What an afternoon for Rangers fans today. After both Old Firm sides’ start to the season, Ibrox supporters were cautious about their prospects against Martin O’Neill’s side in Govan. Understandably so.
Second in the table but 5 behind, Celtic’s free scoring side was a prospect and this was Derek McInnes’ debut as manager v the East.
This had the makings of either disaster, or glory.
And it was pretty clear after only 15 minutes of this one that Rangers were going to the semi finals.
We’ll have a tonne of coverage over the next day or so, but this piece is dedicated to an apology on behalf of 99% of Rangers fans, including ourselves, to guess who?
Yes, Dan Neil produced the performance Ibrox Noise had been promised and not seen. The performance we’d been led to believe he could produce but failed to really deliver.
He upped his game v Motherwell. We saw the real Dan Neil starting to kick in against the Steelmen.
He was a bit more subdued against St Mirren, but against Celtic, in one of the ones that truly mattered, he stepped up.
He showed us the real him, and two gigantic goals produced history for the hosts.
This was the first time Neil has looked like a captain for Rangers. The first time his ability shone in the way we were led to believe it would.
Matthew Smith, a friend of Ibrox Noise, industry insider and big afficionado of West Brom, Neil, and indeed Derek McInnes’ career explained just what Neil was for the club.
He believed the boy would be a giant success.
Indeed, prior to this one, he said:
“While acknowledging that it’s not been the most impressive of starts from Neil, I’m intrigued to see how things are looking for him a few months down the line.”
We didn’t need to wait those few months.
Neil has announced himself, the Premier League level player Rangers fans hoped to see.
It took a little longer than expected, but two belting goals which sealed an outstanding 3-0 win while leading as captain produced the display Rangers fans had hoped for.
Derek McInnes has stuck by Neil in face of a lot of criticism.
And on Sunday afternoon he was vindicated.
Rangers fans, Ibrox Noise included, are more than happy to apologise to the ex-Sunderland man.
He’s proven himself in the fixture that matters, as captain.
And you can’t argue with that.