On The Trophy Trail

Last updated : 10 March 2008 By Sherbet Dab
By the time our SPL campaign comes out of cold storage, the Gers could have the League Cup in the bag, be in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and, on the evidence of last Thursday night's very impressive display, be one step closer to a magic end-of-season UEFA Cup date in Manchester. 

It all sounds so simple when its rattled out like that but you and I know it will be far from easy to keep all those balls in the air while maintaining our quest for our number one goal, the recapture of the Premier League title.

Yet with each passing week, with each good result moving us onwards and upwards, the notion that we might be on the brink of a very special season gathers greater credibility.

It's off to Bremen we go!  With a 2-0 lead, we've got to fancy our chances in Germany but I hope we don't go there and hope to shut up shop.  That would only be inviting trouble.  To avoid a nerve-jangling night, we've got to get a goal and, with JCD back in the side, his pace might just stretch the Germans at the back.

Getting through would set things up nicely for next Sunday's League Cup Final and, for all the glamour of our business elsewhere, actually winning a trophy almost three years since our last success would be a major declaration of intent on Walter's part.

But we'll go into this one as the villains of the piece, with those big bad Rangers going all out to spoil Eddie Thomson's long-awaied chance of seeing Dundee United lift silverware.  Tough!  Its a hard, hard life and there can be no room for sympathy in Rangers' ranks when our players step on to that Hampden pitch.

United will be up for it, of that we can be sure.  They've already beaten us once this season so they aren't likely to be intimidated.  But it should all come down to the quality in the respective sides and, if we can't rise to the occasion to show just what we are made of, maybe we've only been kidding ourselves on.  Surely not!

There ain't too many in our side with anything resembling a respectable medal collection so, regardless of the emotions which may cloud the occasion, our lot should be ready and willing to do what it takes to get their hands on the trophy.

All of which would make for a good night out when we play Partick Thistle for a place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Then it will be back to the bread and butter of the SPL and another game with Hibs on March 22.  By then it should all be getting very interesting indeed and anybody who thinks the next couple of weeks are full of high-pressure games should look at what lies at the end of the month and beyond.

But would we have it any other way?  C'mon, the past two seasons have seen us fighting for the minor placings, with others left to grab all the glamour and the glory of parading trophies.

This is what life at Rangers is all about.  Bring it on.

SHERBET DAB