If there’s one thing positive that Ibrox Noise takes from yesterday’s Rangers shocker v Motherwell, it’s the fan reaction.

While some are trying to be magnanimous and ‘take it on the chin’ or blaming it on referees, the majority are acting like it’s the end of the world.

And that is EXACTLY how Rangers fans, true Rangers fans react to bad results, even to a draw.

It’s well-documented just what the pressure at Rangers is like, great captains of the past like Barry Ferguson explaining that new recruits at Ibrox couldn’t always grasp the sheer demands and expectations at this club.

That even a draw is the end of everything, that a loss is Hell Opening.

And the reaction yesterday to Rangers dropping three points was very much the majority melting down in rage, frustration, wanting half the team dropped, you name it.

This is how Rangers fans SHOULD react.

Something got lost over the course of the Journey, where many of our fanbase started accepting below par players and below par results, justifying second or even third best, defending a player like Fraser Aird or Anestis Argyriou, and justifying Steven Gerrard allowing Celtic to get so close to 10 and praising him for stopping it, rather than criticising him for wasting £35M and losing two titles with it first.

But the reaction yesterday was much more like what we’d expect – anger, rage, disappointment and frustration.

Second best is losing, at Rangers, it’s not good enough, and it practically doesn’t matter if you just won 20 in a row, you just lost to Motherwell.

It’s the loss that the fans note, that they see, and losses are unacceptable.

Now, Ibrox Noise explained that, being practical, there were going to be twists this season, that we wouldn’t win every match – we were proven right quicker than we hoped, and Motherwell made the point.

But the reaction stays the same – just because we KNOW we can’t win every single match doesn’t mean we won’t melt down in rage and annoyance at a bad result.

And that’s what it is to be a Ranger.

Barry got it:

“I always had a special word of advice for any new signing, just moments before he ran out at Ibrox for the first time. You’ve got 10 minutes mate”. Or words to that effect. Sometimes “I’d get a kind of startled, puzzled looking response. “Ten minutes? What are you talking about?” Trust me, 10 minutes later, no explanation was required. These guys might think they’ve seen and done it all in football but they soon realise there’s no bigger eye opener than your first introduction to the demands of playing in front of the Rangers fans.”

He went on:

“I saw it for myself with a whole string of new arrivals who cost a right few bob and came from some huge clubs but who couldn’t get their head around why people were growling all around if the team hadn’t hit the ground running from kick-off. They’d walk into the dressing room at half time and say, ‘What’s the problem here, we’re drawing 0-0?’. The smart ones worked it out pretty quickly. When you pull on that shirt you have to win – even if you’re playing tiddlywinks. It doesn’t matter. You have to be on the front foot, peppering the opposition goal.”

There’s more:

“You’re expected to come in 2-0 up. And if the fans aren’t happy then roll up your sleeves and do something about it. They’ve got every right to get on your back if you don’t.”

Correct:

“The good players got it. But there were plenty of others who just couldn’t ever quite get to grips with it. How many? How long have you got? I used to suffer the same myself. If I wasn’t on it from kick-off I knew they’d soon be growling at me too. So for the time being, I’ll reserve judgment on this summer’s new arrivals even if a few of them might already be scratching their heads and wondering why there’s been such a disgruntled reaction to a couple of home defeats in pre-season friendlies. Welcome to Rangers boys. You’ll never have experienced expectation and pressure like this at any other club. You probably never will again. So produce the goods and make the most of it because that’s what life at this club is all about. And it brings the best out of proper football players.”

The bit we love that Barry says is this:

“Welcome to Rangers boys. You’ll never have experienced expectation and pressure like this at any other club. You probably never will again.”

We’d say only a handful of clubs in the world have the historical demands Rangers do – Real Madrid, Man Utd, Bayern. Look at the absolute meltdown this season at the Allianz just because they’re not quite matching up to Leverkusen in the past month or two.

And Rangers fans’ reaction to yesterday is exactly what we want to see.

Second-best is last at Rangers. And losing is never acceptable.