Source: Team_Talk
Weir expects better from Rangers
The result may have looked like a stroll in the park for Walter Smith's men but the truth is they struggled for periods of the game against a team who flirted with relegation last season.
A terrific opener from Lee McCulloch was cancelled out by Carl Finnigan, with Falkirk determined to spoil the party atmosphere after Rangers had triumphantly unfurled the SPL flag at Ibrox ahead of the game.
However, a double from Kenny Miller and a late strike from Steven Naismith ensured there would be no shocks on the opening day.
Weir was satisfied with the outcome but with the likes of Pedro Mendes, Nacho Novo, Kyle Lafferty and Sasa Papac all missing from the curtain-raiser, the skipper is confident Rangers will only
get stronger in the weeks ahead when key players return.
"Hopefully there is better to come," he said.
"There were a lot of players missing for different reasons but it gives somebody else an opportunity.
"The lads who came in - Steven Smith, Lee McCulloch - did great jobs and you have to give them credit. You have to say if they
can play like that, they will be looking to stay in the team.
"That's how football should be, there should be competition for places and there should be guys who play well looking to stay in the team.
"I think in every performance there are things you can do better. We will be critical about some things but we won the game 4-1 and we would take that every week.
"There is no doubt there were some things we weren't happy about but it's about results."
The win saw Rangers start the new season the way they ended the last - at the top of the table.
Weir added: "It was a great win. I thought Falkirk played quite well and we had to work hard for it but we scored a few goals and it's always nice to start the season with a win.
"I think scoring the goals was the most pleasing aspect, we scored some good goals. A lot of the guys played well too.
"We were quite short in the squad with a few guys missing and we had to adjust to that and respond to that and I thought we did.
We played well enough to win and there were a lot of good things about the game."
There was a surprise recall for Allan McGregor who was handed the gloves ahead of Neil Alexander for his first competitive outing since his involvement with the 'Boozegate' incident which ended his Scotland career and had left doubts over his future at Rangers.
"It's a tough decision and it's really tough on Neil," said Weir.
"They are both very good goalkeepers so whatever way it went, it was going to be really disappointing for the other one.
"It was nice to see Allan in goals as he is a top goalkeeper but it was disappointing for Neil as he is a top goalkeeper as well. They are both top-class goalkeepers and we are happy to have either of them playing."
New Falkirk boss Eddie May was not too down-hearted about the performance and insists the match will act as a learning curve for his players.
"I thought we were decent for about 75 minutes," he said.
"Three of the goals were avoidable and one was magnificent from Lee McCulloch.
"We were playing the best team in Scotland and they are going to punish you if you're slack. That's what happened and we just have to learn from it."
