OLD FIRM FANS – the stupidest, most-entitled bunch of glory-hunting chancers ever. Still, those of us who follow the 40 other Senior Diddy Teams in Scotland, this morning we are having a good laugh as the blue cheek of Scottish Fitba's erse vent their spleen at another blank season.
To make their failure worse, Monday night's crucial defeat was master-minded by one of their own - if you believe in the old maxim: “once a Ranger – always a Ranger”, while Hearts' winning goal was scored by a player many of the Rangers' fans are convinced should have been signed lang syne.
Reading the social media posts was great fun for the rest of us; wailing, gnashing of teeth, spittle-flaked invective, glorious stuff for everyone else to read. Many of the Disgusted of Larkhall division were calling for the head of Manager Danny Rohl – 'twas ever thus when Rangers fail.
Guys, guys, I doubt if Bill Struth, Scot Symon, Jock Wallace, Willie Waddell, Graeme Souness or Walter Smith could have modelled a winning team from the squad Rohl has to work with. Mind you, I don't think any of those afore-mentioned managerial legends would have allowed most, or indeed any of the squad Rohl put out on Monday night in the door.
The fact is, hardly any – many veteran Rangers fans of my acquaintance would say None – of the present squad is Rangers' Class.
What is Rangers' Class? Basically, it meant – if you were a regular in the Rangers' first team, then you were in the conversation for a place in the Scotland team. My knowledge of Rangers line-ups goes back to the dying days of the Struth Years, and in the pre-Souness era, I can think only of the injury-hit George Niven and “Cutty” Young, or the under-appreciated Bobby Russell as uncapped Rangers Regulars.
Then, along came Souness and suddenly, Scottish talent became under-appreciated down Edmiston Drive way. Operating in different times, Jock Stein used to say, if given a choice between signing a promising Protestant Scottish player, or a promising Roman Catholic one, he would sign the Protestant – since Rangers wouldn't sign the Catholic and Celtic would get him any way.
Under Souness, it was almost as if he would sign a non-Scottish player first, because he didn't rate the available Scottish talent. “Don't sign any Scots – they aren't good enough” has become almost the Rangers' default position ever since.
Sadly, this position has now also become common-place elsewhere in our so-called top division. When Hibernian faced Celtic in the first of the week-end's two biggest games, at the kick-off there were only four Scots among the 22 players on the park: Jack Iredale and Nicky Cadden for Hibs and Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor for Celtic.
At Tynecastle on Monday night, Connor Barron and Liam Kelly, both unused substitutes, were the only Scots in Rangers' 20-man match-day squad, while Hearts to their credit had five Scots in their starting XI – Craig Halkett, Stuart Findlay, Stephen Halkett, Marc Leonard and Lawrence Shankland, brought on a further two in Jamie McCart and Blair Spittal, while leaving Alan Forrest and Ryan Fulton on the bench.
Time perhaps to repeat my call for balls to drop along the sixth-floor corridor inside Hampden, for the clubs to promote native Scottish talent and for the SPFL to bring-in the eight diddies rule – so every team can have only three non-Scots on the park in domestic games. Of course, this will never happen, but, it will not stop me advocating this as a good way of improving Scottish football.
However, the main thrust of this post is the pickle Rangers have got themselves into. I don't think those Rangers fans calling for Rohl's head are capable of rational thought, but, here goes. I honestly believe, given the quality of player he had foisted upon him when he took the Ibrox job, he has worked wonders.
When he arrived, Rangers were looking at not making the top six in the division. He took them to the top of the table, before reality hit and they dropped to their current third – with that terrible squad, that's good management.
The reality is, I don't think the new owners of the club have the financial wherewithall it will take to get them back on top as quickly as they, or their impatient fan base will demand. If I was in their as heid bummer, I'd be looking to off-load nearly every current player, but, what would it cost to replace these failures with half-decent Rangers Class playeres?
The foundations for the present problems within the club were laid back when the club was liquidated. The new owners then, starting off in the fourth tier, had two choices:
Hang onto the good young Scots they had on the staff, plus one or two battle-hardened Scottish players, build-up through the divisions, allowing the kids to gain experience and learn what was required of Rangers players. Then, by the time they got back to the top flight, they would have a core squad of Real Rangers Men, who knew what playing for that club entailed.
Do things the recent Rangers way, buying-in non-Scots on big contracts; badge-kissers who were mainly looking at the club as a stepping stone to somewhere better, or, an easy pay day in a poor league.
They chose Option Two and the club has been paying for this ever since.
Rangers (and Celtic) teams, more than any other Scottish/British sides, need one or two FOTPs (Fans On The Park) – players who, if they weren't on the field playing, would be in the stands cheering-on the side. Celtic currently have several such players: Tierney, McGregor, Forrest, Ralston, Rangers don't have (other perhaps than John Souttar) a FOTP who is guaranteed a start.
Nobody sums-up the current Rangers problem more clearly than Club Captain James Tavernier. He is not and never has been Rangers Class. He is a very lucky boy to have played as many games as he has and the fact he is already in the club's Hall of Fame demonstrates how low the bar is for admission.
He was released before he could be offered a professional contract at Leeds United. He managed only 10 games for Newcastle United. He had loan spells at seven different clubs, none of which made that loan deal permanent. He has never, in over ten years with Rangers, come remoteely close to a move back to England. He's at best a journeyman – albeit one with a reasonable record at converting penalties and free-kicks – but, you need more than that to forge a career in England, hence his lengthy sojourn up here.
I am not saying he's the worst Captain the club has had. Bobby Shearer, for instance, was never Scotland-class, but, he was Rangers through and through and his heart and refusal to countenance defeat covered some of his failings and made him a club legend.
Nobody ever said of ”Captain Cutlass” - as was said of Tavernier after that defeat at Tynecastle: “He has a heart the size of a pea”. Tavernier will not be getting a new contract when his current one expires at the end of the season, is anyone surprised?
Souttar could well grow into a Rangers Captain. Perhaps someone else on the staff has the right stuff for the job. But, unless the club gets a new Captain, and at least a couple of other FOTPs for next season, I fear the failure will spread through another campaign.
These are black days for Rangers Men.
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