By Lee ClarkRangers v Dynamo Kyiv, a European tie played over 35 years ago, that is as famous amongst Bluenoses for what happened in the stands almost as much as what the team achieved on the pitch.As a youngster my first steps into Europe following the team, came in modest circumstances as I watched Rangers play out a fairly timid 1-1 draw with eventual winners of the competition Red Star Belgrade to a half full Ibrox. Of course, the task that night was a huge one. Already 3-0 down from the first leg there was little to shout about and as those around us in the Copland Front swapped war stories instead, and it was then that I first heard about that legendary night and quite incredible Ibrox atmosphere.Up until Leipzig, I maintained Leeds Utd was the most intense atmosphere I had witnessed at Ibrox but, always felt compelled to tack on the caveat of ‘I was too young for Dynamo’ such was the passion that Gers fans spoke of that night. The build up to this tie had a somewhat different feel and a nice memory from 1987 was about as good as it got for Rangers fans last night.The start to the season has been one of apathy amongst the supporters with, Rangers failing to get into their stride on and off the pitch, however a Cyriel Dessers, last gasp equaliser in Poland a week ago and victory at the weekend against Motherwell, gave the more optimistic amongst us a belief that the job could be completed and see Rangers progress to the Champions League play-off round at Hampden Park, not to mention the very welcome multi-million pound windfall that reaching that stage affords.Alas it wasn’t to be as Rangers crashed out to two late goals, losing the tie 3-1 on aggregate and having to settle, once again for Europa League group stage football. It was a night dominated by the controversial decision to red card Rangers new signing Jefte following an aerial challenge with Karavaiev, in the 49’ minute. It was a nothing collision, not even a foul but, the Kyiv play acting (a feature of the night) was enough to convince referee Guida and Rangers were left with a huge task for almost the entirety of the second half. A visibly incensed Philippe Clement remonstrated with the fourth official for several minutes, before confronting the referee at full time. Still seething post match, Phil had this to say of the incident:We have talked about this. Sometime in football there is a ‘grey’ zone, that is why we have VAR, to help and to make the game more honest but, this decision had nothing to do with that. It was really, clear, there is nothing going on, Jefte just jumps higher. I have tried to understand the decision but, in the end it has killed the dream of the dressing room and the fans. For me it is THE WORST decision I have seen in more than 30 years in football and in this competition you expect a better level of decision making.It was simply a scandalous decision and extremely tough on Rangers who, after taking time to settle in the game, just as they had in the first leg, looked the more dangerous team towards the end of the first half. Indeed, even with ten men, Rangers took the game to Kyiv and just as a defiant and raucous Hampden Park sensed an opener they were dealt a hammer blow as their opponents opened the scoring, as Pikhalyonok cut in from the right to fire through the compact Rangers defence into Butland’s left hand post. Rangers captain, James Tavernier felt it was cruel on his side:It’s disappointing; the decision changes the whole dynamic of the game. I tried to speak to the referee at the time and he said it was a clear elbow to the face but, when you see it back, I think Jefte just gets up nice and early and it isn’t even a foul. Even with ten men we tried to push but, as the game wears on we’ve left opportunities for them. Over the two legs we felt we had a great chance to get through to the next round but, I didn’t think we were as clinical as we wanted to be in the first half. We kept asking the question, it’s tough being up against 11 men (when we were down to 10) but, everyone left everything out on the pitch.A fair assessment from the captain. Whilst he is right that Rangers kept pushing, this was far from a vintage display. It was very much a 50/50 tie and the two teams were extremely cagey over the two legs, which was evident with just how narrow both sides were out of possession. Indeed the first thing of note that Jack Butland had to do was pick the ball out of the net, save for a couple of speculative efforts from distance. Rangers, for their part were a lot more direct and did have the better of the openings, without giving the Kyiv ‘keeper enough to do.Much of the discussion pre-match centred on the decision to leave new signing Vaclav Cerny on the bench for a fourth successive match. Cerny has had a positive start to life in a Blue jersey, setting up that crucial equaliser last week, before getting off the scoring mark during Saturday’s league match. Cerny, again looked dangerous tonight, ghosting past defenders at will, firstly being unlucky with a blocked shot and then one such move seeing Kyiv bodies being put on the line to block Dessers from opening the scoring from the wingers cut-back. Many will be wondering why the Czech wasn’t thrown in from the start, particularly as Rangers best moments in the first half came down their right hand side. The manager explained his decision post-match:I have no regrets about that because we have a lot of very qualified people in the building, in the medical and performance staff. It’s also what the club needed after last season, where we had so many injuries to make that better, in terms of the right information and how to make players better and stronger. He has just come in from 4 weeks of holidays and is only just in the building. The signal from them was very clear, we can’t start with him and the plan was always to come on at half time, that was the maximum.Whilst this answer is exactly what many will have expected, Clement has just reiterated just how big this rebuild is and unfortunately highlights again, how light and lacking in options the squad affords due absolutely shambolic mis-management the past few seasons. This has to go down as a huge opportunity missed. Whilst Kyiv (and Salzburg for that matter) were far from pushovers this is the sort of Champions League qualifier that gives you a fighting chance. Unfortunately, many Gers fans suspected that this would be too much, due to us operating with a squad that, quite frankly, has taken a massive step backwards in the past three seasons, with the manager again talking about how difficult this rebuild will be and talking of a stark ‘reality’ at having to do it ‘without 40 million’ in the bank.There had a been a bit of discussion around how many Bears would actually turn up to Hampden Park this first week and there’s no doubt that the appetite for the start of the season has been strained at best amongst our fans, for a multitude of (very valid) reasons. I’m not sure I ever really bought into the narrative that there would be several thousand empty seats at these matches at the National Stadium but, it has happened. The opening ‘home’ game of the season, against Motherwell, saw a recorded crowd of 48k+ and whilst I accept, the actual number was a little less than that, it looked extremely healthy to me. Of course that has a slightly different context and last night was the real ‘test’ to this theory, given CCCS has been suspended, due to the on-going issues at Ibrox and I’m afraid to say, the Rangers support voted with their feet last night. Over 10k empty seats for a crucial Champions League qualifier, I simply didn’t see happening and to be completely honest I don’t blame anyone for not being there. For many of our fans enough has finally become enough and I’m afraid to say it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Strap in folks, it’s going to be a long old season.
