Possibly the biggest secret is just what Philippe Clement has actually turned round in his time at Rangers, with the revelation being that Rangers were in fact a full 9 points behind in mid-January, having lost to Celtic at Parkhead in December.
Celtic were on 51 points, Rangers on 43, and Celtic had +34 to Rangers’ +29 GD.
That’s a 9-point gap taking into consideration goal difference.
That Philippe Clement has turned over an 11-point reverse here, with us now being 2 in the clear, AND on goal difference, is pretty incredible.
It is the biggest gap overhaul in a single season since 2011, when Celtic themselves usurped a 15-point lead once Steven Naismith got injured in November – they went past Rangers the following February and never looked back after Rangers’ admin crisis.
And yet they were going past a collapsing Rangers. This Rangers are not going past a collapsing Celtic. They have a supposed decent manager, plus Angie’s previously-imperious squad, and all the money in the world.
Yet Rangers and Philippe Clement, with the diabolical squad Michael Beale built, have soared an 11-point turnover.
It’s the biggest turnaround since that one by Celtic, in very different circumstances, and it does, we admit, probably supercede even the incredible work done by Walter Smith in January 2007 onwards. He even had a budget that January. He had money to spend.
Clement didn’t use a halfpenny.
He took a squad with Sam Lammers, Danilo and Dessers, and turned it into the best team in Scotland. Not overnight, true, but over four months.
There’s not a football fan in Scotland who thinks this isn’t justified.
‘Them’ lot are presumably in meltdown (we’ve not been on any of their platforms, why would we be), wanting Rodgers fired – truth is he’s just being outgunned by a truly champion manager.
The one thing Clement still has to do is beat Celtic when it matters, and we guess that’s April’s task, but there’s a LOT of work to do before then.
And we’d suggest this:
Rangers fans, enjoy this moment, we are rightly top of the table and our fans should be allowed to savour it.
And then once it’s all processed, over the next couple of days, get straight back on with demanding the best, and focusing on the next one, because the tough fixtures begin soon.
The work has only just started, but the view is good from up here.