It hit me like a ton of bricks midway through last weekend´s debacle at Easter Road.
All our pre-season optimism, radiating from the appointment of PLG, the arrival of several new players and the application of some much-needed professionalism from the playing staff, surely wasn´t without justification. After all, Celtic were no great shakes - to our eternal shame, they were the best of a bad lot - the Jambos will always be just one more Romanov rant away from imploding and the rest just make up the numbers. Even those frustrating early-season setbacks against those ´just making up the numbers´ couldn´t quell the feelgood factor. It would all come good in the end - wouldn´t it?
Well, I´m afraid I´m not quite so sure. I don´t doubt Le Gaffer´s ability to build a new team to take our club on to a new level. The man´s credentials are beyond reproach, although his admission that some of the players lacked the stomach for the fight last Sunday suggests there is still room for a Bomber Brown or an Ian Durrant in the set-up, if only to kick arses while PLG focusses on more technical matters.
If they didn´t have the bottle for Easter Road, are our newbies likely to suddenly overdose on courage for the trip to Breezeblock Boulevard? This is Injun Territory we´re talking about. Our team bus will be mobbed by hordes of Timothy, they´ll be baying for blood from that moment onwards, McManus will kick everything in sight, Lennon and Gravesen will snarl their way through the match, a weasel of a ref will wave play-on while a man in a blue jersey lies in a heap on the turf and all our clever fitba will count for sweet hee-haw as we are bullied out of the game.
As you may well have gathered, I am not looking forward to it. And the consequences of the result going against us will extend well beyond Saturday lunchtime. Trailing FC Semtex by seven points, each and every game will become a must-win game and the harsh reality is that, for all the upbeat noises we made pre-season, 2006-07 is already shaping up to be a bit of a let-down.
So should we just put this season down to ´work in progress´, a step in the right direction when maybe the journey back to the top is a wee bit longer than we had anticipated? It would make good sense if we could but when did good sense go hand in hand with football, especially Scottish football.
As Fernando once said: ´First is everything, second is nothing.´ Only the top spot is acceptable to Rangers and therein lies PLG´s problem. Steady progress might be OK elsewhere but at our club progress must be made while winning games, week in, week out. Patience is not the name of the game but we might have to accept that we are in for the long haul if the worst comes to the worst at the Piggery.
I´d love to think we could bounce back. Two years ago Septic frequently put daylight between themselves and us but they couldn´t shake us off and they paid the price on that glorious Helicopter Sunday. I can´t see Gordon The Garden Gnome letting that happen again.
He has effectively built two teams, one for Europe and one for the SPL. They were able to come back from Old Trafford, kid themselves that they had done well - Sir Greetin´Face was right, it could´ve been TEN! - and then go through the motions against Dunfermline. They won 1-0, they were crap, but they got the three points and that is all that mattered. In similar circumstances last year, we were coming back from the Champions League, being equally crap but invariably letting points slip, a hell of a situation which ultimately left us in third spot and playing UEFA Cup football this time around.
Overall, I´ve liked the look of PLG´s Rangers but he must surely sit down and make some serious decisions soon. What is his first-pick eleven? Sure, he can tinker with the line-up here and there but not to the extent where players begin to wonder about their place in the pecking order. By all means keep them on their toes but don´t be afraid to let them know their contribution is appreciated.
For example, who is our main front man, Dado, Sebo or Boydie? Does he rate Burkey ahead of Sionko, or is Lee Martin the main man in the wide positions? What about midfield, now that Baz is back, where does Jeremy Clement figure in the game plan? And the biggy, the one which has given us all palpitations, what the hell is happening at the heart of the defence?
As we approach the end of September, the time for experimenting has surely passed. The transfer window is closed, Le Gaffer knows what he has to work with so he must know, if everyone is available, what his first choice team would be. A group of us sat down the other night and tried to work it out. We came up with FIVE different permutations.
I trust PLG will put us out of our misery soon. Guessing about the make-up of the team week after week isn´t good for the mood amongst Bears. Mind you, if he gets it right on Saturday the ambiance will be transformed.
Go on, Paul, surprise me!
LITTLE BOY BLUE