As one of the 5,007 at tonight's game, I can report back on almost all of what was an easy win, barring the large pillar obstructing my view from the SAR stand. Firstly, lining up without Smyth on the pitch and with Pavel in a central midfield role made me gnash my teeth somewhat. I am not one of these who can't tolerate players being played 'out of position', but if there is one thing you can say about Pavel, be it the attacking or the defending Pavel, be he on the right or the left: he is a wide player. Even in what was essentially no more challenging than a practice game, he looked like a square peg in a round hole. What on earth are we trying him out there for when Ryan Manning would have been a better fit (although arguably also a wide player)?
As for Smyffy,

's apparent dislike of him is another problem I am just going to have to learn to live with. One of the brightest things about the end of last season was the emergence of Smyth, and now he can't even get a start in the sodding Carabao Cup.
Those two points aside, there was little to get excited about this evening. Rovers were obliging visitors, as they often seem to be, playing neat, attractive football, and failing to take their chances. We punished them down the left with the pace of Osayi-Samuel, and put away three good goals without ever looking like we were totally in control of the game. An early two goal cushion gave us the luxury of of avoiding any dicey moments.
It was good to see Hall back. He is a long way from being the Hall we may hopefully come to admire again, but a few more games like this and he will have his match sharpness back. I thought Ingram, Hamalainen and Kakay also had good games, and it was nice to see a brief flash of Charlie Owens at the end. That said, we looked vulnerable at the back, largely because our midfield left the back four exposed and they were caught flat footed a few times. Cousins had a good game, and Osayi-Samuel was probably our best player. Washington and Smith were pretty disappointing overall, in ways that we are all largely familiar with.
Credit to the decent following that Rovers brought with them - they must have been disappointed to have been Rangers' easiest scalps in a long time.