That was more like it.
Not only was the win a welcome lift, but the manner of it was also, perhaps, more important. Finally, we saw a performance to go with the result from a Rangers side that is crippled by an ever-expanding injury list.
Speaking after the game, John Lundstram spoke, via the club’s YouTube channel, about how the players have taken responsibility for our dip in form and that Giovanni van Bronckhorst is trying to implement an attractive style of football, despite his critics:
“The players need to take massive ownership for the way we have been performing. The gaffer puts in a lot of work to send us onto the pitch to play the way we played today and that’s how he wants us to play every single week.
“It’s been on us that we haven’t been performing the way that he wants us to perform, yeah, it’s definitely been on us.”
I always felt that the players, more than Gio, let us down at Parkhead earlier in the season. Post-match, the manager looked visibly frustrated that they hadn’t implemented a game plan that had been worked on during the week but, as always, the man at the top takes the blame, especially after such a heavy defeat.
The Champions League campaign has been tough, but there have been mitigating factors towards us not getting any points, especially at home. The manager has made mistakes but the players have looked like a shadow of the team that got to the Europa League final last season.
Lundstram is always an honest talker and is one of the better players in press conferences so it was interesting to get an insight into what the manager is actually trying to get us to achieve. Hopefully, Saturday’s performance becomes the norm, rather than the exception and Gio’s message is finally sinking in.