Yesterday this site regaled its
readers with why Rangers critically need Scott Allan, why he is the missing
piece of the jigsaw to cope with the rigours of Championship life this season.
All the points made in that entry
remain true – Rangers have lacked a regista for a great period, literally since
Barry Ferguson left, and the morale boost from securing him at Ibrox would be
an exceptional fillip to everyone associated with Rangers.
Until, that is, around 14:30
today, when a travelling Rangers romped home to a ridiculously easy 6-2
slaughtering of a side they had failed to score more than two goals against in
any single match last season, and one which scored a total of 11 against the
Light Blues.
Today’s score quite simply
changed everything. Rangers no longer need
one man to complete the jigsaw.
The pre-match interview from Mark
Warburton highlighted why – the former Brentford man kept preaching about how
it is not about any one player, and
it is about the team as a whole. That the whole
squad must be good enough, that components from throughout his entire armoury should be able to come
in and do as good a job from the bench as those he selects to start.
This match showed why. While it
was a stuttering start and took until Tavernier’s stellar finish to get going,
from there on in the individual became irrelevant and the team became the
priority.
No more relying on a sub to make
a difference, no more pinning all our hopes on one player to produce – no more
Haris Vuckic-type scenarios where a player becomes a cult hero because he is
the only one we can rely on.
Now it seems, if this throttling
of our traditional conquerers is anything to go by, that the whole team works
together, links, plays, fights as a unit, and can be relied on to produce a
collective.
For the first time in a long
time, Rangers appear to truly have a team, one which can only get better.
The statement of intent by
nabbing 6 goals at the Championship runners’ up’s patch is clear.
Now, I hasten to add Scott Allan
is utterly welcome. He is an excellent player and could only strengthen Rangers
further. Absolutely at no point am I dismissing his use to the Club.
I am only pointing out, thanks to
our display today, we learn we do not need him like we thought we did.
And that applies to all players.
Warburton this morning said he wanted a couple more. Why? To make the squad
stronger. Not the team, but the squad. Now he almost certainly realises the
urgency to do that is not quite what it was.
Rangers are not the finished
article, still some way to go. But 6-2 against one of the best teams in the
division on their own patch shows why Rangers are not dependent on anyone anymore.