Ibrox fans laughing at Ange will regret it by the time the ex-Celtic boss is done with their club.

Last night, the Ibrox fan sites were cock-a-hoop over Chelsea’s comeback against Spurs. They believe one of two things will happen now.

Either a demoralised Spurs side will travel to Glasgow, vulnerable to their team’s long-ball football and hideous style, as so many others have under the glare of the Ibrox lights or Ange Postecoglou will be sacked before the game, plunging Spurs into chaos and depriving them of a manager who knows Scottish football intimately, including what it takes to win—especially against their team.

This is typical Ibrox fantasy. Neither of these scenarios is going to happen. As vulnerable as Spurs looked last night, I remember the last time a Premier League club played at Ibrox in European competition during a poor domestic campaign. Anyone need reminding of how that ended? It was the most humiliating defeat a Scottish club has ever suffered at home.

That is exactly the sort of fate that may await them on Thursday.

As I pointed out in my last piece, their fans can kid themselves, but they are not equipped to face the highest-level teams. Whatever deficiencies Spurs may have in that cash-rich, overblown league down south, they remain an elite side.

They are on par with the Liverpool team that battered Ibrox mercilessly during its own form slump. Last night, Spurs were 2–0 up within 15 minutes against an outstanding Chelsea side. Yes, they ultimately lost 4–3, but they lost to a Chelsea team fielding an unbelievable array of talent, including the almost unplayable Cole Palmer.

But hey, Ibrox can throw Cyriel Dessers at them. It’s an embarrassing mismatch.

It amazes me that any of their fans genuinely believe they stand a chance. Ange has a great opportunity here to restore his reputation with Spurs fans by coming up and dismantling the Ibrox club on their own pitch. I fully expect him to take it.

The Ibrox faithful haven’t grasped what they’re about to encounter and endure.

So far in Europe this season, they’ve faced only one team of note, and that side dismantled them on their own turf. They will almost certainly suffer an even heavier defeat against the English club—not because it’s Ange in the dugout but because Spurs are operating on a completely different level. Spurs are a Champions League-calibre team. Meanwhile, they’ve shown themselves incapable of even competing with that standard, far less beating it.

As per usual, a handful of positive performances have blinded their fans to the reality of the situation. The Champions League embarrassments of just a few years ago should still be fresh in the memory, but they’ve been conveniently forgotten on the back of a few wins.

Their manager knows better.

He understands how spectacularly outgunned they are. That’s why he’s already preparing the litany of excuses. As I said last night, he’s also taking steps to prepare the fans for the harsh reality: Celtic remain miles ahead of them—a fact that will be reinforced this weekend.

But it’s this Spurs narrative that really makes me question the sanity of some of these people. The press may choose to focus on Daniel Levy’s dour, glum face in the stands, and Paul Merson might point out that playing against England’s top clubs is not the same as facing the cannon fodder of the SPL. He’s right: Ange doesn’t have the best players in the country anymore. He would if he were still at Celtic, but that’s cold comfort for the Ibrox fans.

Because on Thursday night, Postecoglou will have over £200 million worth of football talent going up against the same SPL cannon fodder Merson referenced. And that’s where it all falls apart for them. Spurs are bringing problems that Ibrox simply cannot solve.

They’re up against a team desperate for a morale-boosting win, managed by a man equally in need of one. Ange knows how to beat them and would enjoy doing it tremendously. He doesn’t need additional motivation; he already has plenty. And if Ibrox fans think the Chelsea result helps them, they’re deluded. It makes Spurs the proverbial wounded animal. Ange has the chance to lash out at a former rival, and I’m certain he’ll approach it with relish.