RangersMedia

When life gives you lemons... Thursday, 02 February 2012 14:25 Written by djw1992

"If you look for an excuse, you will always find it."

Perhaps it would be a wise move for everyone concerned with Rangers at the moment to heed these words spoken by none other than recently departed captain Davie Weir. It's not as if the centre back doesn't know what he's talking about; after twenty years of experience in British football, Weir has seen it all, from the World Cup to the Champions League. He spoke these aforementioned words in September, but they are arguably more applicable now than ever.

A grey, gloomy picture has been painted at Ibrox of late, and not without good reason. It's a bit of a masochist's haven at the moment. Not only has the top scorer been sold without replacement, but the second top scorer is out injured for the rest of the season. Not only has the club got a £50m tax bill on the way that will undeniably, unquestionably see Rangers FC reduced to playing in Kelvingrove Park on Sunday mornings for the next 100 years (apparently), but our chairman, Craig Whyte, has mortgaged off the next four years of season ticket money. Add into that the fact that the side, once 15 points clear of Celtic, now find themselves a whole point behind their dearest rivals, and you can understand why 42,500 season ticket holders are currently feeling a bit down in the dumps.

But let's take a step back here.

Are things really that bad?

Here are a series of irrefutable facts that may lighten your mood. Not opinions, not value judgements, but cold, hard facts. 

Nikica Jelavic played a part in 27 out of a possible 29 competitive games this season. The two games he missed were home SPL fixtures against Motherwell and Hibernian. Against these two teams, a total of seven goals were scored. Not only that, but the team enjoyed an average of 59% possession. Compared to the two most recent home games against Inverness and Aberdeen in which Jelavic started where the defending champions managed just three goals, and an average of 48.5% possession. Ok, it's a small sample. Naturally, there will be dozens of permutations, but this shows that the team can win, and win well, without the Croatian centre forward.

Now, that's all very well, but the fact remains that the team have let a fifteen point lead go in the league. This has led a substantial number of pundits to declare the championship race over. This would carry a bit more weight if similar claims hadn't been made during each of the past three seasons. Again, let's look at the facts. Celtic's next four away games are at Tynecastle, Easter Road, Pittodrie and Ibrox, which are hardly easy places to go and win. In fact, in their past eleven visits to Tynecastle, Celtic have won just four times. Contrast this to Rangers' schedule in the next couple of months in which the most taxing non Old Firm fixture is probably away to Motherwell. Despite the injuries and departures, Rangers remain far stronger than the vast majority of SPL teams. A decent run of fixtures in February and March could see this title race turn on its head, yet again.

Finally, a bit about the financial stuff. Firstly, the season ticket spiel is relatively old news; in the court case with former chief executive, Martin Bain, this was revealed in June of last year. God knows why it has suddenly been highlighted by the media again. Furthermore, this is nothing unique to G51. Everton and Coventry City are examples of two other club who have used future season ticket sales as security for a loan without any noticeable adverse effects, but nobody's really thought to mention that so far. 

Now, as for this seemingly apocalyptic tax case, there's relatively little new to be said. It's not really in the club's hands anymore. Having said that, to all those who believe that the club is guilty as sin, why would such a clean cut case take so long to be concluded? Besides, the £30m odd raised from the future season ticket sales plus the Jelavic deal will surely come in handy, should the club be found guilty. 

Down Govan way, there are plenty of excuses out there for those who need them right now. However, in all of its 140 year history, excuses have never been welcomed at this club. Instead, they've been rebranded 'motivation'. From beating the greatest German club side of all time, to winning a cup final with 9 men, every problematic situation has been met not with a whimper, not even a mere 'let's get on with it' mentality, but with a steely retaliation. Why should anything different be expected this time around?