Even The Village Idiot Knows That If Celtic Win The League That’s All That Matters.

One of the media narratives which has emerged over the last couple of weeks, but which has been pushed more aggressively in the last couple of days, is the idea that if the Ibrox club loses the title but wins the Scottish Cup that this will constitute a satisfactory and successful end to the campaign. It is not the case. The moment they went top of the league, the moment they became favourites to win the title, that was torn away from them.

If Celtic win the title, Clement will have failed. Do not listen to a single person who tells you that he was brought in simply to mop up the mess that Beale had made; he was brought in to win this title. When he got his nose in front, the expectation from every quarter in the media and the Ibrox fan-base was that he would get them across the line.

Whilst much of the media is willing to go along with the nonsense that Clement will be a success if he wins the Scottish Cup, one person has already broken ranks, and it’s a strange name and one that actually shames the rest of them; it’s the Village Idiot himself.

“I’ve heard people saying recently ‘you’ve got to remember where Rangers were when Philippe Clement came in,” he said. “I don’t think you can have that mindset. You’ve got yourself in a place where you can win a title. It wasn’t to be at Ibrox a couple of weeks ago in the (derby), but the two performances after that haven’t been good enough.”

And then he echoed what this site has been saying.

“You can’t go back to where the club was when Philippe Clement arrived. He’s here and they got themselves back in a title race, which at this moment in time looks like it’s probably going to end in a whimper. Some clubs get bogged down by winning cups but (at this club) people are going to be judged by winning titles.”

That’s how most Ibrox fans feel about it too. Their team was back in it, and they haven’t been able to put it in the bag. In fact, they’ve allowed the momentum to switch back to Celtic, and their game at the weekend is virtually a must-win.

There has been a subtle, but definite, turn in the media since Dundee. Clement has been put on notice by most of them now, and most especially by Jackson earlier in the week who as good as spelled out the necessity of them winning the Scottish Cup if Clement isn’t to be under real pressure. But The Village Idiot is the first to say that’s not enough.

The Ibrox fans are restless. The media is even more restless. But it’s pretty embarrassing when the one person in their ranks who is willing to tell the bald and simple truth of it is the one most of us regard as the dumbest one of the lot of them.

When you find yourself on the wrong side of him, how far from the path of sense have you actually strayed? That’s a question they should all be asking themselves.