Report - Rangers v St Johnstone - Storming the Saints followfollow.com/forum/threa… By Alistair Aird Storm Boelo was brewing as the supporters waded through water to make it to Ibrox ahead of matchday 10 in the 2026/27 Scottish Premiership season. After watching his side spill two points on their travels last weekend, Derek McInnes was hoping his players wouldn’t get caught in the eye of a St Johnstone storm as they continued to hunt down Celtic in their pursuit of a first Premiership title since the fabled 55 in 2021. After winning seven on the spin, the draw in Dundee last weekend was an unexpected bump in the road. After an impotent first half, Rangers had taken a grip of the game and dominated after the restart. Nico Raskin’s magnificent goal had given them a deserved lead, but a moment of hesitancy from the recently impressive Dan Neil proved costly. Dundee duly equalised and that coupled with Celtic’s win over Hearts the following day had stretched the gap at the summit to four points. At Dens Park, McInnes had made what looked like a minor alteration to his XI, leaving out Kevin Kelsy and brining in Badredine Bouanani. But as impressive as Bouanani was, playing Ryan Naderi as the lone striker had a detrimental impact. Naderi wasn’t as effective as he has been in recent weeks and couldn’t influence the game. That and the strange substitutions made later in the game – Minsu had had a superb second half and Bouanani had been a constant threat yet both were withdrawn as a winner was being chased – undoubtedly contributed to the shipping of a couple of crucial points. Perhaps in a nod towards that error of judgement, McInnes made one change to the team that had started in Dundee. Out went Djeidi Gassama and in came Kelsy. That suggested a welcome return to the formation that had reaped so many rewards during that seven-game winning run. Sterling, Makhanya and Fernandez would form a back three and Penrice would drop into midfield. This had worked so effectively against Celtic so it was hoped that it would do likewise in this fixture. The two teams emerged just shy of the 3pm kick off. They were led out by members of the armed forces who serve our country with valour and distinction. Plenty of clubs and remember our magnificent servicemen and women – one chooses not to which further reinforces why they are so despicable – but none do it quite like Rangers. The display in the Sandy Jardine stand was terrific. The moment of silence was observed so impeccably that you could hear the raindrops hitting the top of the Main Stand. It was another moment among many to be proud to be a follower of this fantastic football club. Rangers started on the front foot. Bouanani was fleet of foot like he had been last weekend and fashioned an early opportunity for himself that was deflected wide for a corner. Sterling’s driving run to the bye-line did likewise a few minutes later. That was followed by a good, old-fashioned stramash in the box, but St Johnstone eventually cleared their lines. The attacking play from Rangers was relentless at the stage. The referee allowed an excellent advantage after Kelsy was fouled on halfway, but Penrice’s low cross was cut out before the ball reached Naderi who was stationed in the six-yard box. After 15 minutes, the visitors defence was carved open again, but Bouanani spooned the ball wide. Kelsy’s shot for distance then squirmed out of the grasp of the St Johnstone goalkeeper at the expense of another corner. This was followed by howls for a penalty kick after the industrious Naderi went down in the box. A brief VAR check dismissed any claims. By now, the rain was cascading down in torrents, but Rangers continued to flood forward. Bouanani threaded a pass through to Minsu, but he was denied by a sprawling Toby Steward in the Saints goal. It felt like it would only be a matter of time before Rangers broke the deadlock. Minsu’s driving run was almost the key that would unlock the door, but after he picked out Bouanani, the Algerian was denied by a St Johnstone boot that diverted his goal-bound effort over the bar. Something had to give and it did after 30 minutes. Minsu showed great vision to pick out Naderi, and his low cross was knocked into the net by Kelsy. It was richly deserved as Rangers had been superb from the get-go, Moments later, Minsu’s shot struck the post. This was a joy to watch Rangers were irresistible and back to their free-flowing best. Kelsy should have doubled his tally seven minutes shy of the interval when he was teed up again by Naderi, but his left foot shot was parried wide by an overworked Steward. It was one to file in the ‘gilt-edged’ category, but while Kelsy was the guilty party in terms of missing the opportunity, Naderi should also reflect on why he passed to his partner rather than getting the ball out his feet and having a pop at goal himself. After a single minute of stoppage time, the players, drookit, headed for the sanctuary of the dressing room where they would likely be issued with a towel each and a fresh set of kit. They went up the tunnel with the sound of deserved applause ringing in their ears. The only thing missing from a first half performance full of vim and vigour was more goals. Minsu had been the pick of the bunch, but fans should have been fulsome in their praise of Bouanani and Neil too. The latter, no doubt out to atone for his error last Saturday, had bossed the midfield and created openings in forward areas. The chemistry between Naderi and Kelsy had been at the forefront too. The start of the second half wasn’t quite as fluent for Rangers. St Johnstone, chasing an equaliser, enjoyed more time in enemy territory than they had in the entire opening period. They didn’t muster anything in the way of clear-cut opportunities, although Kai Fotheringham did have a half-chance at the back post that he skewed wide. It looked like Rangers had changed shape, moving to a more conventional 4-4-2 with Sterling and Penrice the full backs, but it was a midfielder who threw his body on the line to prevent a St Johnstone leveller. Raskin was the man that thwarted the visitors before Pandur had to look lively to turn a long range shot from Enes Alic over the bar. From a position of comfort and strength, the single-goal lead coupled with the failure to add further goals that reflected their dominance had created a few ripples of worry to make their way through the stands. Further slack play had the fans howling as Pandur was once again called into action. But goals change the mood very quickly and after 61 minutes, Naderi settled everyone down. As the wind gusted and the rain wreaked havoc, Minsu’s shot was spilled by Steward and Naderi gobbled up the rebound. The momentum had now swung back in Rangers’ favour and Kelsy put the game to bed after 65 minutes. Rangers won a corner which Makhanya got his head to and when the ball broke to Kelsy, he rifled it into the net. As the rain finally relented, the game was over. With a tough test at Tynecastle and a League Cup semi-final on the horizon, McInnes rung the changes. Naderi, much more effective this week than last, got a deserved rest and Neil was also withdrawn. They were replaced by Gassama and Tuur Rommens. Gassama’s first involvement was to scurry down the left, but Kelsy, chasing a hat trick, was profligate, sclaffing his shot wide. There would be a VAR intervention after 72 minutes. Referee Chris Graham was called to the screen as he had missed a shocking challenge by Fotheringham on Raskin. Everyone in the stadium thought it was a straight red card. Well, everyone apart from the hapless Graham. Mercifully, after he took an inordinate amount of time in front on the screen, Graham returned to the field and brandished a red card in the direction of the sinning Saint. It was now simply a matter of going through the motions. The game was won and the visitors were a man down. Bojan Miovski and Ben Godfrey were given some minutes as Sterling and Minsu were withdrawn. Kelsy was taken off too and replaced by Tochi Chukwuani. The job was done, the points bagged. Chukwuani added some sheen to the scoreline when he turned in a cross from Gassama. It put an accurate reflection on proceedings too. Aside from a bumpy 10 minutes at the start of the second half, this had been an assured and confident performance from Rangers. The playing conditions had been horrendous, but as the storm swirled around them, the home side coped admirably. By the time the game ended, most of the punters had headed home to batten down the hatches. And from the comfort of their armchairs and chaise lounge sofas with a beer or a glass of wine in hand, they could look back on another satisfying Saturday as their heroes took another positive step in the right direction. And if this encouraging upturn continues and the rough edges are buffed off, there is a real possibility that this could well be the successful, silver-laden season we have all been craving for many years.

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