This Feels Different

Rudolph Hucker

Well-Known Member
When we beat them at Ibrox in December 2018 it was a monkey off our backs, it was a fantastic feeling to finally get a win against them and not just hope to restrict them to 2 or 3 goals. It didn't feel that the tide was turning as such, just that it wasn't coming in any more and we could start to rebuild. We followed that up with a 2-0 win in May but it was a dead rubber so didn't really mean anything more than being good (as always) to beat them

When we beat them at the Saviledome last year it was another monkey off our backs, our first win there since goodness knows when. I think we all got a bit carried away, even though none of us could have foreseen the implosion of our season after the winter break. It still felt, even at the time, a bit more than hope rather than expectation.

It feels different after yesterday for some reason. I don't feel euphoric just to be beating them without looking at the bigger picture, I feel pride that the players and management totally outclassed them and were totally dominant in a way we haven't been for well over a decade. This doesn't feel like the cherry on top of the cake in the way the previous wins did, it feels more like another important step on the road towards the prize and the level that we should be aspiring to. We've shown that we can beat them home and away and finally have nothing particularly to fear as long as our team turns up and focusses on the job in hand. At last it doesn't matter who they play or what they do, we can do it better

Our problem for the last 2 seasons has been beating the dross as well as the filth, and even here we have seen an improvement. We've conceded goals in 2 out of 11 SPL matches, we've gone from looking like a bombscare moment away from disaster to having a rock-solid platform to build on in every match. Even Tavernier, who I have never had any time for previously, is looking much more assured in defence and is a consistent danger up front. Yesterday was a big test which he passed with flying colours (his delivery to Goldson was a thing of beauty).

If we can get Aribo back firing on all cylinders, integrate Roofe and Itten into the team and if Hagi continues to mature then we could be looking at a very good season indeed. For the first time in many years, I feel some confidence in a Rangers team to be able to deliver consistently. I'm not getting carried away, but we've now played 13 matches and haven't hit too many highs but have still played well enough often enough to be able to deliver good results consistently. This is different to last year where we actually played quite poorly on a number of occasions but (until the new year) ground out results.

It feels different, but GOOD different.
 
I agree with everything said but I can’t look too far ahead after being stung last season. We have a much better squad but hopefully we can stay clear of further injuries
 
I was really confident yesterday (never am normally).
They way we have been playing and the fact that they are a shambles,played out the way I expected.
Bet on us to win 2-0,good day all round.
 
We’re ahead for now and need to stay ahead.

There can be no slip ups. The next round of fixtures is in our favour so we must not be complacent and push home the advantage. I think we knew we had the better team but this team still needs to demonstrate that they have the mindset of winners.
 
It will only feel different when we apply the pressure, take our chances, put together winning runs and show that we can grind our results and turn dropped points into victories.

I'm looking no further than Livingston next week (I know we've a European match in midweek).

Win that. No slip ups and I certainly won't be counting on teams taking points from the bheggars.

Look what happened after the 29th December 2019. We've got to react differently as I'm expecting them to bounce back from yesterday. We've given ourselves a great opportunity. Time to push on.
 
We've gone from having a very good first eleven to having a very good squad of players who are only going to gret better.

It's a huge difference and one I believe will take us to 55 this season.

A long way to go and we can't get complacent but it is hard not to be optimistic.
 
The previous wins were more of an event - this feels like a reasonably standard 2-0 away from home win and it demonstrates the balance of power having shifted between Rangers & Celtic.

Now Rangers need to make sure that the habit of dropping points against everyone else is addressed!
 
You can see it is different also for the manager and players, no huge celebrations unlike last season but a realisation this is just another step towards our goal.

The players also played with a level of belief we have not seen previously, they fully expected to win the game and were composed throughout
 
We’re ahead for now and need to stay ahead.

There can be no slip ups. The next round of fixtures is in our favour so we must not be complacent and push home the advantage. I think we knew we had the better team but this team still needs to demonstrate that they have the mindset of winners.
You are right. After we beat them last new year I looked at our fixtures and a championship winning team would have been looking at close to maximum points and we messed it up. I can't see this team doing the same. We have depth now in every position .
 
It is different. It’s not a fluke or an outlier anymore. It’s not a one-off.

We’ve simply got to a point where Gerrard and his staff have created an incredibly strong team. Well drilled, well disciplined, everyone knows their role and even when the better players have off days (Kent and Morelos yesterday) we still have enough to come through.

On the flip side Lennon is a total mess of a manager and doesn’t have a clue how to organise a side. He’s relied on having better players than the rest throughout his time as their manager - he’s got no answer to genuine tactical nous.

I know people are apprehensive after the last few seasons but now it reallt is different. We are finally peaking and I don’t see us stopping. It’s all come together now.
 
I agree with much of that. I really thought we would make a fight of it last year after the break but I didn’t buy the ‘they are done’ mantra on here. For me it was still a coin flip and their experience made them favourites.

Next set of 11 games is huge as we can open up a gap with the extra game plus they have the harder set of fixtures on paper. We need to just keep knocking off 3 points at a time.

Plus I’m less nervous about the odd draw as I really think we can beat them 2/3 left and draw the other one which is a huge 6 further points ahead of them.
 
We just need to keep winning.

By hook or by crook we need to turn a 0-0 into a 1-0, or a 1-1 into a 2-1.

Also, at some point it is inevitable that we will have players affected by the virus, so we need a bit of luck with timing etc.

It’s the best opportunity we’re going to get, so we need to be a Rangers team and kill for the wins.
 
I think the team put a lot of emotional energy into our previous wins, with a natural falling off afterwards having felt like they’d done it at last and being spent. This time it was like a routine win against any other side. Things look to be changing for the better in our favour for now.
 
It feels different because looking at yesterdays teams, they have regressed and they have wee lennie and not Brenda.
Our team is far more confident and we have improved the squad.
 
When we beat them at Ibrox in December 2018 it was a monkey off our backs, it was a fantastic feeling to finally get a win against them and not just hope to restrict them to 2 or 3 goals. It didn't feel that the tide was turning as such, just that it wasn't coming in any more and we could start to rebuild. We followed that up with a 2-0 win in May but it was a dead rubber so didn't really mean anything more than being good (as always) to beat them

When we beat them at the Saviledome last year it was another monkey off our backs, our first win there since goodness knows when. I think we all got a bit carried away, even though none of us could have foreseen the implosion of our season after the winter break. It still felt, even at the time, a bit more than hope rather than expectation.

It feels different after yesterday for some reason. I don't feel euphoric just to be beating them without looking at the bigger picture, I feel pride that the players and management totally outclassed them and were totally dominant in a way we haven't been for well over a decade. This doesn't feel like the cherry on top of the cake in the way the previous wins did, it feels more like another important step on the road towards the prize and the level that we should be aspiring to. We've shown that we can beat them home and away and finally have nothing particularly to fear as long as our team turns up and focusses on the job in hand. At last it doesn't matter who they play or what they do, we can do it better

Our problem for the last 2 seasons has been beating the dross as well as the filth, and even here we have seen an improvement. We've conceded goals in 2 out of 11 SPL matches, we've gone from looking like a bombscare moment away from disaster to having a rock-solid platform to build on in every match. Even Tavernier, who I have never had any time for previously, is looking much more assured in defence and is a consistent danger up front. Yesterday was a big test which he passed with flying colours (his delivery to Goldson was a thing of beauty).

If we can get Aribo back firing on all cylinders, integrate Roofe and Itten into the team and if Hagi continues to mature then we could be looking at a very good season indeed. For the first time in many years, I feel some confidence in a Rangers team to be able to deliver consistently. I'm not getting carried away, but we've now played 13 matches and haven't hit too many highs but have still played well enough often enough to be able to deliver good results consistently. This is different to last year where we actually played quite poorly on a number of occasions but (until the new year) ground out results.

It feels different, but GOOD different.

think its 3 goals in 11 but 100% agree, Celtic have went backward whilst we continually improve. Yet some on here wanted SG out. Where are these plants today?
 
We have a tough game on Thursday but I've almost become accustomed to good European performances under Gerrard, which is really saying something.

However I still have a worry at our ability to consistently beat the SPFL dross. Its probably scar tissue from the last couple of seasons, but until we go on a run of 7-8 straight victories, I don't think I can shake the feeling that we'll slip up when it's least expected.

Of course we won't win every game and there will be slip ups along the way, but we also need to see how this team respond to set backs because they didn't do too well in the 2nd part of last season.

The next 3 league matches are all potential banana skins, all coming after EL games. Pick up maximum points from that period before we face the sheep and we're in a very good place.
 
I keep hearing people mention that it will be interesting to see how Rangers handle the pressure, but for me it will be interesting to see how Celtic handle it.

The have cantered to all these titles and have never had to consistently grind out results. A large part of me hopes they really cant handle it.
 
The hard work starts now, we need to go on a winning run, that team are pish and they're there for the taking but only if we keep beating the rest of the dross and thats been our problem up until now.
 
Agree but equally we must approach it like the season is beginning again next week. Next round of fixtures look good for us and we must find a way to win these games. They have a tougher round of fixtures and the pressure is on (however - as someone else said, I don’t think we can rely on others to take points from them).
 
The players and manager came off the park cool and calm, job done just as any other away win in this league.
They came off the park knowing Rangers had their measure again.
 
The players should always be able to motivate themselves for a game against them, it’s the lesser games that have posed us problems in the past.

Whilst we can (and will) still revel in it, yesterday’s gone and Livi is now the most important league game of our season and our focus should be on that.
 
There's a Lee McCulloch interview that sticks in my mind. He talks about how Walter Smith always said the most important game is the one AFTER the Old Firm.

We've took our eye off the ball a few times in recent years and hopefully now we've learned from those mistakes.

Also need other teams to step up and take some points off Celtic too. Starting with Aberdeen next week. Let's go Ross McCrorie.
 
The fact we dont now face a winter break immediately after our win is what will kick us on now.

Winter break ruined us last season.
 
we started to play the dross of the SPFL as we normally finish. In top gear from the off. Keep this tempo from the start and then foot of the gas after the 2nd. That way we should normally c them off.
 
The scum game is just another game we had to take care of. It feels great beating them but we need to win all our games till we meet them again. It sounds like I'm trying to dilute our win yesterday, but we've been here before and it didn't end well. I love Rangers as much as every Rangers supporter does, they were brilliant yesterday, but we need to dig in for the rest of the season.
 
We've gone from having a very good first eleven to having a very good squad of players who are only going to gret better.

It's a huge difference and one I believe will take us to 55 this season.

A long way to go and we can't get complacent but it is hard not to be optimistic.
Agreed. The strength we had on the bench yesterday was very pleasing. No squad fillers. All guys who could slot into the team without weakening it.
 
It’s a combination of us improving the overall quality in our squad and them making theirs worse. Add to that they also have an inferior manager in charge from what they had a couple of seasons ago and this is what you get.

We are on top now but we really have to consolidate that with more wins against the diddies in the league and not implode like we have in previous seasons.
 
Thing I notice is that there's intrinsic confidence now coupled with belief, another sign of maturation. Both amongst the players and amongst us.

H&H (think it was Cammy) touched on it with the european qualification a few weeks ago, when they said that the result was just confirmation of where we expect to be, which is also why there wasn't such a fanfare for that result either.
 
The fact we dont now face a winter break immediately after our win is what will kick us on now.

Winter break ruined us last season.

Correct. We need to maintain momentum. And they won't have a long break in which they can regroup and work on putting things right. Pressure could build on them with a defeat on Thursday, and hopefully yesterday showed McInnes that he should actually set his team out to give them a game next week.
 
When we beat them at Ibrox in December 2018 it was a monkey off our backs, it was a fantastic feeling to finally get a win against them and not just hope to restrict them to 2 or 3 goals. It didn't feel that the tide was turning as such, just that it wasn't coming in any more and we could start to rebuild. We followed that up with a 2-0 win in May but it was a dead rubber so didn't really mean anything more than being good (as always) to beat them

When we beat them at the Saviledome last year it was another monkey off our backs, our first win there since goodness knows when. I think we all got a bit carried away, even though none of us could have foreseen the implosion of our season after the winter break. It still felt, even at the time, a bit more than hope rather than expectation.

It feels different after yesterday for some reason. I don't feel euphoric just to be beating them without looking at the bigger picture, I feel pride that the players and management totally outclassed them and were totally dominant in a way we haven't been for well over a decade. This doesn't feel like the cherry on top of the cake in the way the previous wins did, it feels more like another important step on the road towards the prize and the level that we should be aspiring to. We've shown that we can beat them home and away and finally have nothing particularly to fear as long as our team turns up and focusses on the job in hand. At last it doesn't matter who they play or what they do, we can do it better

Our problem for the last 2 seasons has been beating the dross as well as the filth, and even here we have seen an improvement. We've conceded goals in 2 out of 11 SPL matches, we've gone from looking like a bombscare moment away from disaster to having a rock-solid platform to build on in every match. Even Tavernier, who I have never had any time for previously, is looking much more assured in defence and is a consistent danger up front. Yesterday was a big test which he passed with flying colours (his delivery to Goldson was a thing of beauty).

If we can get Aribo back firing on all cylinders, integrate Roofe and Itten into the team and if Hagi continues to mature then we could be looking at a very good season indeed. For the first time in many years, I feel some confidence in a Rangers team to be able to deliver consistently. I'm not getting carried away, but we've now played 13 matches and haven't hit too many highs but have still played well enough often enough to be able to deliver good results consistently. This is different to last year where we actually played quite poorly on a number of occasions but (until the new year) ground out results.

It feels different, but GOOD different.

I think it feels different in that a lot of people expected the win yesterday before putting the game on, seeing the win then just going about our normal day like it was the most normal thing in the world. The players included.

All business.
 
I think the big difference in strength in depth in the squad.
Previous years we could claim to have the best first 11 but you can't win a whole season with 11 to 14 players and so we fell away after new year.
Yesterday they had 4 missing and we had 3 missing but both our team and bench were much stronger than theirs. We have options to mix things up when there is a bump in the road
 
Correct. We need to maintain momentum. And they won't have a long break in which they can regroup and work on putting things right. Pressure could build on them with a defeat on Thursday, and hopefully yesterday showed McInnes that he should actually set his team out to give them a game next week.

The pressure is definitely on them the next few games. A pumping off milan will only drive more fans into the Lennon out campaign and heaps loads onto their game at aberdeen.

We need to take one game at a time, we have come through a really tough first period with two blips (livi, hibs). Its their turn for a tough period now.

No slip ups vs the dross I'm confident we will stretch our lead in the next 4 games by at least another 3 points.
 
What will resonate with the mutant hordes more after yesterday is how better coached and fitter our players are compared to theirs and also how we have built a team capable of dismantling them at ease in their own midden at a fraction of the cost. 50m they said it would take to catch up.....lolz

Make no mistake yesterday it hit home for them that we are better. 4 out the last 5 times v them we have murdered them all over the park but didn't always get the breaks.
 
Our next two SPL games are massive . Against two teams who have regularly taken points off us and them the past two seasons , Kilmarnock away and Livingstone. If we collect 6 points from these next two games then I will start to believe maybe this could be it .
 
I fully agree. Aside from the manner of our performance the most striking thing was how their heads dropped, particularly at 2-0. I just can’t see that side continuing to grind out results once they’re a bit behind and under the cosh. Also think some of the other SPFL dross might take some encouragement at last.

Aspects of yesterday reminded me of Advocaats first couple of years - even May 99 given how cool we were, played within ourselves and they seemed to lose the plot the more the game went on.
 
There's no point beating the mhanks if we drop points at livi and Hibs and we have seen that over the last few years. Yesterday we went into it knowing we could beat them as we are the better team
 
Agree with the comments, excited after yesterday and still buzzing. However I now expect 55 to be delivered, the pressure is building. I am sure that it will happen this year, but trying not to get carried away. Also worried, what could happen with the spfl calling the league or stopping it due to covid.
 
Is there going to be a winter break this yr at all?

I didnt think there was this year, not too sure.

If there is hopefully we have a sizeable lead and keep last years collapse fresh in the mind so we dont do it again.

Us not going overboard at the final whistle yesterday shows we are focused and we will not let that happen again imo.
 
I didnt think there was this year, not too sure.

If there is hopefully we have a sizeable lead and keep last years collapse fresh in the mind so we dont do it again.

Us not going overboard at the final whistle yesterday shows we are focused and we will not let that happen again imo.
Hopefully there isn’t
Covid surely has put paid to the break
Theres currently Too many postponements to allow 2 weeks In January to go idle
 
Wonder if it will feel different for the other 10 teams after watching that yesterday?

If they would just put 10% more effort into their games versus them it could see a real difference in celtc's results. A draw here or there is all it would take to make a hell of a difference for us.

Us getting back a bit of that 'fear factor'? Well teams hardly get up the park nowadays when we play them but maybe the players having a bit more confidence in themselves and sticking to the plan, not panicking, could see us pick up tricky points. Again, it is only a couple of draws getting turned into victories that would see a massive change in fortune for us.

Game on in this next round of fixtures. We need to be right up for it, no excuses, we really do have it in our own hands now!
 
I feel the same, the foundations have been there for a while & now it’s our time. I was so confident before the game yesterday and that’s been a thing for me for about a year. I fancy Rangers to win every game we play. I trust this team
 
Totally agree op, it's nice to beat them but I Think players, management and fans know there is a bigger picture at play here and it's when medals are handed out at the end of the season.
I think that's what everyone is focused on.
 
Not yet for me.

We haven’t proved yet we can get the routine wins you need week in week out to win the league.

Celtic aren’t the problem, it’s ourselves against everyone else.
 
When we beat them at the Saviledome last year it was another monkey off our backs, our first win there since goodness knows when. I think we all got a bit carried away, even though none of us could have foreseen the implosion of our season after the winter break. It still felt, even at the time, a bit more than hope rather than expectation.

I agree with the OP. The win at new year was definitely a monkey off our back. Something some said yesterday made me think, this win was after we were defeated in the LC final, where we destroyed them and went away with nothing. So winning at their hovel, on the back of the final defeat made it a massive release of emotion.

This time, maybe this season, it was job done. Up the road with the three points in the pocket.

Max points for our next set of games and we'll be in a good position.
 
Hopefully there isn’t
Covid surely has put paid to the break
Theres currently Too many postponements to allow 2 weeks In January to go idle
There absolutely isn’t this year. In fact the powers that be have already said the schedule that busy for us and then with European games that if any games are called off for any reason then we will be forced to play 4 games in a week.
 
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