EMPTY PROMISES WON’T FOOL FANS

THE WISDOM of the crowd is a theory rooted in hard mathematics. If you want the definitive line on how it applies to real life, however, look no further than the musings of a man who worked as a farmer, rail splitter, shopkeeper and lawyer — before eventually finding himself in a position to change the course of history.

As we prepare for the first proudly ‘post-fact’ Leader of the Free World taking office, it’s hard to get away from Abraham Lincoln’s impeccably observed adage about being able to fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time... ah well, you know the rest.

Following Honest Abe’s logic, some mean-spirited rotten losers have already heralded 2017 as the year in which broken promises, insane undertakings and un-keepable pledges are brought crashing down around the ears of the giddy and gullible.

Few of these self-appointed seers, distracted as they are by the minutiae of personality politics, have spotted the big bundle of falsified wish fulfilment currently reaching terminal velocity en route to impact down Govan way.

Yet Dave King’s repeated promises of an immediate Rangers tilt for the Scottish Premiership flag have, quite frankly, been made to look as nutty as any off-the-wall vow, threat or guarantee offered by so many wild-eyed fantasists in recent years.

Amid the rationalisation and rewriting of history being pushed as an alternative to reality, the knowing nods and winks about what the Ibrox chairman really meant, Rangers fans have to ask themselves a difficult question.

In the ‘contest’ to be crowned Scotland’s champions, how big a gap is too big? Twenty-something points? Thirty-odd? Would Celtic sealing the title well before the split be too much of an embarrassment for a club who arrived in the top flight last summer with such swagger and intent?

Or have Ibrox regulars, perhaps feeling a little better about their team after a spirited — but still second best — showing at home to Celtic on Saturday, decided that the number of points separating their team from the reigning title holders doesn’t matter much, as long as they are able to finish above Aberdeen, Hearts and the rest of the also-rans?

Forgive the obvious observation. But this isn’t what any of them were promised when they renewed their season tickets. This isn’t what the whole of Scottish football — including broadcast partners — was punted when the return of the ‘Big Two’ was sold as old-fashioned salvation for all.

Yes, sport has a habit of making fools of the most sage. That’s the beauty and the cruelty of it. But making assurances that you know to be utterly far-fetched? A rookie mistake.

As recently as August, King proudly declared that ‘this team is capable of winning the league’. Before you ask, no, he wasn’t misquoted. He said it, out loud and proud, on Rangers TV. Sure, he made mention of superior resources elsewhere, but still he insisted: ‘I do think we can challenge Celtic this season.’

Let’s not be too hard on Mr Chairman. After all, he was only saying what a lot of people wanted to believe. Not all of them Rangers fans.

You see, anyone offering a return to genuine dramatic tension at the top end of the Premiership table would have found a willing audience. As much as we’d all enjoyed Aberdeen’s manful attempts to dislodge Celtic from their perch, there was a feeling — a wrong one, based entirely on old beliefs and a generation of conditioning — that Rangers would make a better fist of things.

Rangers supporters signed on for a triumphant end to ‘The Journey’ in the belief that it would be, well, just a little bit more triumphant. Neutrals rubbed their hands and hoped that maybe a combination of Aberdeen, Hearts and Rangers hunting in a pack might make the title race less of a procession.

Right. Just a smidgen over halfway through the campaign, Celtic have a lead of 19 points — and a game in hand — on Rangers. Aberdeen might get within 18 of the leaders if they win their own game in hand. You can be assured that won’t cause Brendan Rodgers sleepless nights.

How to respond? Even before Saturday’s game, Mark Warburton was caught trying to preach common-sense economics in a corner of Planet Football where logic is a fleeting visitor, popping in every couple of decades just to check that it’s still not needed.

Complaining about the ‘staggering’ gulf between wages on offer at Celtic and Rangers, Warburton is playing a slightly dangerous game. By his rationale, Rangers should have more than enough money to finish 20 points clear in second spot; anything less would be a failure, right?

With the opening of the transfer window, the odds are that Celtic will move to reinforce their position at the top of Scottish football — if only by retaining their most prized assets.

Warburton will hope to wheel and deal, seeking out a bargain in a market crammed with unwanted stock. The arguments about investment levels in the boardroom, or even over how much leeway the manager should be given in pursuit of semi-major signings, will dominate chatter for a few weeks.

If we accept that the tens of millions — Pounds, Euros or South African Rand, depending on the exchange rate — once spoken of so casually will not materialise, not now nor at any foreseeable junction, then it doesn’t take a genius to predict the future.

The crowd, in their wisdom, will do the maths. They’ll surely be astute enough not to be duped again.