The Trials to be Overcome

 

Let’s admit it, we got stuffed.

 

There is no “what if”; no “if only”, we took a beating, and there is no way to pave over the cracks from this one. Despite this being a meeting between clubs four divisions apart, it still should not have been the pasting it was, but there will be another day for addressing that.

 

The Rangers support may have come to terms with the league situation, and what our football situation is for the immediate future, but that does not mean it makes a defeat like Saturday’s any easier to come to terms with.

 

Like it or not, a club the size of Rangers taking such a beating will never be taken without surprise. The can be seen through the reaction from both sides.

 

In every aspect, the institution like Rangers still dwarfs Dundee United in every aspect off the pitch, and this is why the victory was celebrated with such gusto. The run up to the game was all talk of how Rangers would handle the game, and page upon page written about the Rangers fans. The home side were simply part of the side show, and that is what made it such a special win. It wasn’t the win over that squad of players that made it for them – it was the win over the institution.

 

This cannot be forgotten. It is highly possible that this group of players are the poorest that any of us have ever known at this club, but it shows that it really does not matter. After decade upon decade of dominance over these teams, it is evident they are queuing up to have a kick at us whilst we are down, and have a good laugh whilst doing so. And who can blame them? If I had been a fan of a team who had seen another take cruise control over my own for as long as I had been watching, I would revel in the victories over that team when they are at their lowest. Such a song and dance has been made over this victory; one would have been mistaken for thinking that United had won the cup following their win. The delirium has even spread into the print press; quite a bizarre piece of “journalism” appeared in the Scotland on Sunday listing just a few of the songs that the home fans used to goad Rangers. This may have been passed off as a bit of fun, but such antics are not normally given time in a paper such as the Scotland on Sunday, and simply came across as unprofessional. Make no mistake about it, there are many within the game that are loving the predicament that Rangers are in, and are willing to milk it for everything it is worth.

 

This also works in the opposite way. When a club of our size’s situation changes in such a dramatic fashion, it is something that will be difficult, perhaps even close to impossible to come to terms with. Simply a year ago, a 3-0 defeat to Dundee United would have been completely unacceptable -perhaps even a sack-able offence for the man in charge. Such a defeat does not come easily to a club that have won twelve of the last twenty league titles available, and quite frankly, it never will. I said in “The Tannadice Trials” before the match, that as a club, Rangers will always go into a match looking for the victory, and I still do not shy away from this statement, as this will not change. Whoever we play over the next few years, there will always be that feeling that anything can happen on the given day. The Motherwell game showed this nearer the start of the season. The Rangers are not used to such defeats, not even at the hands of club of a similar standing, and never will be. This cannot be changed, but it has to be adapted for the time being. During this rebuilding process, this sort of defeat was always on the cards at some point, and it has now happened.

 

However, it is now time to pick ourselves up, shake ourselves off, and carry on. Sure, the football-ing season is all but over us, but we all know that there are many battles still to be fought and won. Over the past year, it has almost become clichéd to use the words of the great Bill Struth to analyse a situation, but it simply fits our current predicament to a tee. Struth’s famous words are almost scarily prophetic as to how well they fit hand in hand with the hard times we have fallen upon. As a club, we are facing “trials” that are completely unknown and unexpected; Tannadice on Saturday was simply a stark reminder of this. It is not the end of the world though; this blow did not knock us down. It is time to “take it on the chin” and carry on with the fight. This is simply the first round and there is a long way to go.

 

Can there be more than one winner, though? Sure, the likes of Dundee United and others can make a good fist of things just now, and enjoy it whilst it lasts, but that is all, because we all know at the end of the day, a club like Rangers will be back. Is it anything other than academic that Rangers will one day reclaim their place at the top of Scottish football? It is simply a matter of when, rather than if. It may be a throwaway line, but the quote, “he who laughs last, laughs longest” is hardly setting off alarm bells around these parts just now, but one day, it will be recognisable.

 

Remember, a Craig Whyte mask, a whole host of chants and a lot of goading is temporary.

 

Enjoy it whilst it lasts.