Gers now have to stay awake for a big domestic test
Rangers fans might not be allowed into games right now but they can maybe still help their side in other ways by taking a bit of inspiration from the Dutch boys last week.
A few naughty Willem II fans thought they were doing their side a turn ahead of the Europa League clash on Thursday night by letting off fireworks outside the Gers team hotel early in the morning.
But in the end it was their team that got done a cracker.
It’s too late now but it might have given Steven Gerrard’s men a boost if their punters went around some of the plush estates in Glasgow and set off a few Catherine Wheels ahead of today’s game at Motherwell.
Perhaps this is the way to get around the Rangers European and domestic paradox.
It’s a tough one to explain. How can Gers be so brilliant on the road on the continent, yet have a tendency to labour on their travels in Scotland?
Incredibly, Gerrard’s side have won just four of their 10 Scottish Premiership away games in 2020.
Now, there’s always a hint of bending the stats when you take in numbers across different campaigns, and we have to take in to account last season’s numbers include their alarming post-Dubai collapse.
But Rangers have already spilled points at Livingston and Hibs this term and it’s a trend they cannot afford to keep repeating.
Motherwell is another stinky away day on the back of a Euro jaunt and it will be interesting to see if it’s the Gers team that soars overseas or the one that gets stuck in the check-in queues on home soil.
There’s no reason for them to toil. Rangers have all the tools to make most weeks a stroll.
Gerrard and his coaching staff have this team well drilled. Everyone knows their jobs. It’s about sticking to the system and letting creative guys such as Ryan Kent and Ianis Hagi work some magic.
But they can be a head scratcher at times in Scotland. The Willem II boss the other night was having a laugh when he moaned about Rangers being lucky.
He whined: “They only had five shots on goal and scored four.”
Mate, five decent attempts on goal away from Europe is pretty good, away and give us peace.
In Scotland though, Gers can have three times that amount every week and still drop points.
That’s why Light Blues fans have to be cagey. It’s a different test in Scotland and they still need to prove they can figure it out.
It’s not easy playing against sides that sit in and look to hang on. You could park 11 wheelie bins in a penalty box and it will still be tricky getting the ball through them and in the net.
That’s where Rangers need to have patience and composure. There will be weeks when they thump teams by three, four and five goals.
But titles are won in the squeaky games where time is ticking and the pressure’s building.
There shouldn’t be tension now though, leave that until April when the heat is on.
Motherwell will be an interesting one this afternoon but regardless of how Fir Park goes, you wouldn’t bet against Gers doing a job on Galatasaray on Thursday.
It’s as tough a tie as they could have got but this Ibrox side have the lethal edge and discipline in Europe to get to the groups and beyond again.
But they need fireworks on the home front when they get on the team bus as there’s no margin for damp squibs this season.
How can Gers be so brilliant on the road in Europe yet have this tendency to labour on travels here?