Glasgow Rangers will not win a trophy in the year of 2025. That was confirmed when they were beaten 3-1 at Hampden Park in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Sunday.
Danny Rohl had won his first two matches in the Scottish Premiership ahead of this last four clash with their Glasgow rivals, but he was unable to mastermind a third successive victory in all competitions.
The Light Blues did manage to get to extra time, despite being down to ten men, but two goals in extra time meant that they were knocked out of the competition.
Why Jack Butland did not cost Rangers the result
Some supporters or neutrals may want to point the finger at Jack Butland for the defeat, because he should have done better with the Callum McGregor shot that put Celtic 2-1 up.
The shot seemed to go through the former England international and down the middle of the goal, but he was unable to adjust and prevent it from finding the back of the net.
Despite that error, Butland did not cost the Light Blues the game because they were only in the match because of his impressive saves. Premier Sports TV pundit and former Hoops manager Neil Lennon even described his performance as “tremendous”.
The pick of his saves, arguably, was his fingertip stop to deny Callum Osmand’s brilliant header that looked destined for the bottom corner, whilst he also made several close-range stops in the initial 90 minutes.
A Rangers player who was worse than Butland in the game was young left-back Jayden Meghoma, and he may be on borrowed time in the starting line-up.
Why Jayden Meghoma may be on borrowed time
The Brentford loanee was caught out for the opening goal of the game when he allowed his man, Johnny Kenny, to get the jump on him from a corner.
Premier Sports TV pundit Michael Stewart noted on commentary that Meghoma “never recognises the danger”, which seems to be a fair comment when you consider that the full-back had a similar issue against Brann in Rohl’s first match.
The English defender allowed Jacob Lungi Sorensen to get the run and jump on him for a goal in that loss, which led Ally McCoist to describe his defending as “remarkable” and “diabolical”.
Meghoma was even worse than Butland against Celtic because there were several occasions where he did not recognise the danger, as Stewart put it, and put his side, and Butland, under pressure.
The teenage full-back’s performances for Rangers in the Scottish Premiership so far this season also do not suggest that he has what it takes to be the first-choice left-back moving beyond the January transfer window.
Appearances
7
Sofascore rating
6.56
Duel success rate
50%
Aerial duel success rate
25%
Tackles + interceptions per game
3.0
Error leading to shot
2
Possession lost per game
12.7x
Assists
1
As you can see in the table above, Meghoma only has one assist to his name to make up for the two errors leading to shots, and 12.7 times possession lost per game on average.
He has been questionable defensively, particularly from set-pieces, and has been wasteful in possession without creating much to make up for it, which is why Rohl should be looking to add an experienced left-back in January.
Meghoma is currently the only natural left-back in the first-team squad, as a result of the squad building by Kevin Thelwell and Russell Martin in the summer, and his underwhelming performances may convince Rohl to push for the club to bring another one in.
Therefore, the Rangers loanee’s place in the XI may be on borrowed time unless he can significantly improve his performance level over the next two months or so.
