ian1964 10,724 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 RANGERS have become the first team to win a league while taking less pleasure from it than their critics. It has taken eight months for them to be confirmed as Irn-Bru Scottish League Division Three champions and a cursory glance at the league table shows it to be pretty much as everyone had predicted before a ball was kicked: Rangers more than 20 points clear, home and hosed with a handful of games to spare. They say a league table never lies. Maybe so, but this one is economical with the truth. Others have had plenty of fun at Rangers' expense as one humbling result followed another, but the real fools are those who burdened a limited squad with grossly unrealistic expectations in the first place. Remember suggestions that they might win all 36 league games? Remember those who wrote they could challenge strongly for the Scottish Cup and League Cup too? That was a blinkered, epic exaggeration of their potential, as was shown not only in the comprehensive defeats they suffered against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee United when exiting both domestic cups, but the frequent stumbles they experienced against Scotland's most modest clubs. There were eight draws and two defeats en route to the title, so many that they eventually lost their shock value. When any team wins a league it is normal to reflect on perhaps half a dozen "key" games which shaped the season. Clearly, 11 consecutive league victories between October and January were the backbone of Rangers' success but, in truth, this has been a perverse season in which the champions' failures were more memorable than their many victories. They were almost into November before they won an away game in the league and by then draws at Peterhead, Berwick Rangers and Annan Athletic had redrawn how they were perceived. This has been the poorest team to wear their colours, a fact acknowledged â?? and unwisely expressed in public â?? by the chief executive, Charles Green. When you lose to the team at the very bottom of the table on the day its manager has taken the day off to get married, any debate about whether this is Rangers' worst side becomes redundant. There is no great sensation about the fact: nearly all their best players left last summer and the replacements have been generally poor. In the hours after the title was confirmed Ally McCoist forcefully asserted his, and his players', right to celebrate. He has been admirably respectful of opposing teams from the start. Had he not delivered the championship, Rangers would have faced the sticky matter of having to replace him as manager, and the same will apply in a year if he has not won the Irn-Bru Second Division (assuming no alternative league structure is in place). His job is to continue ploughing through league titles until Rangers are back in the top flight. On all the currently available evidence, that is going to become an increasingly demanding task. McCoist will remain in charge for as long as he continues upward momentum. If they ever seem to plateau, say in the first division or even mid-table in the top flight, he will know that the restlessness for him to be replaced will become irresistible. The emergence and development of Lewis Macleod and Barrie McKay has been hugely pleasing for Rangers, but easily the most rewarding aspect of their season has been the enormous commitment shown by their supporters. Even if the club was prone, like others, to massaging the official attendance figures the size of their crowds has been obvious to the naked eye. However demoralising many of their results have been, McCoist and others can never have felt that they had been abandoned or rendered less relevant. Whether through results, their share issue, boardroom division, boycotting Tannadice, Green's endless blethering, suspending their own staff or any of the numerous other issues and excitements which have bubbled around the club, Rangers have retained their prominence on the news agenda. Sometimes far fewer journalists attend their briefings or matches than has been the case at any other time in the past 20 years, but the numbers will return to normal the further they rise. As Rangers continue to climb the leagues the focus on McCoist will intensify. He knows there has been little praise for him after the struggles of this laboured campaign and many expect him to struggle when Rangers are regularly up against the better clubs again. His admission that he needs at least 10 additions to the squad this summer â?? any he brings in will miss all matches before September 1, when the club's SFA registration embargo is lifted â?? served as a timely message to supporters. Their loyalty cannot be taken for granted. There was a sense of togetherness this season, bonded by relief and celebration that Rangers still existed and were playing at all. But season ticket prices will be more expensive this summer and the sobering drudgery of the quality of play they have been exposed to at Ibrox will persuade some that they have better things to do with their money. They have to hear more from the club in the coming weeks than hot air about playing in English football. McCoist needs to be a league-winning manager again in 12 months' time, having delivered levels of style, substance and quality which have been absent this season. Rangers are the champions, runaway winners, in a league of their own. But in the course of proving themselves the best, they have not been good enough. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/mccoist-knows-that-winning-titles-is-never-enough-for-rangers-fans.20674842 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 who won the league cup again? what is their player budget? i don't know why people insist on justifying the pish we have been watching by patronising us about unrealistic expectations and lack of knowledge. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,674 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 what makes the writer so sure Ally McCoist will still be Rangers manager beyond this summer as per his last paragraph? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 i will tell you what if he stays he better hit the ground running and deliver style, verve passion and results from day 1 and keep it going. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,674 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 i will tell you what if he stays he better hit the ground running and deliver style, verve passion and results from day 1 and keep it going. I read somewhere he's wanting something like 10 players for next season. Would you risk letting him bring in an amount like that? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I read somewhere he's wanting something like 10 players for next season. Would you risk letting him bring in an amount like that? well restrict his budget to whats affordable and let him spend it on 1 2 5 10 20. frankly with his talk of ten new players and loosing the first 4 next year i think hes just getting his excuses in early. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 850 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 McCoist needs to be a league-winning manager again in 12 months' time If its Div 2 as it is this season then yes. If the 12-12-18 goes through and we are in the 2nd 12 then I wonder what expectations are. Does anyone realistically believe we will win the 2nd group of 8? Currently that would include Dundee Utd and Hearts and we already seen how far behind Dundee utd we are now. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 some will try to say it's ok to finish top four of the second 8 but anything other than winning it would be an abomination. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggy dewhurst 0 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 things must improve green has decisions to make and he should not baulk at making them 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon 1,291 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 If its Div 2 as it is this season then yes. If the 12-12-18 goes through and we are in the 2nd 12 then I wonder what expectations are. Does anyone realistically believe we will win the 2nd group of 8? Currently that would include Dundee Utd and Hearts and we already seen how far behind Dundee utd we are now. Gribz, what makes you think we would be in the 2nd 12? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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