The comfort campaign at Ibrox has been launched by Sergio Porrini!
Sunday’s 3-2 defeat from Celtic was a devastating blow to supporters who had been whipped up into such a frenzy that they believed their team was about to draw level with Celtic this Saturday.
Graeme ‘Pep’ Murty’s reborn side had scored for fun against Ayr United, Hamilton and Falkirk to such an extent that the phrase ‘The Rangers Are Coming’ had turned Brendan Rodgers into a quivering wreck.
Some fans even believed that a club in China was prepared to splash out £22m on a guy that can’t find the net from four yards out.
Celtic’s 3-2 win at Ibrox was a brutal reality check, made even more painful by going ahead twice and having half an hour against ten men.
The phrases ‘small margins’ and ‘narrowing the gap’ are already creeping in with former Juventus ace Porrini trying to turn the clock back 20 years when Dave Murray’s tax scams could attract top stars from Serie A such as Jonas Thern, Lorenzo Amoruso and Marco Negri.
“I must admit I thought the gap was bigger between the two teams,” the Italian told The Sun.
“I think the match on Sunday showed Rangers are very close now. They have closed that gap on Celtic.
“I think they just need maybe three or four more players with good skill and ability to really allow them to stay at the same level as Celtic.
“If they can do that then next season they can be even closer. With the way the match went at Ibrox, Rangers could quite easily have won. They had the chances to go 3-2 up.
“They missed a great chance, so I think next year it will be much closer.”
Porrini added: ““Of course a lot has happened to Rangers in those 17 years since I left but it felt the same.
“The Rangers fans love their team. I think maybe now they realise they are getting close to Celtic.
“Maybe now it’s a sort of pain relief for them. It hasn’t been easy being a Rangers fan. They have been relegated and saw Celtic winning the leagues without any opponent.
“Now they realise they are getting close again and will be a good opponent for Celtic in seasons to come.”
Before Murts can add three or four players to the squad Dave King will need to come up with £11m to underwrite a share issue if the club is to avoid becoming a financial pariah.
Once that has been achieved and £4m of season ticket money for next season is handed over to Close Brothers Murts can negotiate with Norwich, Brighton, Nottingham Forest and QPR to make the current loan deals permanent.
At that stage Sevco can then prepare themselves to face a Celtic side next season that will have Leigh Griffiths, Stuart Arrmstrong, Scott Sinclair, Marvin Compper, Mikael Lustig and Charly Musonda joined by more summer signings.