Thank you Stuart McCall

December 6^th 2014.
Rangers welcome Cowdenbeath to Ibrox. 8^th of November since Rangers’
last victory in the league, and that run of 3 draws and losses finally came to
an end with a 1-0 win when the Blue Brazil showed up, but another woeful display
punctuation everything that was wrong on the pitch. It was to prove Ally
McCoist’s last match in charge before he handed in his resignation/notice.

March 28^th 2015.
Rangers welcome Cowdenbeath to Ibrox. 6 days since Rangers’ last victory in the
league (the previous match in fact), and that run of wins continued as new
manager Stuart McCall’s stamp continued to make its mark on the team with an
ultimately convincing 4-1 win.

The contrast between McCall’s fledgling
reign and that of his immediate predecessors is starting to truly embarrass
them. While it was a slightly spluttering start which saw his first two results
being draws, the fact that four matches into the McCall regime and Rangers have
yet to register a loss while managing to overcome high-flying Hibernian with
relative ease, on their own patch, tells Rangers fans almost everything they
need to know about the difference between having a rookie, and having a
manager.

When the boys from Fife came to Govan, Rangers had some serious concerns in
defence. There was no Foster, Smith, Zaliukas, Faure or Sinnamon available, and
McCall was forced into some slight modifications, such as a change back to
4-4-2.

After the success of the 3-5-2 at
Easter Road, such a change was concerning and many fans feared a bad day,
including yours truly.

We need not have worried.

The big news was a start for
David Templeton on the left, with Shiels switching to the right, and after 20
minutes of non-stop pressure from Rangers, including two fine saves from
Thomson to keep the home side at bay, it was evident the McCall message is
getting through.

It is easy to pre-empt praise by
saying ‘we are not Real Madrid’ as insurance, before saying ‘but’, but this
time I will not say that. This was a performance of gusto, flair, imagination,
pace, and some outright excellent football.

Templeton had an absolute field
day down the left, tearing the backline to shreds, and his relationship with Wallace
looked borderline telepathic. Both bombed up and down the left and quite simply
‘Beath had no answer at all.

The big disappointment of the
first half was the lack of goal, for all that pressure, all that flowing
football (yes, flowing football from Rangers), they could not beat Thomson.

This was, for the first time this
season, downright enjoyable fare to watch. Last week’s display v Hibs was a tactical
masterpiece, which did not get enjoyable till 20 minutes into the second half
when it was clear Stubbs had no response to McCall.

But yesterday? Yesterday was
flying from the start, and the quality of football on offer was impeccable, as
was the attitude.

In the end the 4-1 result was
completely just, Vuckic coming on to claim a double and Nicky Clark setting it
all in motion after the turnaround, before the outstanding McGregor zinged one
in from 20 yards to put the match out of reach.

But the one big let down was
Bilel Mohsni. His concentration levels are non-existent, he is astoundingly
careless, and he just does not focus. He is colossal in the air, and strong in
the tackle, but his laziness of mind cost Rangers a goal today, and a brief dip
in morale till McGregor got the second.

A defence of McCulloch and Mohsni
is absolutely not going to cut it for the rest of this season, and while I
believe this team will now be promoted (you can quote me on that) it will be
held back by those two hamstringing the backline.

But that aside the football was
fantastic, the goals were great, and it was wonderful to actually enjoy
watching Rangers.

On the pitch, at last, Rangers
are becoming a pleasure and not a pain.

Thank you Stuart McCall.