Tam McManus was left raging at the Rangers fans after the “toxic” atmosphere he saw in the first half of their Europa League clash against Aris Limassol on Thursday (30 November).Rangers: Tam McManus rages at fans after what they did v Aris Limassol
The Gers needed a win against their Cypriot opponents to ensure a top-two finish in Group C but found themselves behind after 28 minutes when Shavy Babicka made the most of a counter after Todd Cantwell gave the ball away.
An unimpressed Philippe Clement reacted by replacing Englishman Todd Cantwell with Ross McCausland before half-time, to boos from the Ibrox stands.
And McManus, taking to his personal Twitter account (30 November) argued that the Rangers players wouldn’t have been performing so badly had the fans not booed at every touch from their own players.
He tweeted: “Not been a great performance from Rangers but still plenty time to pull it back. Maybe if the fans at Ibrox stopped booing & slaughtering every loose touch from their own players they might feel a bit more confident of getting on ball/making something happen.
“Atmosphere toxic.”
If the Rangers players needed any reminders at how demanding and intense Ibrox can get when things aren’t going their way then Thursday’s game against Aris Limassol was the perfect example.
It certainly seemed as if several of those players certainly aren’t capable of performing under such a weight of expectation and the Rangers fans made themselves heard in that second-half.
Clement’s decision to brutally hook off Cantwell after the half-hour mark certainly aroused the toxic atmosphere, when realistically it should have been the likes of Sam Lammers and Jose Cifuentes who should have been subbed off.
However, it was a decision which proved a masterstroke after youngster Ross McCausland who came on for Cantwell grabbed the crucial equaliser just after the break.
If these Rangers players cannot perform under such weight of expectation then they certainly don’t have the balls to play for Clement in the long-term.
Thursday’s incident in the first half will be a learning curve and a lesson for several of those Rangers stars, not just Cantwell. Having the Rangers faithful on your back really is the worst punishment of all.
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