Sports
Ally McCoist Rages at Rangers Dud Emmanuel Fernandez After Ferencvaros Defeat
Ally McCoist was left speechless at what he was seeing from Emmanuel Fernandez during Rangers’ 2-1 defeat to Ferencvaros.
Danny Rohl’s side saw their hopes of reaching the Europa League knockout stages further diminish on Thursday as they suffered their fifth defeat in six games.
Despite taking a surprise lead through Bojan Miovski’s acrobatic first-half strike, Rangers conceded just before the break when Bence Otvos found the bottom corner via a deflection.
Ferencvaros turned their dominance into a 72nd-minute winner when Barnabas Varga headed in Callum O’Dowda’s cross, with Fernandez being the main culprit for the hosts’ winner.
McCoist Slams Emmanuel Fernandez
Fernandez was caught on the wrong side of the ball for Ferencvaros’ winner and the defender’s positioning left McCoist fuming.
Speaking on TNT commentary, the former Rangers striker was lost for words following a poor sequence from Rohl’s side:
“A great cross, but two things. Not enough done to stop the cross, and I’m really intrigued to watch Manny Fernandez here.
“He actually is facing the wrong way. I don’t really know what to say there other than he’s facing the wrong way. That’s unbelievable. The cross has to be stopped at source as well. That’s Rangers for you.”
Billy Dodds picked up on McCoist’s reaction in the studio as he noted:
“When Ally McCoist is speechless and can’t describe the action, we’re all in trouble. Rangers’ defence was as bad as I’ve seen them, and I’ve seen them poor this season.”
Fernandez endured a difficult night overall on Thursday as he won none of his three tackles, won just nine of his 19 duels and committed two fouls.
The 24-year-old defender partnered Nasser Djiga for a sixth consecutive game across all competitions, with Rangers still missing injured John Souttar and Derek Cornelius.
Dujon Sterling Makes Rangers Return
Dujon Sterling made his first appearance of the season for Rangers on Thursday as he was introduced with 30 minutes to play for Max Aarons.
The right-back was forced to miss eight months of action after suffering an Achilles injury back in April in Rangers’ Europa League clash with Athletic Club.
Sterling’s return will give Rohl another option at centre-back, as the versatile defender is able to play almost anywhere across the backline, as well as in midfield.
Rangers, who sit fourth-bottom in the Europa League with one point after six games, next host Hibernian in the Premiership on Monday.
