the mettle of a team

The debacle of yesterday’s match will be felt for quite some time. Years ago, long before Football teams needed a London School of Economics grad on staff, you’d bang the war drums to the players and after a few changes dust yourself off and get back to being a team. You’d learn about yourself and the men you played alongside of. In many ways, a quality coach could use it to his advantage and teams grew together.

But things have changed now haven’t they? Your LSE grad sits across the table from the RBS team on your account reviewing proformas and sometimes you wonder, just how far this beautiful game got away from what it really is about. I didn’t start in this game, now so many years ago, for a financial windfall, it’s part of you like the claret that runs through your veins.

This dark moment in the teams history in the teams history will pass and let me tell you, there will be a mighty cost to it. Immediately the financial fallout will be significant and you can put all the chit-chat of possible acquisitions aside because the budget your LSE grad and RBS team put together is headed for the shredder. The new one has had a massive downsizing of inflows, the loss of revenue from European date, broadcast revenue and the like. In-fact the cut will go so deep that in order to balance the books of account we might see a few faces sold, including Carlos Cuellar. In the cruelest cut of all, much of that revenue that was lost will now go straight into Celtic hands as the lone representative for Scotland.

Of the lessons learned yesterday was that somewhere along the way, the heart of this squad was severed. It lost it’s grit and determination and this early morning rise-and-shine wake-up call can go a long way to reinvigorating it. The key word in that last sentence is “can” and for that to happen some heads will need to roll. Since forwards can score and defenders can’t defend, much less show pride in the extraordinary history they wear every time that put on a Rangers shirt, they need to be “dealt with”. Don’t be pleasant about this or try to be nice, lead and sever problems immediately. This is where actually real coaching comes in and not the modern day “coach” armed a hundred million Euros or so.

Finally next time you’re looking down your wish-list of players, look down your bench and tap on the shoulder of Steven Lennon and ask him what it means to be a Ranger. Seriously, ask him. Look into the glint of a young mans eye and I think you’d pretty quickly understand the claret in his veins wouldn’t disappoint you. Is it a trace “too early” for him, possibly but he’d make up for it with heart and soul and indefensibility of human will can never be underestimated. Can I ask you, in all the running around looking for someone to put the ball in the back of the net, did anyone even make a local call to Robert Snodgrass or was he just forgotten as he headed down to Leeds?

The disappointment of yesterdays debacle is only natural but it’s the mettle of a team that will see you through and the pride of being a Ranger. Now, show some pride.

Category: Team News

Tags: Steven Lennon, Team News

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