It seems just the other week that we were daring to dream of a domestic treble.
The home team, sorry, the favourites for the Scottish Cup were subjected to a shear-and-run and with progress to a cup semi at Ibrox and the prospect of a Ramsden’s final to come, hopes were high. It was almost as if the majority of us had been smoking, ingesting, inhaling and injecting something that had blocked out the memory of the season to date.
Statistics will tell you that (before Sunday) Rangers had lost one competitive game all season. And away from home had and have what is, in any division of football, a formidable defensive record of which to be proud.
Watching the games, as opposed to looking at what the Americans would call the box-scores, would leave many with a different feeling; if not quite a sense of foreboding then certainly one that the football on display this season has not been quite what we’d have hoped for or indeed expected.
Could we raise our game when faced with two tests against teams from a higher division? Well, we still have one game to go (and the main course at that) but the appetiser is today still sticking in the throat.
There’s little worth saying about the Raith Rovers game, save to make the obvious yet telling point that we looked like a team short on inspiration, motivation and ambition. A defensive-minded set-up, with Plan A being a punt to a lone, immobile centre forward was the manifest result of our planning for this (minor) occasion. That really was that. Punters’ perceptions of players and their worst characteristics were reinforced and we witnessed some of the worst defending of the season.
And yet, of course, on another day Law’s opportunistic shot or Clark’s excellent attempt goes in and on most days, Bilel Mohsni doesn’t miss from six yards out when it seems easier to score. So, we win the cup, people have a small refreshment, the players have a party and we move on, slightly hungover, to face the real test.
I’ve spoken to maybe twenty fellow fans since Sunday. I’ve read the opinions of many more on forums, and via my missus’ Facebook (Hello, Alison). If there are Rangers fans out there who really believe we will be in the Scottish Cup final then I’ve yet to encounter them. And, worryingly, those who seem still to support the manager appear to be a group in danger of crumbling: and this from a support who, almost to a sane man, love Ally McCoist and are willing to give him extra time and backing based on that fondness and the way he has helped Rangers through this recent horrific period.
Would a win this weekend solve all ills, soothe all concerns and push all fundamental worries to the side (at least until after the season)? No. But being honest and appreciating the fickle nature of football fans, it would at least bring some unexpected joy back into our lives.
Ok. So what happens if (and you’ve no idea how much it hurts to be even tempted here to type when) we lose?
Realistically, very few of us would have expected Rangers to win the Scottish Cup. Those who’ve been awake for most of this season might have hoped for a ‘good’ run and it’s certainly a common enough topic of conversation amongst fans. Reaching the semi-final is, by any fair measure, a good run. Today’s injury update seems to confirm that Lee Wallace will join others such as Templeton and Little in the stands, and seems to hint that those who only just made last Sunday’s final will be unlikely to train much this week. Personnel concerns aside, you would be hard-pressed to think of many within our team who are at present in the type of form to scare a capable SPFL side.
Thus let it be said: Rangers beating Dundee United would be the biggest shock result of the Scottish season. Were Rangers then to win the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen (sorry St J.) it would be the type of story to demand a sequel of sorts to A Shot at Glory.
Many will understandably demand that if we do lose then it has to be with pride. Both the manager and the players have to demonstrate that they are worthy of our support. And that they deserve to be here next season. That is the very minimum we would expect from professionals who are highly-paid, full-time and almost to a man either experienced, internationals or promising youngsters. But pride - going out after a spirited display - isn't enough: we also need something else.
The ongoing SNAFU that is Rangers off the field has spared the harsh glare of the spotlight from the on-field approach, and grumbles have been dismissed by the relentless march of results. Once they fail then all bets are off and serious questions cannot be averted. Our style is determined by our structure. Our structure – our way of approaching the business and sporting philosophy that is football – appears outdated. To fix this will not only mean investment but also honesty and a re-evaluation of where we are and where football has moved to while we’ve been snoozing.
Ibrox needs to be awake this weekend. The fans have suffered most throughout the past few years but we can and must once again do our part; we have not been found wanting, at least when it comes to the match-day commitment. After the game, the season will either be over or one more great challenge will face us.
The greatest is yet to come. The idea that we have wasted some of the available opportunities since our demotion cannot be dismissed but, equally, it’s not yet too late. We face a summer which could well determine how we fare for the next generation and beyond. Investment is absolutely essential. Without it we cannot move to shape the Club and to ensure we don’t become a curiosity, offering no real challenge to our rivals and demonstrating an inability to adapt to modern footballing practices.
Whether that’s with Ally is open to question. But merely peering ahead, it’s clear that not many of those currently at the Club can be here in two or three years if we hope to return to the top and to be serious about whom we are and what we offer. Nobody will erase the memories or the achievements or the contributions to the ongoing story and we will be collectively stronger and hopefully wiser for the experience.
But regardless of how we do this weekend, we don’t just need a new chapter or two. We need a new way of telling the tale and framing the narrative. If that means we need a new author then, for the greater good, so it must be.