Since the glory of an SPL win at Tannadice and the clinching of a 33rd Scottish Cup, Walter Smith could be forgiven for gloating, particularly after the pressure he was under when trailing Celtic by seven points in the League. However, his interviews since the Cup win have been modestly proud. He is clearly very content with what he has achieved as Rangers manager this season and he deserves huge praise for having lead the Light Blues to yet another World record.
In amongst the articles discussing the manager's triumph and comparing to the 9-In-A-Row era, this week a couple of 'papers decided to highlight January's 'We Deserve Better' campaign in what appears a laughable and hugely ignorant attempt to belittle the concerns of the Rangers support. Alleged football writer Keith Jackson said on Tuesday:
"WE DESERVE BETTER ... three words that became the slogan of the dissidents among the Rangers support back in January when Walter Smith was desperately trying to save his second stint in charge from collapse. Curiously, five months on from all the rebel rousing, there was neither a pitchfork nor a lit torch to be seen at the front door yesterday as Smith paraded the spoils of what he describes as his sweetest ever triumph in 20 years of management."
We should now be asking whether Keith Jackson can't read simple English, is hugely ignorant or merely an utter imbecile. Expecting a pitchfork rebellion on Edmiston Drive after a League and Cup double wouldn't even enter his head if he had read and understood the concerns raised by the RST and many Rangers supporters earlier this year. He would notice that many of the points still stand.
1. There is no clear, long-term plan for the Rangers. Supporters currently have no idea if we are going to build on this League triumph or if the team will go the way of Alex McLeish's side of 2005/06.
2. There is no evidence to suggest we have moved forward in terms of proactive PR, a proper scouting system or a genuine focus on setting a Rangers standard in youth development. The point of PR is particularly frustrating because it would be very easy for Rangers to make big differences here, but people at the club choose not to do so.
3. We have a state-of-the-art training facility but still so few players appear to improve themselves at Ibrox. Indeed, many go backwards after moving here and the tactics on offer (our fifth-choice centre back as a lone striker, anyone?) are baffling at times. Are the training regimes pushing players to improve? Do we have anyone staying behind after hours to improve their set pieces, passing, shooting, dribbling, crossing and general fitness?
If you asked Rangers fans about the points above I would bet most would still raise concerns. It doesn't mean we're not happy with the last fortnight; it just means we want what's best for our football club at all times. We have high expectations as supporters but that's to be expected. This is Rangers we're talking about - not just another football club.
'We Deserve Better' could well have been aimed at the Scottish football media on behalf of all supporters in the country. To look at the quality elsewhere then see the dross we have to put up with - Ronnie Cully's laughable 'exclusives', Traynor's "Your Call", the weekly bigotry fetish update from Graham Spiers (the discredited journalist) or Billy Dodds and Chick Young as pundits.
It's cringeworthy and certainly doesn't represent either value for money or football insight. In fact, the inconsistencies and lack of football knowledge of some of the aforementioned make you wonder how they earn a wage from our national sport when they can award Manager of the Year to a man that won only the lesser of three trophies on offer and who resigned before the season ended.
For now, let's enjoy the the double win. But we must keep in mind that whatever happens over the next few weeks, the Rangers support and the people at the club must ensure this triumph is built on and that 2008/09 doesn't go down in history as papering over the cracks.