Jack Butland made the glaring mistake against St Mirren – but there was a less obvious blunder in the buildup to the opening goal that the pundits couldn’t believe.
Rangers fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat in Paisley with Caolan Boyd-Munce’s late winner sparking incredible scenes and leaving Philippe Clement’s hopes of a title revival in tatters before the turn of the year. The tone for a day to forget for those in Light Blue was set with half an hour gone, when a long ball over the top caused all sorts of carnage and Butland charged off his line to floor Greg Kiltie.
It was a calamitous mistake that allowed Oisin Smyth to convert from 12 yards and gave Saints the platform on which to build a famous win. But while Butland’s role in it was scarcely believable, so too was Jefte’s in the buildup.
The Brazilian was something of a surprise inclusion, given he was a yellow card away from missing the New Year derby with Celtic – Nicolas Raskin, who was in the same position, was dropped to the bench. But Clement may now think twice about picking him anyway after falling asleep in the buildup to the opener.
While three of the Rangers back four pressed towards the halfway line, Jefte didn’t switch on quick enough and hung back. That played two St Mirren attackers onside, and allowed keeper Ellery Balcombe to think fast and pick them out.
From there, they turned defence into attack, a sequence of events which led to Butland’s blunder and eventually the opening St Mirren goal.
And speaking on BBC Sportscene, former Ibrox star Steven Naismith couldn’t believe it as he said: “See just before (the Butland error) as the ball is played through to Cerny, the whole defence steps up – except from Jefte. That is the root of the problem. That then allows the ball over the top. From St Mirren’s point of view, it’s brilliant anticipation.”
Keeper Butland wasn’t off the hook though. Fellow pundit Scott Allan focused his derision on the shotstopper as he said: “It’s a shocker. It’s indecision. I honestly can’t make up my mind as to why he’s done that. It’s a moment of madness.”
Clement hooked both Nedim Bajrami and Connor Barron as a result of that blundering first half and the introductions of Danilo and Nicolas Raskin momentarily breathed life into the performance – before it flatlined again. Speaking after the game, however, the boss said he could easily have subbed off more than those two after 45 minutes that left him raging.
He said: “The team has been consistent he last two months, or even a little bit longer than that. But the first half was was not acceptable, it was not good enough. Not only from the two players I took off, it was the whole team. I could have done more, more changes than two.”