As Rangers end their 13-year League Cup hoodoo, a seismic shift in Scottish football could be ahead as Old Firm rivals Celtic fall apart at the seams.
Not only was Rangers’ League Cup victory over Aberdeen a symbolic one – the club’s failure to deliver this trophy since 2011 a continuing embarrassment – but it comes at a crucial time for the Ibrox side.
An under-fire Rangers squad, whose underperforming led to the sacking of Sunderland-bound Michael Beale, are now resurgent under ex-Club Brugge manager Philippe Clement.
The fans too are once again daring to dream that, after over a decade of domestic humiliation and five Celtic trebles in seven years, consistent Rangers success could finally be around the corner.
Rangers squad get League Cup taste
The Belgian boss has brought a fresh energy to Govan and his straight-talking, charismatic leadership is winning over Rangers supporters.
Beating Spanish opposition on Spanish soil for the first time in the club’s history – and topping a Europa League group in the process – will do that.
Having now succeeded where his predecessor failed in securing a trophy, Philippe Clement is clear that he will not be allowing this squad to get carried away with themselves.
The team too, having suffered a barrage of early season abuse from a success-starved support, have gotten a taste of what it’s like to win at Rangers with the biggest prizes still to come.
Success often inspires more success and at Rangers, where the rewards run much deeper than shiny silverware, this team must be looking at the rest of this campaign with ambition and excitement.
Not only that, but the squad has bought itself some credit from a Rangers support whose relentless standards paradoxically drive the club and handicap it in its more difficult moments.
All of this is combining to have Rangers feeling like the team to beat in Scotland and after years of Celtic dominance – whisper it quietly – the club finally appear to be getting their act together.
Old Firm rivals Celtic and Brendan Rodgers in disarray
Conversely, Celtic look like a team bereft of ideas, confidence, and unity, on and off the park.
The re-appointment of Brendan Rodgers in the summer – who’d effectively taken Leicester City from the Champions League to the Championship since leaving Parkhead – was supposed to be a stroke of genius.
As he tried to win back the Celtic support, the ‘elite-level coach’ insisted that any doubters would be proven wrong and he’d see them back at the stadium, presumably to celebrate a title, in May.
It’s a hubris not befitting the manager’s tumbling stock in the football world, the tag of elite manager looking an increasingly tired one for a coach whose gleaming smile is fast losing its sheen.
Given his backdoor mid-season exit from Celtic to the Foxes in 2018 – which was Steven Gerrard’s first season at Rangers – any slight failure threatened to blow up in the Parkhead board’s faces.
Having been knocked out of the League Cup before relinquishing a seven point-lead in the Premiership – not to mention the noble Champions League humiliations – that’s exactly what is on the verge of happening.
Following the exit of charismatic Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, whose explosive and athletic style was enough to dominate Scottish football but has raised eyebrows down south, their squad is in disarray.
Those Asian players for whom the ex-J-League manager had a knowledge and affinity are decidedly off the boil. Their best players have an eye on the exit door. Their fans are beginning to revolt in the stands.
When you combine this with stadium bans for the club’s bone-headed Ultras group and fan discontent with the Board, the finger appears to be hovering over the self-destruct button across the city.
Philippe Clement has full focus on Premiership “marathon”
The Scottish Premiership “marathon” will not be decided in December and there is still plenty of time for Celtic to halt their mid-season slide.
Both coaches will also be keen to focus on the performance of their own sides – even if the fans won’t.
A vitally important January window lies in wait for both Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers but it’s the Rangers manager who has more room to manoeuvre this winter.
After all, Clement isn’t the one shouting about how a treble-winning squad with a gargantuan budget isn’t good enough for the Scottish game.
Not that the Celtic challenge nor the threat of sizeable investment will disrupt the Belgian’s planning.
Philippe Clement has arrived in Scotland laser-focused and seems unfazed about upsetting the footballing status quo in the country.
With European progression and the League Cup trophy secured, once again establishing Rangers’ dominance overs Celtic looks an increasingly realistic proposition.
For the first time in 13 years, a treble, or dare I say it even a quadruple, is very much in Rangers’ sights.
