Seven days, two Rangers, one Steven Gerrard

How do you sum up the last seven days as a Rangers fan?  Last Wednesday evening we witnessed one of our best performances of the season as we defeated Braga 1-0 in Portugal and progressed to the last sixteen of the Europa League. On Saturday we made the short trip to Tynecastle and were subjected to perhaps the worst Rangers performance in over two years as we were defeated 1-0 by bottom of the table Hearts and knocked out of the Scottish Cup.

The difference in the two performances defies any kind of logic. In Braga the team was disciplined, committed, created chances and showed a strength of character that had been questioned by many prior to the game. In Edinburgh we saw the complete opposite with the team devoid of any desire, creativity and perhaps most worryingly, any fight. The lineup on Saturday contained only two changes to that which had won in Braga so how could the same group of players perform so differently in these two games?

It's a question which cannot be answered easily but is one that needs addressed urgently. In his Hearts post match interview Steven Gerrard was clearly disappointed and angry with the players and the performance he had just witnessed. Comparisons were made to performances he had watched prior to taking the managers job at Ibrox, perhaps a most damming indictment on how bad the performance was. Yet this was largely Gerrard's team, his players and his tactics. Can he be blameless in this situation?

In the aftermath of Tynecastle there was an enormous amount of discussion about whether Steven Gerrard is the man who should continue to lead Rangers. I will admit that in the immediate aftermath I questioned whether he should continue to be given time to lead us back to glory. No Rangers manager has gone two full seasons years without winning a trophy since William Wilton in 1905. More recently Mark Warburton and Pedro Caxhina were shown the door for failing to get Rangers to compete at the highest levels so should Gerrard follow? 

What we have to remember when trying to answer these questions is that we are living in a unprecedented point in Rangers' history. Only ten years ago our club almost ceased to exist. Five years ago we were still playing Championship football.  The appointment of Steven Gerrard removed a malaise that had set in at the club and put a marker down to our rivals that we were once again ready to compete with them.

Following a period of reflection after the defeat at Tynecastle it is my belief that the club continues to move in the right direction. Whilst we have failed to reach the standards we expect on the domestic front our success in Europe both this season and last provides me with enough evidence to believe that Steven Gerrard will bring us the success we so desperately crave. Reaching the last 16 of the Europa league is a tremendous achievement for our club, particularly when our journey in the tournament this year began in the 1st qualifying round when many teams hadn't even started their pre-season.

It is easy to be blase about how far we have come in Europe in such a short time but our record is exceptional and we have taken some notable scalps in this seasons Europa League including Champions League regulars Porto. The amount of money, rumoured to be circa £20 million, that has been generated from our European run should also be noted. We must build a solid financial base in order for the club to thrive and compete and their is no doubt that this extra income has accelerated this aspect of the business side of the club.

It is on the domestic front that Gerrard has faced the sternest criticism. Exiting the Scottish Cup twice at the quarter final stage and losing a league cup semi final and final, whilst failing to wrestle the league title back from Celtic ultimately does not make for pretty reading.  But things are perhaps more nuanced than they appear. We could, and should have won the League Cup Final earlier this season were it not for an inability to be clinical in front of goal and some questionable officiating. In the league our form prior to the end of the year was outstanding and indeed we looked capable of mounting a title challenge prior to the Winter break.  Ultimately this was derailed as we struggled to find any kind of form and consistency during January and February. A failure to win games against Hearts, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock saw us drop seven points in a short period of time and pass the advantage very firmly to Celtic. However it should not be forgotten, despite how unpalatable it is, that in this same period Celtic have won every single league game they have played thus ensuring they take full advantage of our poor form. Many would argue that this is what championship winning teams do, but it is unusual for a team to be as relentless as Celtic have, during our dip in form. 

What has become clear over the last six weeks is that for some players the Rangers shirt weighs too heavy on them. They will not be the first, nor the last, that have been unable to deal with the expectation of playing for a club such as Rangers brings. Gerrard has perhaps trusted some of his players longer than he should have and given them too many opportunities to prove to him that they are the correct person to do the job. He must now be ruthless in moving on those who are not good enough and those who do not have the character or strength to bring success back to Rangers.

I am not advocating a summer rebuild but is clear that we must add more quality to the depth of our squad. It has been obvious this season that when our better players are out of the team that we struggle. It is no longer good enough to have a strong 1-11 and expect to be able to compete on both the domestic and European stage. We have saleable assets in the squad currently; Morelos, Barasic, Kamara are the three obvious players who were bought at low prices and could be sold to make considerable profits. This money can then be reinvested in the squad to ensure the quality and depth that is required to take us to the next stage in our recovery can be completed.

We cannot pretend that things have gone as we would have hoped and nor should we find it acceptable for our club to have gone so long without a trophy. However as stated this is an unprecedented period in Rangers history and I have seen enough evidence in the last two years to suggest that Steven Gerrard and his team will deliver league title 55.

WDTCR 💙