The margin of victory at Motherwell last weekend might have been slender but nobody should be fooled. Rangers were excellent, particularly eye-catching in the first half, and now we must look to build on our good start with an equally impressive show when Dundee United come to Ibrox on Saturday. And with Hearts and Celtic clashing at Tynecastle 24 hours later, this is an excellent opportunity for the Gers to rattle in a few goals and move menacingly into pole position.
Paul Le Guen has already spoken of how moved he was by the reception he got at the pre-season friendly against Middlesbrough. Prepare yourself Monsieur Le Gaffer, you ain't seen nothing yet. A full house, lifted by the good show at Fir Park and keenly anticipating some declaration of intent in our first home fixture, will be well noised up. The Bears are in the mood and it would be great to see the team respond to the atmosphere.
Apart from Tommy Buffel playing blindfolded, each and every player can be pleased with his contribution at Motherwell and, with Kris Boyd, maybe Burkey and new signing Filip Sebo also available, the scene is set for an even more enjoyable afternoon's entertainment. Having suffered rather than savoured the football we've played for quite some time, it is so good to actually look forward to a game with a sense of keen anticipation.
While the Fir Park pitch was a great deal better than it has been for many years, the neat pass and move approach will surely be much more effective on the wide open spaces of Ibrox. We can send out a message that we are the team who'll be setting the standards and, while Dundee United have been known to surprise us on a few occasions in recent years, this is a whole new ball game.
Having lost their opening game, Craig Brewster and his team are already under pressure and might be inclined towards defence in depth. In the past we have struggled to break down packed defences but Paul Le Guen's team has all the style and guile to open them up and I'm convinced we'll see goals and plenty of them on Saturday.
It might sound like I'm taking it all for granted but nothing could be further from the truth. United will make sure we have to work hard for anything we get but the work ethic is high on Paul Le Guen's list of priorities and I'm sure the players will fight for the right to play, then get the job done. Hopefully, Buffel will get amongst the goals to show that last week was just a one-of and, once the game is won, I'd expect some contribution from the subs bench to gild the lily.
A convincing scoreline will surely take us to the top, then we can sit back on Sunday and watch the Jambos and Septic cut each others' throats. Having spent this week in Bosnia and Japan, the pair of them are overloaded with excuses and, if they send us to sleep with a boring non-event of a game, we'll undoubtedly be warned not to read too much into it.
We shouldn't and we won't. Our season will be determined by our own efforts, Rangers' performances will be the benchmark and, hopefully, Saturday will be just the first of many champagne shows from the new-look Gers.
I can hardly wait.
ERWIN G