Rangers - Where do we go from here?

[Bill 13,717]

For those prepared to consider the reality of our position, the harsh truth is Peter Lawwell has out-thought and out-fought Rangers for the best part of 20 years. He has succeeded is establishing Celtic as the pre-eminent club in Scotland and has done so by removing Rangers from any position of influence it had in Scottish football. Celtic has been better run in every respect, to the extent they are now far better financed and much better connected than Rangers by a country mile.

 

Since returning to the SPFL, Rangers has succeeded in making second place its own but remains far behind Celtic in almost every respect. If we are ever going to shake off our current mantle as second best and step out of Celtic's shadow, we will need a far better calibre of leadership and it's far from obvious to me that we currently have the people on board to provide it. Clearly, we're now heading in the right general direction but if we don't improve and get it right, we could spend the next 20 years heading in the right direction without ever arriving at a destination.

 

I remember when Rangers was recognised by everyone as the gold standard in Scottish football, when Celtic was the perennial bridesmaid. But we got lazy and careless and frittered away every advantage we once had. I don't think we can just assume Celtic will do the same. There's a tacit understanding that we have to stop Celtic winning ten in a row but, seriously, I'm more concerned about them winning 15 or more in a row and, frankly, nothing I've seen so far persuades me we yet have what it takes to stop them. My hope is that recent boardroom changes will pave the way for new and more aggressively competitive investors/directors and that that will translate into something more than the half-hearted challenges we've mustered in recent years. Something significant has to change and I hope the current directors are smart enough to realise that.

[compo 7,051]

Unless we get new and plentyful investment we are never going to go forward then you have to look at the coaching side are they up to the job it's been pretty poor since the Christmas break .

Where are the boy's from Achinhowie do we even give them a chance to play in the first eleven 

[Scott7 6,015]

53 minutes ago, Bill said:

 

I remember when Rangers was recognised by everyone as the gold standard in Scottish football, when Celtic was the perennial bridesmaid

Better than that, I remember when celtic weren’t even flower girls. Hibs, Hearts and Dundee were the competition. Even East Fife Were better than them for a season.

 

However, that detracts from Bill’s absolutely valid assessment. There is a big improvement in the club’s corporate governance. Much more is to be done. It needs aggression underpinned by wiliness. Who will be our Fergus McCann? I don’t mind if whoever it is takes a profit. He’ll deserve it.

[Gribz 850]

I dont think the conversation would be so closely discussed had we not had a bad winter break. Its been a collapse on the pitch this season which has seen sloppy seconds again. Not showing up against Hearts (A 2-1), St Johnstone (A 2-2), Kilmarnock (A 2-1), Aberdeen (H 0-0) and Hamilton (H 0-1) is where its gone wrong. That would have been 13 more points on the board, then add our game in hand we could have been 3 ahead. Granted we may not have won every game but even say 8 points in those games and our 3 in hand would be a gap of 2 with two more OF games to play. So IMO its been a footballing reason for letting it go this season rather than behind the scenes. 

 

I have been impressed with our boards stances and responses in the last 12 months and long may that continue while there is yes men running the league.

 

But football goes in cycles. It took the Souness era to win a title for the first time in 9 years back in 1987. Then when we were scooping all in the 90s Celtic almost had their doors closed. The 2000s were pretty even now Celtic have had their decade for obvious reasons.

 

So Id say we are on the right path, it was always going to take 3-5 years due to climbing the ladder again. With a few tweaks there is no reason we wont win the next league when the season starts.

As horrid as them getting 10 would be I think the bigger aim is to remain on top for most titles won.

[RANGERRAB 3,677]

I don’t think we’re as far behind Celtic as the OP suggests. Our form after the break was a mystery but the absence of Morelos was a major factor and when he returned he was well short of match sharpness. I still think the squad is a bit short in one or two areas and selling to strengthen might be the answer.

 

Regards since we returned to the premiership, the disastrous summer  signings in 2016 by MW & Pedro a year later in 2017 hindered us greatly and meant we couldn’t mount a proper challenge 

 

[Gonzo79 15,294]

I think finding significant new investors is unlikely, so we'll have to continue with the currect custodians, who are doing a good but not a great job. 

 

All the focus should be on the pitch.  Celtc aren't that far ahead of us and we need to bring in players with a winning mentality.  

 

SG will undoubtedly get next season but if we continue in the same vain, I think questions will have to be asked about his managerial capabilities. 

 

The next few signing are hugely important. 

[Bill 13,717]

Already I see two of the reasons why we probably need to shake ourselves awake.

 

"Football goes in cycles" - no it doesn't, there isn't a single reason why it should.

 

"We're not so far behind Celtic" - maybe you need to define "not so far" because in a winner takes all scenario you get f*ck all for coming close.

[Gonzo79 15,294]

I'd say "not that far" means if we swap out a couple of players for better ones and get some leadership on the pitch, I think we could win the league in 2020/21.  

[Bill 13,717]

39 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I'd say "not that far" means if we swap out a couple of players for better ones and get some leadership on the pitch, I think we could win the league in 2020/21.  

You might be able to back that point of view if you could first explain why we can't win games after New Year. But in any case, all these "nearly there" assumption are entirely based on Celtic not wielding their larger resources and responding. Granted they're not a great team but neither are we and they are currently achieving much more than us over a season. We're not two points behind, we're 13 points behind and that isn't a close race.

 

What I'm saying is we have a mountain still to climb and at the moment we're barely leaving base camp. If we want to get to the top we are going to have to look at the more important elements of the club that are fundamentally not delivering. Because whichever way you stack the cards, the trophy cupboard is still bare and every season Celtic  get that CL slot we have less chance of filling it.

 

Key proposition - if we rest on our laurels now and congratulate ourselves on how far we've come then we're fucked.

 

At the very least I want to see significant investment and changes at board level, better board leadership and a change of manager if we fail again so badly next season.

[MacK1950 2,378]

3 hours ago, Bill said:

But we got lazy and careless and frittered away every advantage we once had

IMO it all goes back to Murray being the above,he did not manage to get his dream and simply spat the dummy,again IMO.

 

As a result we got the ensuing disasters till Dave King came along,he got the club on a reasonably stable footing and,although not completely gone,has left us in decent governance.