The Scottish Premiership title race isn’t over quite yet, however, you can definitely hear the fat lady warming up in the background despite the best attempts of Michael Beale to close the gap in his ten league games as Rangers manager.
What is still 100% up for grabs is a cup double with the immediate attention turning to the league cup final on the 26th of this month and the first Old Firm final since the controversial 2019 version of the same competition when the winning goal had just the three Celtic players offside – that conspiracy eh?
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Gers legend Brian Laudrup reckons that cup success could well spark a revival similar to the one that was seen under Alex McLeish when he took over a side some 20 points behind in the league:
“I genuinely don’t think you can overstate its importance from an Ibrox perspective. Everything will be focused on getting it right at Hampden.
“It’s perhaps the last chance to inject a little doubt into Celtic minds this season. Maybe that wouldn’t make much difference to the current title race — because the consistency of Postecoglou’s side has been outstanding — but just as significant is what it could mean for the next campaign.
“History also shows us how shifts in momentum can take place. A good example was when Alex McLeish took over a Rangers team well behind a dominant Celtic led by Martin O’Neill at the end of 2001.
“The league was a lost cause, but McLeish got the better of O’Neill in a League Cup semi-final and went on to lift the trophy. Rangers then won an Old Firm Scottish Cup final.
“They started the following season full of confidence and ended up claiming a Treble after one of the tensest title races in history. Beale, obviously, would dearly love to do something similar.”
Laudrup is right, the evidence was clear in Beale’s first derby at Ibrox. There was no fear, we made the better chances but gifted them two goals. Allan McGregor had a relatively quiet afternoon aside from picking the ball out of the net. A marked improvement on what we had seen at Parkhead earlier in the season.
The players should already have the belief after our last three trips to Hampden and that Ibrox performance, the gap simply isn’t as big as the league table suggests with Beale already showing that he has the know how to go toe to toe with Ange Postecoglu and out smart him.
Under Steven Gerrard, our cup record was appalling, in fact embarrassing, Beale has a chance to put that right almost immediately and set a marker for what could well spark a changing of the guard.