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What the number 55 means to Rangers now as symbol of glory fills them with DREAD at undeniable Celtic reality
The number 55 used to be looked upon with fondness around Ibrox. Not so much these days.
Mostly because it’s a bitter reminder of the colossal missed opportunity to reset Rangers as a competitive force after their 2021 league triumph. But increasingly, mere mention of those two digits is serving up another emotion – dread. They’ve tried not to think about it, to force it from their thoughts and into the darkest recesses of their minds. But try as they might, the Light Blue legions simply can’t ignore the reality it’s Celtic who are now the team going for 55, speeding towards equalling Gers’ cherished title benchmark at the end of this season.
Little wonder you seldom hear 55 muttered much at all any more by Rangers fans. Once upon a time it was plastered everywhere you looked around the stadium, from trinkets in the club shop to banners sweeping the stands. Now the supporters can barely bring themselves to say the words.
They might try to avoid it but still find themselves stumbling into ominous reminders. Take for example, the delayed kick-off time for Saturday’s snow-hit clash with Dundee United. What was originally forecast as a three-quarter of an hour hold-up, after Jim Goodwin’s side were snared up in a motorway logjam, eventually rumbled on a little longer – with the action finally getting underway at 3.55pm.
Rangers had been made to wait – but then failed to mount the late show that would have kept their already sizeable Premiership deficit as it was before kick-off. Now they trail Celtic by a mammoth 11 points and face the prospect of another proud record being matched by their rampant rivals.
It was hardly a surprise to see Rangers struggle to see off a United side that had spent four-and-a-half hours trapped on their team bus. Not least as this is a club that hasn’t just stalled itself but rather spent the last six months trapped in reverse gear.
Friday’s pre-match chat with boss Philippe Clement centred around the decision to promote Nils Koppen from head of recruitment to a wider technical director role. Perplexed fans have been left surprised by the news given all they’ve seen since the former PSV Eindhoven scout’s appointment 11 months ago is their club going backwards.
But like they were with manager Clement, handed a new four-year deal at the start of the season, the Ibrox board in their wisdom seem content to reward the men at the forefront of that decline. Whether incoming chairman Malcolm Offord or former Manchester United exec Patrick Stewart – rumoured to be James Bisgrove’s replacement as CEO – are quite so happy to continue on with the current structure remains to be seen.
What’s clear is Rangers remain a team every bit lacking direction as the jack-knifed lorry that forced the United coach to a halt on the gridlocked road to Glasgow. For 45 minutes they scrambled about like the fans forced to brave slippery conditions on their way into the ground as they attempted to cut through Goodwin’s superbly organised line-up without much joy.
United had no trouble finding the weak spot in the Gers’ backline as Sam Dalby ran off the sleeping Jefte to head home a deep cross from Vicko Sevelj nine minutes before half-time. That sparked another round of boos from a supporter base who have grown hoarse jeering their team this year. That called for half-time alterations from a manager who seems constantly to find himself tearing up pre-match plans after 45 minutes.
Saturday was Rangers’ 21st fixture of the season – and the 13th time this term Clement has made interval substitutions.
Injuries will have played a part in some but there’s also a notion among supporters that too often the Belgian picks the wrong team.
Mohamed Diomande and Cyriel Dessers were the fall guys at the weekend and it was a simple call given how ineffective both had been during the opening period. Dessers’ erraticisms are hardly new but the drop-off in Ivory Coast midfielder Diomande’s form will worry a manager who convinced the board to splash out £4.3million to land him from Nordsjaelland in January.
With Ianis Hagi and Danilo on as their replacements, Rangers finally showed some spark and cutting edge in the final third. Brazilian frontman Danilo is still finding his sharpness after a year of injury woe and that showed as he dragged a huge chance wide from a Vaclav Cerny cut-back. But his touch was tighter on the 66th minute as he returned a smart one-two to the Czech ace, who rolled under Jack Walton for the equaliser.
That would be the only time the United keeper would be beaten, however, as the heroic Walton threw himself at a string of Gers attempts to secure a deserved draw for the Tannadice side.
It’s now just one loss from seven games on the road for Goodwin’s team, with a return to European competition next season now firmly on the agenda. As for Rangers’ and their title ambitions, carry on like this and they will be going nowhere.
