Double winners or Premiership invincibles?
Why Scottish Cup success would taste sweeter than unbeaten league campaign
ON Saturday, May 15, the cabinets inside the trophy room at Ibrox will be opened and the Premiership silverware – once again draped in red, white and blue ribbons – will take its place alongside the cups, medals and artefacts that tell the story of Rangers’ history.
That same afternoon, Steven Gerrard and his players could have another achievement to add to their CVs at the end of what has been an historic campaign.
Nobody at Ibrox will get a medal if Rangers can complete the Premiership term unbeaten, but the feat would be a remarkable and noteworthy one and pride would rightly be taken by those who had accomplished such a deed.
Given the significance of title 55 and what this season means to supporters, it would be quite the way to round off a campaign that has been as unique as it has been memorable for so many different reasons.
It would end on a sour note, though, if there wasn’t a second piece of silverware to accompany the Premiership next month and that is why the Scottish Cup is so significant in the coming weeks.
The items within the Trophy Room signify past glories and encapsulate what Rangers is about, what makes it special.
It is only by adding to the wondrous collection that Gerrard’s side will leave a legacy that is even more profound having already delivered the most important league in Rangers’ history.
Given their dominance domestically over recent months, there would be a sense of deflation, and perhaps maybe even of underachievement, if all Rangers had to show for their efforts and their superiority was the league flag.
That opportunity was spurned with the shock defeat to St Mirren in the Betfred Cup in December and a possible treble chance was blown there and then. The next best thing is to collect two medals this term and that would be a more momentous achievement than an unbeaten Premiership run.
Having clinched the league at the third time of asking under Gerrard, Rangers must now prove that they can become serial winners.
Two meetings with St Johnstone this week could prove defining for the champions and Rangers will know come Sunday night just what their ambitions are before the final whistle blows on the campaign.
The first fixture sees Gerrard’s side return to a venue where they emerged as 3-0 winners in December as the momentum that would eventually take them to the title was maintained.
Quickfire first-half goals from Kemar Roofe and Glen Kamara earned the points before Ianis Hagi added a shine to the scoreline, and it was the Romanian who would prove the difference at Ibrox in February as a 1-0 victory was secured. The first meeting between the teams came on matchday three in the Premiership as Borna
Barisic, Ryan Kent and Joe Aribo netted.
Rangers’ record may be sound against the Saints this term but that doesn’t mean the champions can take anything for granted at McDiarmid Park and this fixture is every bit as tricky as the other three – against Celtic, Livingston and Aberdeen – that will follow before captain James Tavernier holds aloft the trophy at Ibrox.
The title was always the priority for Rangers this season and the emotions that triumph evoked will never be forgotten by a support that have waited ten long, difficult and worrying years for such a success. But the focus must now shift to
the next one and the Scottish Cup is the predominant goal in the minds of Gerrard and his players between now and the end of the season.
That message has been emphasised by Gerrard almost since the day the league was won last month, and it is unthinkable that Rangers would take care of Celtic in the fourth round and then falter before earning a shot at the silverware.
There would be satisfaction to be taken from an unbeaten league campaign, but it would be nothing compared to the joy that a domestic double would bring. If the choice was presented where only one could be achieved, the decision should be straightforward. Rangers haven’t settled for second best at any stage this season and they won’t start now that the finishing line is in sight and that relentlessness will help as they aspire to achieve both aims during their Saints double-header.
The side that Gerrard sends out in Perth will be a strong one regardless of its make-up, but the team selection could be telling and there must be a temptation to rest certain individuals to ensure that they are fit and firing for the return fixture on Sunday.
The priority for Rangers at McDiarmid Park is to not lose. The only acceptable outcome at Ibrox is a victory.