Barry Ferguson
THERE’S only one present I want this year. And it really shouldn’t be too much to ask for. Just a little bit of leadership from the men in charge of my old club will do it. That’s the gift every Rangers supporter is crying out for right now. I’m not sure if Dave King and his board have noticed but there’s actually a chance for them to make a genuine fight for the title in the second half of a season they seem to have already written off. Given the absolute turmoil at Ibrox over these last few months it’s a Christmas miracle they’re anywhere near in contention. And make no mistake, that’s exactly where they will be if they can take three points from Kilmarnock on lunchtime on Saturday. By Boxing Day it will be exactly two months since they decided to pull the trigger on Pedro Caixinha. It’s almost by accident that, even though they still haven’t appointed his replacement, they could find themselves within five points of Celtic at the top of the league by Christmas Eve – with an Old Firm derby to come before the winter break. So if they don’t grasp this opportunity to get their own house in order and apply some serious pressure on Brendan Rodgers they might look back upon this season in years from now as the one they allowed to get away. Let’s be clear here. I’m not saying that Rangers will win the league between now and next May. I know it’s a massive long shot. But I am certain about one thing. If they don’t get their finger out and show a bit of balls then they’ll blow whatever slim chance they still have – possibly before the decorations are even back in the box. They shouldn’t be in the mix at all given the mistakes that have been made and the run Celtic have been on under Rodgers. To go 69 games without a domestic defeat is an unbelievable achievement. When you think about what is required to put a sequence of results like that together it really blows you away. It’ll never be done again, that’s for sure. And yet, even so, Rangers are somehow still in their wing mirrors which does prove Celtic have not been hitting the same form that killed the league as a contest last season. The defeat at Tynecastle last week had been coming for some time and Hearts showed in that game if you show the right desire, commitment and energy, then you can ruffle their feathers. Celtic were rattled and Rodgers will know there are some issues he needs to address. That’s why he’s already been busy in the transfer market before it’s even open for business. He’s seeing signs of deterioration and he’s acting swiftly to correct them. That’s good management. That’s real leadership. That’s everything Rangers are crying out for. Instead they are heading into the January sales with no manager and no sense of direction. Can they allow Murty to make signings or do they tell Mark Allen to call the shots as the director of IBROX LEGEND WRITESEXCLUSIVELYFORYOU EVERY WEEK football? And then run the risk of bringing in another bunch of players the next permanent boss might not fancy when they’ve already got a mixture of Mark Warburton’s players as well as Caixinha’s?
From the outside looking in it’s an absolute mess which is why I just want someone to grab the bull by the horns and start making important decisions about where Rangers are going from here.
If they don’t have a new manager in mind already after failing to get Derek McInnes then why not take positive action by announcing Murty is the man until the end of the season?
If they don’t want to take a risk with signing more players on long-term contracts at least allow him to dabble in the loan market and bolster the squad for the rest of this campaign. It’s not fair to keep him hanging around on a game by game basis when there is so much uncertainty at the club.
You just need to look at the way they blew it last week at home to St Johnstone to see the damage this is causing. I don’t blame Murty for that. I feel sorry for him that he’s been left in such an impossible position.
If they at least give him the job until the end of the campaign then everyone inside the dressing room will know where they stand.
And then they can get on with trying to make a decent challenge for the title for the first time in years – which would give the fans something to get excited about. The Rangers fans aren’t daft. Like me they know the chances are they won’t actually win it this season. But they deserve to see the club is doing everything in its power to make it happen. That requires a bit of joined-up thinking and clear, strong leadership. Right now it looks as if they are doing nothing more than crossing their fingers and hoping the situation they are in somehow fixes itself. It’s not good enough. And the most frustrating part of it all is that if they could just get their act together who knows how close they might come to bringing that title home? As things stand there’s an eight-point gap which, believe me, is absolutely nothing at this stage in the season. Aberdeen have now got their tails up after keeping McInnes at Pittodrie and the display against Hibs. They’ll go to Celtic Park tomorrow believing they can get a result. And that’s why Rangers have to put a marker down by winning at Killie. If Aberdeen win at Celtic the gap between first and third will be down to five. If the Hoops win then there’s only two points between Rangers and the Dons. And if it’s a draw the three teams at the top would be separated by just six points going into the final-round games before the shut down. With Rangers next up at Parkhead. That’s a title fight every day of the week. And isn’t that what any Rangers fan would wish for this Christmas?