Despite a brilliant seven match unbeaten run, and indeed an outright winning streak, Rangers knew they were up against it going to Dens Park. Ibrox Noise had vividly warned of the challenge that Steven Pressley’s men offered, especially on their own patch, given just how well organised the home side was going to be. In fairness, Derek McInnes himself also acknowledged that this was an in form team and that his side would have to be at their best to counter it. However, Rangers blow golden chance was ultimately the story of a deeply frustrating Saturday night.

McInnes gets his tactics wrong

What we couldn’t understand was the tactical switch that he made. We’ve offered our comments on freshening things up and endorsed the idea that this might become necessary in time, but we’ve also asked why fix what’s not broken?

McInnes decided to make a change this evening. He decided to put Minsu Kim in the middle and accommodate Badredine Bounani on the right. There was nothing wrong with this in theory. We didn’t necessarily disagree with his tactic, but putting Ryan Naderi up as an 11 at the front was a diabolical decision, given that Naderi is simply not a hold up man.

We’ve had our criticisms of Kevin Kelsy here at Ibrox Noise, but we do know what his position is, and that is to be a target man. He is the guy who can get the team up the field, even if his own play is not breathtaking. He does some hard work in the middle to get the team higher up the pitch.

Naderi can’t do this. He cannot dribble. He also cannot play as a target man.

The point had been made previously by quite a few pundits that Naderi is a kind of Thomas Müller. Müller, of course, plays 10, a nuisance making, goalscoring deeper striker who plays to the point of destruction. It works well for him and Naderi has been playing the same role under McInnes.

For some reason, McInnes decided to change that tonight and it absolutely didn’t work.

Rangers failed to adjust

Our biggest issue here is that after about 15 minutes of this one, it was abundantly clear that the setup wasn’t working. McInnes had got it wrong. He’d underestimated Steven Pressley and his organisation, even although he’d said otherwise in his prematch interviews.

Fundamentally, the changes needed to be made at that point and McInnes didn’t do it. He didn’t adjust a single thing.

And while Rangers did eventually go 2-1 to the good, nevertheless, the home side’s threat was always there. The outcome of 2-2 was probably harsh on the home side. They had been strong, well organised and had put Rangers under a fair amount of pressure.

Ultimately, the 2-2 represents an absolute missed chance for Rangers. McInnes got this one wrong, but several players did not help him with some diabolical performances. They simply did not show up on what was admittedly a very curious Saturday night 8pm kickoff.

Dan Neil costs Rangers dearly

Dan Neil especially had a diabolical performance and cost the three points for sure, at the very least with a horrendous lapse in concentration which cost 2-2. That said, Nicolas Raskin should not have put him in the position to face that kind of pressure when he was clearly being closed down.

This was just not good enough on the night for Rangers.

We are not going to overreact because McInnes has got an awful lot right in the last couple of months and Rangers are certainly in with a chance of winning the league. However, this did feel like an utterly missed opportunity and a case of shooting oneself in the foot.

Celtic can take advantage

Celtic now play tomorrow against Hearts with a chance to open up a four point lead at the top of the table. They are currently one point ahead thanks to Rangers getting that extra point today, but Celtic are very likely to take all three points because they now know that they can extend the lead.

Rangers blow golden chance and that will give the Parkhead team the motivation to try to do it. We can only hope that Hearts do us a bit of a favour on Sunday.

Nevertheless, this was a distinct opportunity lost. McInnes got the system completely wrong and didn’t change it in time, or indeed change it at all. Meanwhile, the players simply didn’t deliver on a Saturday night.

It is a huge shame and really does feel like a huge loss. Rangers missed opportunity to put serious pressure on Celtic and instead handed their rivals the initiative.

We cannot afford too many of these this season if we want any chance of winning 56 this term.

Ultimately, Rangers blow golden chance at Dens Park could prove extremely costly when the final league table takes shape.