Mark Warburton’s fragile hold over the Sevco support is in danger of collapsing.
After beating Celtic in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final the Ibrox club entered the top tier with one target in mind- #goingfor55.
The total lack of logic is a different issue but after a summer spending spree that included the signing of Joey Barton the Ibrox garden was glowing like never before.
A 5-1 hammering by Celtic on September 10 should have brought some reality to the situation but Warbo was quick to point out that there wasn’t much of a gulf between the two sides.
October’s BetFred Cup semi-final saw the scoreline narrowed to 1-0 but for a former city trader like Warbo the possession, shots and chances statistics were even more overwhelming than those produced for the league match.
With the league table spelling out Sevco’s inferiority to Saturday’s opponents Warbo is desperate to deflect away from his side’s title challenge- the very issue that was used to sell season tickets on the back of the #goingfor55 slogan.
Asked about how he should be judged Warbo told The Scotsman: “It has to be where we finish. I understand (the comparisons to Celtic) and please don’t think for one second I’m understating it.
“But at the end of the season come May, where do Rangers come in the league?
“We spoke at the beginning of the season about being highly competitive and learning and gelling as a team over the course of the season.
“So if we do that and grab second spot, will we have had a good season? You tell me.”
Being 16, 19 or 22 points behind Celtic at the halfway stage in the season will assure Mr Warburton of the same answer as Tony Mowbray, Paul le Guen and Johnm Barnes received.
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