I began writing this piece on Friday prior to the weekend games, with the main line of the article pointed at whether we have the bottle to overcome Celtic.
The weekend fairly blew a hole in the title race and also this article. So hey, Monday morning and let’s start it again!
We have all effectively hit the home straight. At the number of game hits 31, Rangers lead Celtic by 1 solitary point and are 6 goals better off than their old (and bitter) rivals.
So with 7 games (and a potential 21 points) to go, the SPL title is officially up for grabs.
I predicted, somewhat pessimistically in August, that Celtic would win the title by about 8 points. I believed at that point that Celtic were the stronger side. And the opening early exchanges seemed to bear that out – Rangers stumbled their way through the early exchanges and Celtic took a 7 point lead.
However Celtic growing frailty (a contradiction in terms, I know) and Rangers increased strength was highlighted in late October/early November when two OF wins (one in the CIS Cup) in the space of a couple of weeks put Rangers right back in the game.
Since then Rangers have beaten Celtic on their own patch for the first time in 5 years and have not lost a game since losing to Celtic at Parkhead in the opening rounds.
So you’d think that Rangers would be well in front by now, especially as Celtic have lost a couple of games outside of ourselves – to Aberdeen and Hearts, both at home.
Sadly it’s not the case – even though we have lost one match and Celtic four, we are only 1 point ahead. Largely due to 6 drawn matches.
And it is these 6 drawn matches, or more specifically the manner of some of the draws that lead us all to question the ability and the bottle of the Rangers side and management team to hang onto top spot and regain the SPL title.
Add to this, the growing concern that Rangers simply do not ‘put teams away’ when they have the opportunity, and the question of bottle is raised once more.
In order to get through the next 7 games we have to show more mental strength and killer instinct than some of these games to save anymore dropped points. I am thinking of specific examples like Dundee United (1-1 at Ibrox); Inverness CT (1-1 at Pittodrie); and Inverness CT (1-1 at Ibrox) whereby we did not show desire, killer instinct or mental strength to tough it out.
That is the exact reason that we are not out of sight by now – and personally I believe we should be. Therefore the question of whether we have the bottle or not, is a valid one.
Do we have the bottle, desire and mental strength? Only time will tell. And yesterday, from a scrapping viewpoint, would suggest that we might just have it after all.
Prove to us that you’ve got it Rangers, and prove that this dirty old cynic’s pre-season prediction was a proverbial pile of poo.
To coin a phrase from the next producers of the mhanky kit – "Just Do It" Rangers.
Vanderhogg
The East Enclosure Dutchman