It’s all too familiar. That nervous, unsure, excited feeling we as Rangers fans have become accustomed to before a league campaign kicks off. New manager. New squad. New hope.
Drastic overhaul has been followed by drastic overhaul in the last three years, but with results rarely matching the expectations, we’ll be approaching this season a little more tight-lipped than those before. Even if Steven Gerrard has everyone excited.
One too many false dawns and outspoken, unjustified confidence has left us shell-shocked. We’ve talked a good game and rarely played one.
Make no mistake, we’ve overspent and overstated in our hurry to get back to the top of the Scottish game.
First, even Warburton’s magic hat couldn’t catapult us to 55. Buoyed by that Scottish Cup semi victory against Celtic, we were cocky and confident off the pitch. On it, we were outfought and embarrassed. It hit us hard. It couldn’t get any worse, right?
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Then came the appointment of little-known Qatari based tactician Pedro Caixinha.
Portuguese coaches were very much in vogue, and we believed, in hope more than expectation, his modern coaching style and trans-continental experience would prove the appointment a stroke of genius. Oh, how wrong we were.
On the pitch, investment to the tune of around £10mn brought international players to the club that proved to be overpaid, overpriced trans-continental mince.
Off the park, Pedro struggled to understand what it meant to lead Rangers, finding press management difficult and oftentimes digging himself a deeper hole when criticised.
In between then and the appointment of Gerrard, the friendly face of Graeme Murty never looked like he had broad enough shoulders to carry the weight of the job. Hammerings at the hands of Celtic showed the cracks after he initially steadied the ship. Wallace and Miller sealed his fate.
Going into 18/19, we’ve surely learned by now how important it is we do our talking on the pitch. Success has to be earned. We don’t have a God given right to it, and no one understands that more than the man at the helm. That’s why it feels like we’ve finally found our man.
Gerrard is very much the archetypal Rangers manager. He’s composed. He’s direct. He’s passionate. He leads from the front. He shoulders responsibility. He represents the club and the fans and is proud to do so.
Is he ready to mount a title challenge? Time will tell. Early signs show we have a level of stability we haven’t had for a long, long time, but having got our fingers badly burnt over the last two years, even the buzz of Steven Gerrard’s arrival and stewardship won’t have us getting ahead of ourselves. At least just yet.
It begins and ends on what the squad achieve on the pitch. If we’re to realise something brilliant this season, the time for talking is finally over.