.
As the vastly overrated league leaders stumble towards the finishing line in the SPL race, I won't let myself contemplate the possibility of the hooped horrors going into freefall. Hey, I'd like to see nothing more but the realist in me says that, no matter how much they get found out over the final sequence of fixtures, by hook or by crook they'll pick up enough points to get the job done.
Mind you, it could all be so different, if only we had been able to take care of the less fancied sides in the pre-Walter days. And no team has done more damage to our title challenge than the proper mouthful which is Inverness Caledonian Thistle. They've been known to get a right mouthful from me but, more significantly, they also got six points gift-wrapped by PLG.
It was his pig-headedness last October which brought an out-of-sorts Lionel Letizi back into the side in preference to Allan McGregor and the self-same Lionel played dropsy to hand Caley Thistle a 1-0 win. And while the players were hardly blameless, when we went to Inverness just a few days after winning at Sheepieville, despite grabbing an early lead, we were never aggressive enough to kill the game and paid the price for backing off when they grabbed a last minute winner.
Those six points and the five squandered to a struggling Dundee United side have been mortal blows. Add a further nine points lost to Dunfermline, Motherwell, Falkirk and St.Mirren and it is clear the damage has been done not by our rivals in the top six but by the teams whose only realistic goal has been Premier League survival.
After all, we've won away from home against every other side in the top six, whilst dishing out gubbings against them all except you-know-who (they got out of jail that day!) at Ibrox. So even without 'the major surgery' the Queer Fella talks about, I reckon Rangers are perfectly capable of making genuine moves towards the title next time around.
But we can't pick and choose who we raise our game against. The others seem to take great delight in producing their best against us so it is only fair that we return the compliment and, with Walter and Super Ally calling the shots, I'm confident the progress we have made in the second half of the season will be maintained and enhanced steadily. A convincing victory this weekend will show we are on the right track.
Cutting Ra Sellick's lead to ten points before their game against the resurgent Arabs on Sunday will give them something to think about. Could United do us a favour? I'd love to think so but I'm afraid the team once known as Dundee Hibernian have multiple previous convictions for turning victory into defeat when faced with the green and grey hoops so, even if they are 2-0 up going into injury time, I'd still be inclined to back against a home win at Tannadice.
Maybe I'm too negative for my own good. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility for Rangers to win their remaining seven fixtures to finish on the 82 points mark. Sitting on 74, as they have been for quite some time, FC Semtex need three more wins to wrap things up so the SPL better hope they get all of them, or none of them, before they come to our place on May 5. It must not be allowed to pass without comment that it was the SPL who decreed that the Championship would NEVER AGAIN be decided in an Old Firm match. Or does that only apply when it is Rangers who are playing to win the title?
It has occurred to me that, with the current demonisation of Rangers and Rangers fans gathering momentum, our many enemies would love nothing more than to see our noses rubbed in the dirt that day. And if we don't take it too well, you can be sure the Hack Pack won't be prattling on about an 'Old Firm Day Of Shame'. They will be queuing up to stick the boot into our club.
Like I said, maybe I'm too negative. Even if they were to come to Ibrox needing a result to win the league, I'd fancy Walter to once more get the better of Gordon The Gardsen Gnome…and it would be very interesting to monitor Timothy's reaction to such an outcome. Oops, look out for the 'Old Firm Day Of Shame' headlines again!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets get this weekend out of the way with another three points on the board, then we'll see how things pan out.
LITTLE BOY BLUE