Match-winning brace might not be enough to save Boyd

* Tosh 50,
* Thomson 53

Rangers 3

* Boyd 33,
* Beasley 43,
* Boyd 72

* Ewan Murray at Hampden Park
* The Guardian,
* Monday May 26 2008
Kris Boyd could be set to depart Rangers, despite his two-goal salvo against Queen of the South.

Given a choice between Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller, Rangers supporters have made it perfectly clear which striker they would rather have.

A season filled with more sources of intrigue than is customary north of Hadrian's Wall closed on Saturday with one of the biggest puzzlers of all. Despite two more goals, making it 25 for the season for Boyd, and another starring appearance in a Rangers cup final win, the former Kilmarnock player has still not yet apparently convinced Walter Smith. The manager's predecessor, Paul Le Guen, did not fancy the robust Ayrshireman much, either.

Those in the stands forcefully warned Smith against any move for Miller, the forward who will leave Derby County soon after a troubled campaign at Pride Park. That the 28-year-old is most recently remembered for playing little more than a season at Celtic, let alone scoring only four league goals since moving south, must have contributed to the fans' ire.

Boyd's future, meanwhile, is somewhat less certain. "I'm going away now to have a long, hard think about it over the summer and we'll take it from there," he said, rather ominously.

Smith's body language alone suggested he would not be distraught if a reasonable offer came in for Boyd. "I don't know [if he will leave]," said the manager. "I've not heard anything about that so far.

"He is an excellent goalscorer, with a lot of aspects to his play which aren't up at the same level as his goalscoring. That is just something I think he'll always have."

By Smith's own admission Boyd has suffered as a consequence of Rangers operating for much of the season with only one striker. Birmingham City and Alex McLeish will be among the interested parties if the player's patience runs out.

"Like every other player, he'll want to play more regularly than he has this season," added Smith. "But it's just the way that I feel is the best way for Rangers to play. I don't see it as a big problem. But I know what the problem is from his point of view, which is that he wants to play more than he has done this season."

The Boyd scenario aside, this was an understandably tame finale for Rangers and for a period in the second half it almost descended into disaster.

Having watched a possible quadruple trophy haul vanish within six troublesome weeks, players and supporters alike did little more than go through the motions.

A fierce Boyd drive from 22 yards and a goal from DaMarcus Beasley, making his first starting appearance for six months after knee surgery, handed Rangers an apparently unassailable lead by the interval but Queen of the South rallied. The First Division team restored parity through Steve Tosh and Jim Thomson but a Boyd header 18 minutes from time secured Rangers' victory.

Underneath their frustration that Celtic have claimed a third championship in succession lies bitterness about the level of fixture congestion suffered by Rangers at the climax of the season.

"I think we lost the league because we had to play too many games in a short space of time," said the striker Jean-Claude Darcheville. "It was very difficult for us to accept the lack of help from the national associations when we went for the Uefa Cup. In other countries there would have been help."

Queens have no such European issues after their maiden Scottish Cup final appearance. The Dumfries side, who were cheered on at Hampden by 16,000 supporters, will take their place in next season's Uefa Cup. "It would have been interesting if we could have taken it to extra-time - that would have been a test for Rangers," said their manager, Gordon Chisholm.

Man of the match Kris Boyd (Rangers)

Taken from the Guardian/Observer