Last night’s result at Pittodrie was pretty much what everybody expected. Rangers lose ground. Regardless of VAR and contentious onside offside decisions, the visitors won, as we all knew they would. Of course, most fans believe that Aberdeen always lie down to Celtic. This is a long standing myth that has done the rounds for many years.
However, the reality is that this is the same team that beat Celtic in the League Cup final. They also held them at Pittodrie for long enough last night. There is also the further mitigating fact that Aberdeen’s form is absolutely atrocious. They have not won in the league in months. Consequently, expecting them to do Rangers, or indeed Hearts, a favour was basically non existent.
Aberdeen Reality
This was not going to happen. They also do not have a manager, which shows how low they currently are. Nevertheless, it means the inevitable. Celtic are now definitively above Rangers in the table. They are now on the march to try to win the title themselves.
Hearts Lead The Way
Hearts still have that advantage over both of the Old Firm. However, the problem now is that Rangers being dumped back down to third shows our poor form. Rangers have not been winning this year. It is as simple as that. Regardless of manager, squad, selections, tactics, or substitutions, the simple fact is that Rangers’ record in 2026 is diabolical. It is clearly not title winning form. The away form especially has been atrocious.
Blame And Reality
Some fans blame Rohl, although not many, given he has a 90% approval rating. Some, we should say many, blame the players. They question work ethic, selections, tactics and instruction following. In truth, it does not really matter who anyone blames. The simple fact is we are third. Celtic have leapfrogged us. Consequently, we are where we probably deserve to be.
The league table never lies. Regardless of the cause, the league table is always accurate. Hearts have been the most consistent team this season. They deserve to be top, clear of everyone else.
Celtic and Rangers have been mostly even this season. Both sets of fans complain about referees and other bizarre entities. However, the fact is Rangers are not where they need to be. We spent £10M in January. We also spent around £35M to £45M last summer. Yet we sit in third.
That says a lot. We were 11th previously. However, we cannot say that being third fills us with hope or joy.
Title Race Over
The reality now is that the league is gone. Ibrox Noise already believed the league was gone some time ago. Easter Road was the moment. However, it is absolutely 100% gone now. There is no getting back from this as far as we can tell as Rangers lose ground.
The only chance of silverware is the long shot of getting past three rounds of the Scottish Cup. Celtic come to Ibrox this weekend. Defeat there ends all silverware for sure. That is beyond a must win.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst won the Scottish Cup. That came as compensation for drifting out of the league. He also reached the Europa League final. That season was strangely not a total failure. Many would argue it was a huge success despite the result in Seville.
Currently, as things stand, Rangers are likely to win absolutely nothing this season. That would be the second season in a row. That would be far from ideal. However, it is starting to look rather likely. It really is not a great place that the club is in right now.