How far can Rangers go? It looks like all the way

[ian1964 10,370]

WALTER SMITH has been asked the same old question time and time again.

 

How far can he take this Rangers team? Only one answer matters now. He has to take them only 21 miles down the M77 to Kilmarnock on Sunday, where an invading army of supporters will follow having readied themselves for an almighty celebration.

 

The Old Firm rivalry is too intense to allow for much in the way of grace or magnanimity. Since they lost to Inverness Caledonian Thistle last week Celtic supporters have confessed to finding it especially hard to accept that defeat surrendered the initiative to such a ââ?¬Å?poorââ?¬Â Rangers team.

 

That�s been the label attached to Walter Smith�s side from the start. This is no vintage Rangers side, that much is obvious. It�s not a team that strikes fear into opponents like many of its predecessors could. It�s short on players who can really entertain, as opposed to being admirable and effective. But Rangers aren�t gearing up for a coronation by accident.

 

Here�s where it sounds as though they�re being damned with faint praise: Rangers are resolute. They�re disciplined and committed. They grind out results. Detractors go as far as to accuse them of anti-football when they go 4-5-1 in the more difficult games.

 

Smith has lived with that since returning to the club in 2007. But what does ââ?¬Ë?grinding out resultsââ?¬â?¢ mean, if not that they tend to prove week after week that they are better than whatever is put in front of them? They have been consistent.

 

If they win at Kilmarnock they will finish the season on 93 points. The last team to do better than that was a Celtic one under Martin Oââ?¬â?¢Neill which included Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, John Hartson and a high-calibre supporting cast. Only one Rangers side ââ?¬â?? the Alex McLeish side which won the title on goal difference in 2003 ââ?¬â?? has ever finished on more than 93 since the Scottish Premier League was formed.

 

They won their first nine league games including an Old Firm derby, not tasting defeat until the end of October. In the first half of the season they dropped points in only four games and the same statistic applies to the second half of their campaign, so far.

 

Celtic might privately turn their noses up at this Rangers side and reproach themselves for not having put them away, but the fact remains that Rangers have made few mistakes. They were often behind Celtic, but they had games in hand and always showed the nerve to win them.

 

Before a ball was kicked Smith lost his top goalscorer. Midway through the campaign it happened to him again. Coping without Kris Boyd was manageable because of Smith�s last big transfer, the purchase of Nikica Jelavic, but when Kenny Miller fled to Bursaspor in January it seemed that the writing was on the wall. By then Jelavic had been lost to an injury which robbed him of 17 games in his first season in Scotland. Where would the goals come from?

 

Smith has recently felt free to admit that in January he suspected that Rangers� number was up, that they didn�t have the resources necessary to sustain a league challenge all the way to the end. Celtic, remember, were maintaining a decent pace themselves and took all six points from the first two Old Firm league games in 2011.

 

His players responded. Rangersââ?¬â?¢ season has been a tale of a dependable back four, a midfield of enormous industry, and one striker whose goals propelled them through the first half of the season and another who got them through the second. ââ?¬Å?Weââ?¬â?¢re a team that defends from the front,ââ?¬Â said goalkeeper Allan McGregor yesterday. ââ?¬Å?Our strikers always work hard to close the ball down, our midfielders work back just as much as they get forward and the lads at the back have been great.ââ?¬Â

 

The defence has kept 18 clean sheets in the league. They havenââ?¬â?¢t conceded an away goal in the championship since a 3-0 defeat at Parkhead almost three months ago. They havenââ?¬â?¢t let one in at all in their last five matches. Itââ?¬â?¢s a unit built on familiarity and trust. Inevitably there have been moments when David Weir has looked his age ââ?¬â?? he turned 41 on Tuesday ââ?¬â?? but his intelligence, awareness and experience has seen him through another fine season.

 

The degree of understanding and unity through the back four is also evident in the team as a whole. No wonder, considering how few changes have been made. Weir, Steven Whittaker and Steven Davis have all appeared in over 50 matches and McGregor, Madjid Bougherra and Sasa Papac are not far behind. The midfield has usually included four from Davis, Steven Naismith, Maurice Edu, Kyle Lafferty and Lee McCulloch. The loss of the latter was one of two grievous injuries which caused Rangers real grief.

 

The other was to Jelavic. The first half of the season belonged to Miller, who had scored 22 times ââ?¬â?? including two at Parkhead as they won the seasonââ?¬â?¢s first derby 3-1 in October ââ?¬â?? before a startling move to Bursaspor. Jelavicââ?¬â?¢s return came just in time for Smith. He was hurt at Tynecastle on October 22 and didnââ?¬â?¢t make it back until being named as an unused substitute on January 15 against Hamilton Academical, the very game in which Miller made what turned out to be his final appearance.

 

Smith needed him to deliver. Rangers had wobbled without their �£4m man. Since returning the Croat grew into the player they hoped they would get for that fee. He has scored 14 times in 20 appearances since returning from an ankle operation, including goals which proved to be the winner in three games.

 

McGregor, Whittaker, Weir, Naismith, Miller and Jelavic have been the cornerstones of a campaign in which they have won more league games than Celtic and scored more goals than them. They have had their setbacks: they lost 3-0 to Hibs at Ibrox, they failed in two out of three attempts to beat Inverness, and they managed only one league win in four Old Firm games.

 

But they�ve been there or thereabouts since day one. How far can Smith take this Rangers team? To within touching distance of one last trophy presentation.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/how-far-can-rangers-go-it-looks-like-all-the-way-1.1100979

[Tumshie RFC 0]

I just want a win on Sunday. I don't care how we do it