JUST ANOTHER THURSDAY …

Rangers.

Ahhh. (Sigh). Man-oh-man.

Lovely, lovely, beautiful gorgeous Rangers FC.

Fuckin love them, me - so ah do. And I know you blue folks out there do too.

So what’s it gonae be tonight then? What’s the reaction gonnae be to whatever unfolds?

One thing about days like 22nd May 2008 - they brutally avail you of exactly the insane level of emotion you attach to a bloody football team. The love is there forever and it’s only the animation with which that love is displayed that’s up for grabs at Pittodrie.

To win the league we have to do more in the Granite City than Celtic do at Tannadice. If both halves of the Old Firm win their final SPL matches of 2007/2008 then we have to win ours by four more goals or it makes no difference to the top of the SPL table.

Similairly, if, for the second time in recent memory, Rangers and Celtic were both to lose on the same matchday, Celtic would have to lose by four more goals than ourselves. So it looks like we need Celtic to drop points - and to drop more than us.

Just thought I’d remind you of the mechanics of the situation - ye know, in case you’d forgotten over the last few days.

What we cannae forget however is that Rangers lost the league by a mile last season. Losing it by three points, the worst possible scenario after tonight, would be a colossal enough improvement on its own. But throw in three Cup finals, one of them European, and a seriously gorgeous dance in the Champions League group stage and - well - Walter Smith and his staff have worked absolute wonders in 2007/2008.

What we can’t forget is that there are no failures at Ibrox this season, the effort has been phenomenal. Dissapointment over losing the league began on Saturday at Motherwell and will last far longer than this evening - so it’s unlikely to reach cataclysmic proportions at full-time in Aberdeen.

Unless there is some cruelly last-gasp change of fortunes (Scott McDonald makes up for his efforts of three years ago to the day and bangs in a late double to help Celtic win 2-1 as we lead 2-0 at Pittodrie) there will be little shock if we don’t win the league this evening. There will be a temporary, biting dissy and decades of fleeting regret, but the main thing tonight, as always, will be The Rangers performance. As long as they give it a real go and do us proud on the night, no-one will do anything other than send The Gers away to the Scottish Cup Final with our love ringing in their ears.

Ironically, Aberdeen were the opponents when Walter captured his first league title as a Rangers employee, in 1987, and then his first as Rangers manager, in 1991. It is only because of what happened during Walter’s absence from the hot seat - particularly in the seasons ending 2003 and 2005 - that securing title number 52 tonight would not be THE most exciting championship win in our history.

But it’s the fact of those last two title wins which also makes me believe we won’t pull it off tonight. Pipping Celtic on the last day twice in the last five years is almost asking too much of the Law of Averages as it is. I can’t see the Parkhead club - especially with all that’s happened this week - allowing that to happen a third time.

There are, of course, so many more solid footballing reasons why we could or Celtic could win the title tonight. Gawd only knows I’ve spent enough time spouting my neo-superstitious nonsense about “three-in-a-rows being done in spectacular come-back style” and “Rangers rarely winning the title in years ending in 8″ on this blog this season. In this, the calm before what will hopefully be a bit of a storm, I just want to overlook all the inevitable supposition, predicting and rabbit foot-stroking.

I just want to say that this season has been an absolute blast - the most intense of my life - and tonight won’t change that.

As always, I wish The Gers all the VERY best and would just remind everyone that, come 9:30pm, you’re looking at the one thing in Scottish Football which all sane observers agree never lies: The final standings in the league table. The best team ALWAYS wins the league.

Whoever that proves to be, it’s The Rangers I love, it’s The Rangers I’ll follow to Hampden again on Saturday, and it’s The Rangers I’ll miss like crazy all through the summer.

Cheers, folks. Thanks for all your support. Now re-double it and give it to yer team. Talk to you on the other side.

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Published:
05.21.08 / 10pm
Category:
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