Sanity and Unity

These weeks have been far too regular an occurrence in the recent history of Rangers Football Club. The weeks where the club is on the front page more than it is on the back pages. “Scandals”, “Dramatic tape recordings”, “Racism row” and even police raids.  It is something every Rangers fan should be used to by now, but these weeks still hurt as much now as they did at the very start.

With such negativity, division and debate surrounding the fans, it is very easy to get caught up in our own furore. The short-term outweighs the long term, and individuals start to take more importance than the club itself. Let’s set it out straight; has this been a damaging week? Undoubtedly, division lines have been set up, and it is fast turning into whether you’re “with” or “against” Charles Green. It has been one of those weeks were friction has been caused, kickings have come from all angle, the price of shares has plummeted and scrutiny has been brought down upon the club’s dealings in all too familiar a manner.

However, yesterday, the week was drawn to a close by one of the most positive and heart-warming stories to come out of Ibrox in quite a while. As Hernán Pacheco completed his 7,000 mile trip from Argentina to Glasgow, he has made it to his first match at Ibrox, completed the Ibrox tour, and found himself embraced by a hug from Rangers legend, icon and manager, Ally McCoist. The feelings, emotion and passion that will have gone into the journey are traits that just about every Rangers fan can relate to, and I cannot be the only one that has felt them rushing back as Hernán’s story has become more clear. The emotional bond built with the club is something that cannot be broken, and it is what has kept each and every fan fighting for the club over the past year and longer. 

In amongst the courtroom battles, dodgy recordings and whatnot, it is often difficult to remember that there is still a club. It is a club that is going through some difficult times, but we have to remain focused. Quite frankly, as the SFL3 title has been wrapped up, the only possible way forward is to move further up. The fans cannot lose sight of this. It is the club both you and I love – you just have to look today at the passion shown by Hernán to see how far it stretches, and it is a healthy reminder of the way in which this club reverberates around the world.

Are there questions to be asked? Scrutiny to be brought upon the figures currently involved at the  club? In my eyes, there’s little question that this has to happen, but how much can we really learn from arguing amongst ourselves? Opinions change, but the passion rarely differs, and it is why emotions can run so high when discussing the matters.

In reality, there is very little us “ordinary” fans can do until the feedback return from the discussion amongst the board. If there are not figures on the board that fans cannot trust, we may be in a bigger mess than some imagined. But it’s what makes a figure such as Walter Smith so comforting to see – there has to be people there that we know have the best interest of the club at heart; people that will do right by the fans. It is also why when the findings are returned to the support, we need to back it and show a united front. It is as important as ever that we can return to the focus on the club as a whole. There is much work to be done, and weeks like this simply distract us from the overall picture.

It cannot be allowed to slip from us that we all have the same common goal. Debate is healthy, but ultimately the time has to come when we step aside and let the board do their job. However, regardless of the outcome, it is time to start bringing back a bit of sanity to the situation. It’s something we all need.