Ibrox, Ibrox Baby: Spurs Survive the Noise but Only Just

It’s not every day you see 50,000 Glaswegians fall eerily silent, but Ibrox pulled off the trick five minutes from time. Cyriel Dessers turned Archie Gray inside out, the home crowd collectively poised to celebrate a winner, only for Fraser Forster to remind us all why he’s Celtic’s former darling. Dessers wasn’t quite “the greats of Europe,” but Forster’s save was big enough to keep Spurs in it – or maybe just to keep us from total humiliation.

Let’s be honest: a 1-1 draw wasn’t exactly what we hoped for, but given the state of things, it felt like we got out of jail. Ange Postecoglou had clearly spent the week warning the lads about the battle of Ibrox. Trouble is, the players turned up like tourists thinking they were on a casual city break, not an away day at one of football’s noisiest cauldrons.

The match started as badly as our transfer deadline days usually go. Nicolas Raskin had Rodrigo Bentancur looking like he’d forgotten how to play midfield, and Pedro Porro was getting mugged left, right, and centre. Yves Bissouma didn’t fare much better, and Rangers, to their credit, smelled blood. Spurs? We looked soft – the kind of team that forgets you need more than a Premier League badge to scare anyone north of the border.

Ibrox rocked, and Postecoglou was having a full-on meltdown on the touchline. Six directions of gesticulation, all simultaneously. The bloke probably clocked more movement than half our squad. Meanwhile, our shiny attackers – Werner, Johnson, Maddison – were either invisible or making the wrong kind of headlines. By the half-hour mark, we were on the ropes.

James Tavernier’s precision delivery set up Igamane for a goal just after the restart, and if we’re being fair, Rangers deserved it. They were quicker, hungrier, and looked every inch a team playing for their lives. Spurs, meanwhile, seemed surprised they weren’t getting a free pass just for showing up.

Cue Dejan Kulusevski, Postecoglou’s “in case of emergency” plan, and, mercifully, it worked. Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke linked up well, and soon enough, we had our equaliser. Even then, Ange barely reacted. Maybe relief, maybe resignation – who knows?

The last 15 minutes were chaos. Solanke nearly stole it, Tavernier pulled off a crucial defensive block, and then came the Dessers moment that had all of Ibrox holding its breath. Forster delivered the goods, preserving what little dignity we had left.

One win in eight isn’t a great look for Postecoglou, but hey, at least we’re Spurs – if there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s embrace chaos. Meanwhile, Rangers might just fancy their chances in the League Cup final against Ange’s old team, Celtic. If they play like this, they’ll definitely give them a fright.

For us? Well, let’s just say the Ange revolution’s hit a bit of a speed bump. Typical Spurs, eh?