The “Liverpool Fallacy” is getting close to haunting Rangers

Regulars of Ibrox Noise, who have been with us years, will know we tend to press certain themes now and then, things we feel strongly about.

And one of those we preached all throughout spring and then ad-nauseum through the summer was what we call the ‘Liverpool Fallacy’.

That is, Anfield’s giants won their first league title for 30 years in 19/20 and thought they’d made it. They didn’t do much in the transfer market and then started the season poorly. Two defender losses compounded this and Jurgen Klopp, just like our own Ally in November 2011 with the loss of Steven Naismith, simply had no answer.

Liverpool melted away horribly and were nothing more than a one-season wonder. The arrogance of the club and many of its fans of thinking that was it, the 30 year nightmare over and they were now the best came back to haunt them as they crumbled.

We preached, and preached and begged fans and Rangers not to fall into the same trap, of thinking 55 meant we’d made it.

If we were to win 56 we’d have to earn it even harder than 55. Teams would hunt us, Celtic would be determined to get back at us, and the only way we’d achieve another title is with humility, work, guts, and ethic. Plus, of course, the absolute urgency of a handful of good signings.

Sadly, so far this summer, neither of these has happened.

On the ethics, work, and guts front, the team is still hungover from winning 55. There’s no desire, no graft, and focuses look elsewhere right now. While there’s some time to get up to speed (or is there), the attitude is either there or it isn’t, and right now it’s AWOL. Very few players in the shirt look like they’re genuinely hungry for 56, or for the CL. And it’s deeply worrying at present. Especially given it’s three competitive matches and it’s actually progressively worsening.

On the signings front? We loved John Lundstram in theory but in practice in competitive matches he’s been modest at best. He hasn’t impressed himself on the team at all and so far he’s disappointing. Fashion Sakala is the other relevant one and he was diabolical on his debut.

And that’s it.

Right now, as things stand on 7th of August, Rangers are resting shockingly on their laurels and not showing the heart of a team determined to win another league. Steven Gerrard’s Midas touch of last season isn’t abundant at all, and his side has currently regressed to 19/20.

Now, let’s not overreact. It IS early in the season. ‘There is plenty time for Rangers to get their act together and it doesn’t mean the season is already a bust’.

But the worrying thing is, to be blunt, there ISN’T plenty time. Malmo is in three days and Rangers are perilously close to flubbing their CL lines at the first hurdle, losing the club out on around £60M squid. And the matches are coming thick and fast in all competitions, meaning, indeed, there really isn’t a lot of time at all, sadly.

The unbeaten record was going to end one day, but it ended with an absolute whimper, and the team didn’t fight hard enough for it.

And those guts need back in the side QUICK.

Get your act together, all of you, otherwise 56 is seriously at risk before it even got started.