In Glasgow’s peculiar little football bubble, nothing reveals an out-of-towner more than when they want time to carry out a plan. The rhetorical remark, “You’re not from around here, are you?” comes to mind at the very mention of the necessity of patience.
This was evident when Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe signed an open letter earlier this week that was partly a request for forgiveness for the Russell Martin fiasco and also a candid look into the minds of two men who appear to have, at least initially, miscalculated their new fan base and their new club’s culture.
Of course, from the outside looking in, the notion that it will take time to arrest the decline of Rangers as a competitive, trophy-winning force makes a great deal of sense. That’s fine, in theory. The reality is that as much as the hapless Martin made it look an even harder task than it actually is, there is no grace period afforded to a Rangers manager. There is a case for arguing, in fact, that the Ibrox job is currently one of the toughest gigs in world football.
You have a fervent, frustrated support who are conditioned to expect success. That believe they are the best and biggest club in the country, and that they deserve the silverware that goes along with it. Except, of course, the level of expectation has been out of kilter with the reality of their situation for quite some time.