There’s not doubt that Rangers’ return to the Scottish Premiership has been good for the division. Bhoys fans will not want to admit it, neither will the likes of Hearts or Aberdeen, but having a team with such history back is only a positive for the sport as a whole, and while the Hoops are running away with it, there’s much more intrigue this term than there has been over the past few seasons.[ad_pod id=’now-tv’ align=’centre’]We all know already that Celtic are odds-on to win the division – before a ball was kicked that was the predicted outcome – but the battle for second is an intriguing one, and it’s a position quite a few supporters predicted the Gers would be in come the end of the campaign.
Alas, Rangers will have to battle hard to overcome the Dons to be runners-up, but would even that make this season a success at Ibrox? We argue both cases below, so read on and vote at the end…
Yes
Regardless of Rangers’ standing in the Scottish game, finishing second to Celtic in their first season back in the top tier would be a great achievement. The Gers haven’t exactly set the world alight and given that their budget before the season was significant, that is an issue that can’t be ignored, but anyone who was expecting a sustained title challenge needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. Celtic have a great manager in Brendan Rodgers on board and have a squad that has been strengthened to the point that even a second string XI would beat most teams in the Premiership routinely, while it’s hard to argue that outside of James Tavernier and Barrie McKay any Rangers players would get into the Hoops’ first-team.
Aberdeen took the Ibrox team’s role as Celtic’s big challengers in their absence, and the Dons have a decent squad of players as well as a good manager in Derek McInnes. They have to be the real rivals for Rangers this season, and with the gap only six points (granted it seems more like seven with the goal difference factor) there’s still time to overhaul them, which would be a positive outcome, even with the big points gap that will exist between themselves and Celtic.
No
While being away from the top division for a few seasons was always going to make it difficult to come back with a bang, finishing the season 30/40 points behind Celtic is actually quite embarrassing. The two Glasgow teams used to be close rivals, swapping the league trophy between themselves on a regular basis, so to have such a chasm between the two is a jarring reminder that it will take years longer than anticipated before the playing field is level again.
This season was as much of a free hit as Rangers could have hoped for given their newly-promoted status, and next term they won’t have the luxury of using that as an excuse. 2017/18 will be one in which the club are expected to be much closer to Celtic, so the fact they are now behind Aberdeen too, which could be how the season ends, sets off alarm bells, especially with the chaos off the pitch not helping matters on it. To an extent coming second would be a success, but it’s more the manner of the best case scenario, which is that the gap between the Old Firm clubs is bigger than many thought it would be.
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