THERE has been a lot of talk about tactics and systems regarding Rangers recently and Mark Warburton has addressed some of the criticism he has received.

At the end of the day, you can do all the work you like on the training ground and you can be as prepared as possible going into a game.

But if the players don’t perform, if they don’t pass the ball well enough or take their chances, then you are not going to win the match.

For me, the difference between the defeat to Hearts and the win over Aberdeen was the attitude of the players, not the way that the side was set up.

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We know that Mark prefers to play a 4-3-3 formation and he famously said that his Plan B was to do Plan A better. When things haven’t been going well this season, people have looked at the system as the main reason.

The manager made five changes against Aberdeen and I was pleased to see the likes of Lee Hodson and Barrie McKay do well. The changes Mark made certainly worked.

It was a far better performance, a much-needed result and there was a lot of positivity from the supporters.

If you win, the fans are delighted. If you don’t win, they look at every reason as to why you haven’t got the three points.

We didn’t have anyone on Radio Clyde on Saturday night talking about tactics. They were talking about the attitude of the players, the fact they got stuck in, how they scored two good goals through Kenny Miller and Hodson.

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Rangers were better defensively, they were more direct when they attacked and the fans responded to a more positive performance.

In my day, Peter McCloy played the ball down the park and I put in the net. It was a way of playing that won us two Trebles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Back then, there wasn’t a lot of in-depth tactical talk but every player knew what their job was. If you were a defender, your first job was to keep the ball out of the net and if you were a striker your priority was to score goals.

The midfield worked as a unit going back and forward and the wide men knew when they got the ball that me or Derek Parlane or Gordon Smith, or whoever was playing, were in the box and that we would win it.

I know the game has moved on a lot and tactics are a bigger part of football than they were when I was playing.

But the fact is that you still need the players to turn up and do the business on the day if you are to win the game.

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The players know that if they play the way they can play then they will win games in the Premiership. But they also know that if they fall below those standards and not enough of them perform then they will be beaten, it is as simple as that.

It is not often that we see Rangers getting away with not playing well and they still win the game.

Teams are better equipped against Rangers and they know how to play against them. They look to stifle them in their own half and stop them playing out from the back.

But Rangers proved on Saturday that they can play it a bit longer and be successful and that will be pleasing for Mark.

At Rangers, you have to be right mentally every time you step over the white line. If you win the battle, you can win the war.

This is not an ordinary football club. The players might not have known what to expect when they joined in the summer but they should know now.

If you don’t play well, the fans won’t be slow in telling you and the Press will be critical of you as well.

I am not saying that Rangers were brilliant against Aberdeen, but there was a huge difference in the play compared to the game at Tynecastle on Wednesday night.

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The fans were so disappointed after the Hearts game last week but they left Ibrox delighted because the players had shown a bit of fight and passion and they had won the game.

Mark said at the weekend that he and the players had been unhappy with some of the comments directed at them in the build-up to the game.

They shouldn’t need that to fire them up but if that is what works for them and we get results, great. They have taken plenty of stick already this season and they proved a point against Aberdeen.

Now Rangers need to take that forward and get a result against Hearts this weekend at Ibrox.

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I don’t see there being many changes to the Hearts side from last midweek and Rangers will know what to expect from them. We need to move the ball quicker and get in and about Hearts to make sure we are not bullied.

The results that Rangers fans look for first now are Aberdeen and Hearts. Normally it would be Celtic but they are far in the distance in the Premiership.

This is another chance to beat one of the sides that will be in that battle with us for second place this season and taking six points from nine in this run would not be a bad return.