WILL THE ROAD LEAD RANGERS BACK TO HAMPDEN ONCE AGAIN?
FOR generations of Rangers f ans, the five- mile trip from Ibrox to Hampden Park was taken so regularly that cracks on the pavements of the south-side streets were almost as familiar as the figures filling the light blue jerseys.
If anything underscores the extent of the rebuilding job facing Mark Warburton, however, it is how infrequently followers of the Glasgow giants have set off on such a journey in recent times.
Remarkably, excluding two league matches with Queen’s Park as a League Two club in 2012-13, Rangers’ trip back to Mount Florida to face Peterhead in the Final of the Petrofac Training Cup in April will be just their second such outing at the venue in five seasons. Even then, last year’s League Cup semifinal defeat to Celtic proved to be a rather chastening experience.
For a cl ub t hat has l ong considered Hampden to be its second home, such a barren run has been as lamentable as it has been inexcusable.
While climbing the leagues in short order has always been the overriding priority, Rangers’ wage bill before and after the financial meltdown of 2012 has consistently been — by a considerable distance — the second largest in the country. Players were signed on lavish pay from the top flight to make an impact in the cups yet, to date, that has been negligible.
If that defeat to Celtic, an early reverse to Inverness Caley Thistle and even three losses to Dundee United over that period were at least understandable, the turmoil within the club was never such that defeats to the likes of Forfar and Alloa were deemed to be in any way acceptable.
With the new year, though, comes renewed optimism. The plumes of smoke in the battle for power at the club may still be just about visible yet, for possibly the first time since Walter Smith’s second spell drew to a close five years back, there are some grounds to believe Rangers fans may soon be descending on Mount Florida as often as they were once accustomed.
The gate receipts f rom this Sunday’s r ather uninspiring fourth-round tie with Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Cup are hardly likely to dispel the club’s money worries but only an upset of seismic proportions would prevent Warburton’s side progressing to a fifth-round draw that will see at least two Premiership casualties.
Were another favourable draw to then lie in wait — and there will be at least five sides from outwith the top flight in the last 16 — the odds on Rangers finally winning a major trophy as a lower-league team would shorten considerably.
It is not inconceivable that Warburton’s side could reach the Final without f acing a single Premiership team — Gretna managed this 10 years ago — but history shows it i s highly unlikely. The telling thing will be how they cope when confronted with such a step-up in class. On the limited evidence to date, it will still be a tall order.
When St Johnstone arrived at Ibrox for their League Cup clash with Warburton’s side i n September, Rangers had won 11 successive matches at the outset of the Englishman’s reign to strengthen the theory they were, at last, a top-flight side in all but name again.
By the end of a comprehensive 3-1 defeat to the visitors, the consensus among Rangers fans was that they’d had a reality check. But o ne man begged to differ. Asked about a perceived gulf in quality, the Rangers boss stated: ‘I don’t see that. We made mistakes and we were punished — simple as that. We’ve made mistakes before and got away with it. We could have been three down at half-time as they missed a clear chance. But we had a lot of ball.
‘A bit more quality, a little more random luck … football is all about the random elements of the game. Those didn’t go our way.’
It is a theme Warburton returned to six weeks later after his side’s next loss, this time at Easter Road in the league.
Maybe he was proven to be right after his side exacted revenge by beating Hibs 4-2 on December 27. Maybe the breaks they didn’t get against St Johnstone will go their way the next time they face Premiership opposition. But, f or the vast majority who witnessed that game, there was no dubiety tthat the better side won. That ni ght s t ung Warburton not so much because of the result but because of what he felt was the undue criticism that followed. To his credit, it might have been easier to dismiss its importance and hide behind the hackneyed line about promotion being the only thing that counts.
For just about any other manager in Scotland, it would have been a viable strategy. Yet Warburton is smart enough to realise — as the manager of Rangers — that can never be the case. It is a simple fact of life that no matter what division Rangers find themselves in and no matter the level of white noise in the background, a level of expectation will remain.
Only Celtic and Aberdeen are more strongly favoured by the bookmakers to lift the Cup this year with Rangers’ 9-1 offering the same as Hearts. No one who has seen them operate at full throttle this season could possibly dispute that such a price seems about right.
Warburton would be the first to state that his side are a long way from challenging for the Premiership next season. Yet at the same time, there is already the foundation of a fine side; James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn have been the best of the acquisitions. Barrie McKay seems reborn. Even Kenny Miller — a hat-trick hero at Dumbarton — looks to have plenty of fuel in the tank.
Compare and contrast the current Rangers side with the ramshackle bunch that were dismantled 3-0 by Dundee United at Tannadice in the fifth round of the Cup three years back; Sebastien Faure, Emilson Cribari and Kal Naismith. Truly, the stuff of nightmares.
To a great extent, Warburton finds himself in an enviable position as far as this year’s Cup is concerned.
Provided the club do not suffer another ignominious defeat, all will be forgiven so long as a four-year exile from the top flight is ended by winning the Championship.
Book a return ticket to Hampden for May 21, though, and the man said to possess a magic hat really will have cast his spell on the club.