Following green light can lift the Ibrox blues
ALTHOUGH Rangers look to be all but assured of finishing third in the Premiership, no one is surely foolish enough to believe they are just two short hops from where they really want to be.
When Pedro Caixinha digests the final league table next Sunday, it will — in all probability — show his side ending closer in points to the bottom side than runaway winners Celtic.
The Portuguese is the 15th permanent manager in Rangers’ history. None who have gone before inherited a restorative task remotely comparable to the one he faces this summer.
With money not exactly growing on trees outside Ibrox these days, Caixinha will need to demonstrate a remarkable dexterity in the transfer market to even bring Celtic within swinging distance.
Privately, many at Ibrox would settle for a vast improvement next season being the stepping stone to a proper tilt at the title the following year. Publicly, of course, the ambition must be bolder.
Kenny Miller has not survived in the game for the thick end of two decades with a defeatist attitude.
Nor, though, is the veteran striker oblivious to the challenge of bridging the chasm currently separating his club from Celtic. Yet, if there’s one morsel of hope to be gleaned from an otherwise forgettable campaign, it is the story behind the transformation in fortunes on the east side of the city.
While Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic may — in one sense — be unrecognisable from the side which limped to two titles under his predecessor Ronny Deila, the fact of the matter is most of the faces are the same.
The crumb of comfort for Miller as he prepares for the visit of Hearts today?
The addition of a hard core of blue-chip signings by Caixinha may yet improve the displays of many around them to a whole new level.
‘Look what a manager and a few big-name signings can do,’ said the 37-year-old. ‘Better quality signings and then reinvigorating the good players who were already there. We can look at that.
‘The fact is that the majority of them (Celtic players) are international footballers.
‘What has happened is that the manager has come in and given them belief and understanding of what they are trying to do.
‘They are decent players. You don’t play international football for Sweden and Scotland if you aren’t.
‘Others are starting to make their way into the international game and are now getting the recognition they deserve. Stuart Armstrong has had a great season.
‘No doubt there will be people coming and going in the summer but if we can get that right, win matches at the start of next season and breed confidence in what we are trying to achieve, then that will set us up for a far better start to the campaign.’
Such a theory rests on two principles. Firstly, that the players Caixinha will retain have the same ability as Celtic’s underperformers of last year. Questionable at best.
Secondly, that the Portuguese will be able to attract players with the talent of a Moussa Dembele or a Scott Sinclair. Time will tell on that one. What is beyond all debate, however, is Rangers’ challenge this season disappeared under an avalanche of indifferent early results.
Points had already been dropped to Hamilton and Kilmarnock by the time they travelled to Celtic Park in September. Confidence was already ebbing.
For a credible title challenge to outlast the autumn leaves next time around, there can be no such neglect. ‘We have constantly given ground away,’ added Miller. ‘From day one against Hamilton at Ibrox, we have been playing catch-up.
‘Winning brings confidence, so if you can win games early and start to get an understanding, a belief and a confidence from that, there is no limit to how far you can go.
‘If you stutter and stumble, like we did at the start of the season, confidence takes a hit, you maybe start questioning methods and
“Look what a manager and big-name signings can do. We can look at that”
that is the start of a quick downfall. It has been as frustrating a season as any I can remember.
‘It’s not as if I’ve constantly dealt with success and always been winning things in my career. But with the demands and expectations of this club, including the demands we put on ourselves as players, it has been highly frustrating.
‘We have seen flashes of brilliance throughout the season and then moments of madness, as well. The inconsistency has been there. If we are to have any sort of success, whether in league or cups, we need a higher level of consistency and performance next season.’
Miller, assuredly, won’t reflect on this term with much fondness. Back in August, he couldn’t resist a dig at Scott Brown’s claim that Aberdeen would be Celtic’s nearest challengers — the veteran suggesting the context was second place.
The blunt reality, of course, has been that Brown was right on the money.
‘It was said tongue in cheek,’ Miller shrugged. ‘But there is no way I will ever sit in front of you guys and say I am happy to be second or third fiddle to anybody.
‘This is not what we are built on. We can say that we are rebuilding — and we are. That is continuing and it will continue in the summer.
‘We need to forget about other teams and sort out our own house first.
‘Once we sort it out and get that level of consistency and better quality of performance, we can’t worry about what other teams are doing, how well they are playing.’
It’s a good job Caixinha is a selfconfessed workaholic. With a Europa League qualifier on June 29 already looming large, his load is positively herculean.
‘Summer becomes crucial,’ said Miller. ‘The detail in the work we’ve being doing so far has been very good but, again, it’s not my job and above my pay grade as to how many players we will bring in, who we’ll bring in and guys who might not be here. That’s down to the manager to sort out.
‘But bringing in the quality he’s hoping for will be crucial to us being better and carrying out the manager’s instructions better.’