Ally McCoist might be willing to settle for winning the Championship title by a goal but Rangers should be securing the title in far more convincing fashion.
The most important thing for the Ibrox club is simply to gain promotion back to the Premier League to complete their recovery from liquidation.
So I know exactly where Ally coming from by making such a statement. But when you look at the resources he has at his disposal in comparison to the other managers in the division, then you would expect Rangers to be out of sight come the end of the season.
The Light Blues have the best players in the division. When you look at their squad, it is packed with players who have not only played in the Premier League but performed very well at that level.
In terms of finances, the playing budget at Ibrox will also be miles more than any of the other clubs and that includes both Hearts and Hibs, who have now beaten Ally McCoist’s side in their own back garden this season.
That spending power is the reason why most expected them to be leading from the front. And those are the reasons why I fully expected Rangers to prove too strong for the other clubs in that division.
Yes, the fact they were going up against full-time sides instead of part-time opposition was always going to make it a tougher test for starters. Also, the quality increases every time you move up a division.
However, this is Rangers we are talking about. And that is why I believe it isn’t expecting too much of them to be quite a bit ahead of the rest when the season ends in May.
There are, of course, a lot of football matches to be played between now and then. But for Rangers to be performing anywhere near where they should be, there is quite clearly a need for improvement.
Despite dropping eight points in the League already by losing at home to both capital clubs and only managing a draw away to Alloa, I still fancy them to win the title.
But it’s up to Ally, his coaching staff and the players to ensure the level of performances and the results pick up.
You look at the way they performed against both Raith Rovers and Inverness Caley Thistle and can only shower them with praise.
After that, though, they struggled badly away to Alloa and suffered a heavy defeat at home to Hibs. They played too many long balls against the Easter Road club on Monday night.
It wasn’t until they had two attacking wingers on the park in David Templeton and Fraser Aird that they looked more of an attacking threat.
Maybe that’s something Ally will have to look at. Maybe he’ll have to put out a more attacking line-up from the start and work on a system that gives those players the best chance to perform.
So it’s about finding that consistency. That is what Ally needs to try and somehow get from his team. He can’t afford to oversee two good games, followed by two poor performances.
As for the latest off-the-field developments at Ibrox, it has once again been interesting to see Mike Ashley purchasing more shares to take him close to the maximum 10% he can hold in Rangers because he still owns Newcastle United.
But I’m sure he can gain more power at Ibrox by using companies he is associated with to purchase more shares. Put it this way, there has to be an end game here and Ashley isn’t the type of person to waste his time.
Right now, though, for Rangers it is what happens on the park that counts most.
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