Hearts ace Ian Black piles on agony for crisis-hit Rangers as wonderstrike makes it three home defeats on the bounce for Gers

Hearts star Ian Black equalises with a stunning strike at Rangers

SEEMS like everyone’s got it in for Rangers these days. If it’s not HMRC going after them it’s HMFC. If it’s not Whyte sinking the boot into Ally McCoist and his men then it’s Black.

Saturday at Ibrox then was just another painful, pride-swallowing exercise for this beleaguered group. For some of themthe final agonising act may be just hours away as the axemen sweep in throughthe doors of Murray Park this morning in search of bodies.

But for the rest and for this club’s bewildered supporters, the despair and suffering will continue for some time yet as Rangers descend into a darker and darker place with each passing day.

The latest wake crashers to pay them no respect were a Hearts side no strangers to a crisis themselves.

Eventually, the Gorgie outfit left this little corner of Govan at tea-time with all three points, having taken a surprisingly long time to realise just how wounded and vulnerable their opponents were.

One look at the team sheet should have told them all they needed to know.

The fact McCoist was left to make up numbers with players either not yet experienced enough – or in some cases simply not talented enough to make it into Paolo Sergio’s starting 11 – should have been the dead giveaway.

Ross Perry, a young centre-half, playing out of position at right-back.

Rhys McCabe, another plucked from the youth ranks, thrown straight into the heart of McCoist’s midfield and, given the circumstances, making one of the most difficult debuts of all time.

Salim Kerkar – an honest trier forced into action from the most extreme fringes but who is now suddenly holding down a starting spot at left midfield.

And a makeshift attack made up by a true stalwart in Lee McCulloch – who is being asked to find his feet again as a forward at the age of 34 – and Andy Little who was playing right-back for Port Vale a few months ago.

It’s not that these players did not give their all for the cause.

They did.

Young Perry was skinned only once or twice by Andy Driver, McCabe performed in an admirable manner, Kerkar ran his long legs into the ground, McCulloch ruled like a leader of men and Little helped set up the opening goal for Steven Davis.

But, even so, this is a Rangers side which is anyone’s for the taking. And on Saturday, it was Hearts’ turn to step up.

They did exactly that courtesy of a strong second-half display that only came after a strangely subdued, lacklustre opening 45 minutes during which someof Sergio’s stars appeared to be affected themselves by the problems that engulf the SPL’s stricken champions.

In fact, Hearts stood off from so much of the early exchanges that they allowed McCoist’s patchwork 11 to give off the impression that, despite their glaring weaknesses, they were still seizing control of the contest.

McCabe looked pretty sure of himself in the thick of it, dovetailing impressively with skipper Davis who was on a one- man mission to lift the spirits of others.

McCulloch was using all his smarts and considerable physical presence to rattle a central-defensive partnership of Andy Webster and Marius Zaliukas.

And for a good 20 minutes or so the hosts actually looked like they might just get away with it. Indeed, even though Hearts were beginning to feel their way into the match it was Davis who broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time.

Dorin Goian invited Little to press on the after-burners with a fine ball that sent the striker bursting in behind the Hearts defence down the right touchline.

Little looked up to assess his options and picked out the rapidly approaching Davis with a measured cutback as the captain’s controlled shot squirmed through the grasp of keeper Jamie MacDonald and trickled over the line.

At that stage, given how little Hearts had managed to put into the first half, it really did seem like Rangers were about to grind out a little bit of respite for a home support that has been traumatised not just by what’s been going on off the field this season, but also with what they’ve been forced to endure every second week on it.

Fortress Ibrox? The place has become more like an open prison under McCoist. Opponents are free to come and go as they please and more often than not they loot the joint while they’re at it.

The rookie manager cannot consider himself blameless for this. Sections of his support may have already decided he is not up to the job especially given that, even without the 10-point deduction forced upon him by the scandalous behaviour of his boss in hiding, he’d still be trailing Celtic by 11 points.

McCoist may or may not be ready to lace Walter Smith’s brogues.

But surely, if ever there has been a case for considering mitigating circumstances, then McCoist is it.

The man is slap bang in the middle of them and suffering from all of their consequences. He deserves not to be judged on his own performances until he has been fully freed from the carnage of the shameful Craig Whyte regime.

Pretty soon Whyte will be yesterday’s man. Saturday’s man, though, was Black. Ian Black. And this was his turn to add to the agony.

This boy can play a bit you know, even if he seems determined to pass himself off as some sort of hard nut. There’s a great deal more to his game than that.

Black was lucky not to pick up his obligatory booking after only 10 minutes for a blatant boot at Sone Aluko, whose form has dipped in recent weeks as the situation at Ibrox has worsened.

This was just the first of a few utterly baffling decisions from ref Crawford Allan who was cutting a pretty shambolic figure long before the final whistle was blown. He was in good company too – but Black certainly was not among them.

In fact, the midfield man was Hearts’ best player over the course of that curious first-half display. After the break he was their talisman.

Twelve minutes after the restart, the 26-year-old fired a sensational equaliser to cement his position as the pantomime villain with the Ibrox crowd.

The goal was set up superbly by Driver who got the better of Perry for the first time to race clear down the left flank before picking out Scott Robinson with a perfectly-weighted ball.

Robinson’s header was hacked off the line by Carlos Bocanegra but broke to Black 20 yards out, his shot arrowing into the top right of Allan McGregor’s net from the moment it left his boot.

Tynecastle boss Sergio played his part in the comeback too by removing Darren Barr at half-time, reshaping his team into a 4-4-2 formation, and sending on sub Craig Beattie in what was something of a masterstroke from the Portuguese coach.

Former Celtic striker Beattie’s presence together with his movement provided a constant menace and with Black’s influence growing in midfield, the visitors came storming back.

Black fired home, then 13 minutes from time Jamie Hamill bagged the winner on the rebound after McGregor had saved his spot-kick.

The award was correctly given by ref Allan who had spotted Goian bearhugging Webster as the pair tussled. But by now the official was losing control and blundering badly.

He had already failed to award a penalty which appeared every bitas blatant at the other end when McCulloch was barged to the deck by both Zaliukas and Danny Grainger.

But that’s life at the minute for Rangers. Unless a saviour emerges soon it will become a slow and painful death.

Taken from the Daily Record