Anybody who thinks Rangers have only got to turn up at East End Park on Sunday to pick up three points need look back no further than last weekend for a reality check.
Just like Dundee United on Saturday, Dunfermline are in disarray, without a point to their name and overburdened with injury worries. A foregone conclusion? Aye, I've heard that one before. This is Rangers we are talking about, the team which can't go about its business without making life hard for itself.
Yes, we've got a new management team running the show, with exciting new players and a new ultra-professional approach kicking in. But we still have that infuriating tendency to let teams off the hook and, as opponents are always likely to be fired up against us and referees are inclined to look away at the crucial moment - the blatant push in Kris Boyd's back as he raced into the box last week was as clear a penalty as you'll ever see! - we simply can't afford to be so charitable.
Last season was overloaded with examples of the Gers seemingly coasting, only for unacceptable slackness to cost us valuable points. Never was that more so than at East End Park on Boxing Day when, 3-2 up and well into injury time, Soto Kyrgiakos had a brainstorm, despite being warned moments earlier he got involved in a wrestling match in the box, the ref pointed to the spot and another two points were thrown away.
Later in the season, the Mhanky Mhob went to the same venue and won 8-1. Now, far be it for me to suggest they've got it right when we've got it wrong but at no time during their cakewalk did they show any inclination to take the foot off the gas. They went for the jugular, piled on the agony and got a great boost from winning so comfortably. When did you last see a Rangers team cut loose in such a manner?
Off the top of my head, I can only recall the 7-0 destruction of St.Johnstone early in Tricky Dicky's reign, maybe the 7-0 romp against Hibs on our way to eight-in-a-row and an 8-1 stuffing of Killie back in the 'good old days' when John Greig was manager. Maybe there have been a few more but they serve only to underline the point that, where Rangers are concerned, slaughtering the opposition tends to be a noteable exception to the rule.
Maybe it is out of order to talk about the margin of victory when a game has still to be won. But we surely are on a different level from Dunfermline, we should go there confident we can rattle in a barrowload of goals and if we face an inspired keeper, encounter a bent referee (surely not!) or just have an unlucky day in front of goal, perhaps then we can just make do by scraping through.
However, if we continue to be so slack in front of goal and needlessly let games hang in the balance, it just takes one crucial slip, one dodgy decision or one freak moment to cost us points.
The Jambos fired out a declaration of intent last Sunday and, after Saturday's fixtures, they are likely to be the last team standing with a 100% record. So we will be five points behind when we head for Fife and, as Hearts are due at our place next week, losing any further ground would put us under unnecessary pressure so early in the season. It can't be allowed to happen.
Against both Motherwell and Dundee United, Rangers have shown a clear capability of breaking teams down and getting in behind defenders. If we'd scored five goals in each game, the scorelines wouldn't have flattered us but we didn't, we are already playing catch-up and, if this campaign isn't to be a mirror image of last season's frustration, we must make our pressure count, kill off opponents when they're on the ropes and continue to show that killer touch, even when it looks like the points are in the bag.
Hey, I've just remembered a 6-0 drubbing of the Pars on their own patch four years ago. That's the way to do it and Sunday would be a good time to do it again.
But I'll believe it when I see it.
KILLIE BILLY