I believe Shug will be in some soapy bubble
An old gaffer used to preach a saying which holds true to my own management career today: ‘What you believe, you receive’.
That’s why my fellow MailSport columnist Hugh Keevins could well be getting his bucket and sponge ready if Livingston beat Rangers today.
Shug is so convinced we’ll leave Ibrox empty handed that he’s promised to wash my car at the Tony Macaroni if we take home three points.
In football, you need to be an optimist so I’ll gladly take him up on his offer as we get ready to face the best team in the league at the moment.
It’s not just because they are sitting top of the Premiership, it’s down to the quality of their performances.
But we have more than a puncher’s chance this afternoon. Belief is the biggest thing so we will get on that team bus and head to Govan believing.
Do we believe we deserve to be playing there? Do I believe I’m good enough to be playing there?
I’ve been that player who questions all of these things.
When I first moved to Norwich to play in the English Premiership I struggled with a belief I was good enough. My manager at that time was Nigel Worthington and he spent time convincing me I was.
He simplified things, showed me players I was going up against at this level and I was soon believing. ‘What you believe, you receive.’
So, yes, Shug, we are capable of beating Rangers. Why not?
It’s about having a gameplan and sticking to it, following it to the letter and everyone doing their jobs. We need to be brave and believe we are good enough to go out there and play.
There’s a lesson in games like this one, it’s never to come off the pitch having allowed it to bypass you.
There’s nothing worse than leaving a stadium after a defeat knowing you’ve just spent 90 minutes running about but not really taken part in it.
Rangers have recruited very well, they’ve added to their squad year on year and you can see now it’s their manager’s team.
As a unit, they have taken time to get bedded into the manager’s system and style of play and that’s true at every club, it’s always about having the time. In football, time is a luxury which is in short supply.
That’s the brutal nature of being in a results business, the bottom line is that you have got to win, the irony is that it takes time to build that success and to get everything in place.
Steven Gerrard’s got that going at Rangers at the moment and they’ve been playing very well.
They also have hungry players who all want to play. That may sound very simplistic but, believe me, it’s not always a given. I’ve been in dressing rooms where things haven’t been going well and that hunger and desire to be playing isn’t always at the fore.
Football, as in life, is all about belief and confidence.
As a player I’ve won often at Ibrox – one left-foot finish into the bottom corner in a 3-0 win at Ibrox against a star studded Rangers side with Kilmarnock stands out – but I’ve also been on the end of a few hammerings.
So can we win, you better believe it and so should the bucket and sponge man.