The Light Blues have netted 15 times from set-piece situations in Michael Beale’s 22 matches in charge, converting from a variety of direct and indirect dead ball moments.
Speaking exclusively to RangersTV in the lead up to Sunday afternoon’s Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen, the first-team development coach emphasised the hard work which has went into maximising set-piece opportunities: “I’m really happy with the output, but I have to say that Colin [Stewart] and Seb [Dunn] have had a big part in that, as well as the small group of players that we have in the set-piece committee. It’s not just a one-man job.
“I’m really happy that we’ve scored 15 goals since we came in, but we have to stop it from going in at the other end as well. We always reflect, review and analyse. I think we can score in a variety of ways, and we’ve shown that through inswingers, outswingers and short corners. It’s something that we’ve added and that we want to continue. We obviously have some big games coming up, so we want to add to that total.
“It’s about us and it’s about our style. We’re not just kicking it into the penalty box and hoping. There’s a lot more thought to it than that, so that’s why I have to give a lot of credit to Colin and Seb who have helped me massively. We then go to the players and offer up potential solutions to the problems that the opposition want to cause us, and again it’s about the senior players, the likes of Tavernier, Barisic, Goldson, who will go out and execute that.
“You have to give credit to the players because ultimately they have to go out and execute it. Set-pieces can win or lose you games, so the squad totally respect the importance of those moments. We’re very lucky with the quality that we have in terms of the players’ deliveries, and the players around it who can outplay one-versus-one and give us that variety. The boys have been great so far with that.”
The Gers make the trip north to Pittodrie this weekend fresh off a five-goal haul against St. Mirren at Ibrox, with Todd Cantwell catching the eye after grabbing a goal and two assists.
Watling insists the coaching staff have been delighted with the midfielder’s impact since arriving in Glasgow, while he also believes the growing depth of the squad was showcased at the weekend.
He continued: “He [Cantwell] really gets it. He has definitely raised the energy levels since he came in. You see how he plays the game, with a real purpose, takes the ball anywhere on the pitch and shows real bravery. For a club as big as ours, that’s actually quite difficult to do. He really harnesses the expectation that the fans, the club and the staff put on him to be the player who wants to take the ball in big moments. We’re really happy for him and he’s now starting to convert those numbers that we speak about.
“It’s a squad game. It’s not 1-11 at a club like this, it’s beyond that. Players like Scott Arfield coming on, running beyond the forwards, and scoring a brilliant goal. You also look at the pass that he gives to Rabbi Matondo for Alfredo Morelos’ goal, which is brilliant vision. We’re really pleased for everyone who came on, Ianis [Hagi] came on and did really well as well.”
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