The whole "serial losers" chat around this Rangers side has become a lazy stick to beat the players with, and it is starting to drain any real discussion about where we actually are as a club.
It ties into another common theme as well: folk demanding a strong Scottish core, then in the next breath saying none of the Scottish players we have, or are linked with, are good enough. You can’t have it both ways. Either we value having a proper Scottish spine and accept there will be a mix of levels within that, or we drop the badge talk and just focus on quality, wherever it comes from.
The problem with the "serial loser" label
What really grates is how casually some fans throw around that "serial loser" tag. If you look at the actual definition, it’s supposed to mean an individual or team that consistently fails to achieve success, especially in repeated attempts like finals, despite effort or talent.
That definition already admits something important: effort and talent can be there, and you can still fall short. Football isn’t a computer game. Opponents exist. Pressure exists. Fine margins exist. There are nights when decisions go against you or a moment of madness costs you. That doesn’t suddenly turn every player involved into some hopeless, weak character.
Harry Kane was the example I used because nobody seriously questions his ability or his work rate. At Spurs he had big games, big moments, and still ended up with people trying to brand him as some sort of nearly-man. It shows that one player, or even a talented group, can fall short in trophies without it meaning they’re mentally broken or “serial losers”. There are wider issues: recruitment, coaching, depth, consistency over a season. Rangers are no different.
Scottish core versus pure quality
Then you have the Scottish core argument. A lot of us, myself included, like the idea of seeing home-grown players or Scottish lads in the team. It feels like Rangers. But the same people who say that will then write off almost every Scottish name we’re actually linked with, or already have, as not being at the required level.
If every Scottish player is instantly judged as not good enough the second their name appears, the Scottish core chat becomes empty noise. Either we’re serious about developing and backing some of these players, understanding that not all of them will be world beaters, or we stop pretending it’s a priority and just say we only care about ability.
Truth is, it’s much easier to throw labels around than look at the details. Calling players serial losers or dismissing Scots out of hand might feel satisfying in the moment, but it doesn’t actually help us get any closer to why Rangers fall short in some big moments and what realistically needs to change.
That’s the kind of debate a lot of folk are giving up on, because as soon as you challenge the clichés, the conversation turns personal instead of staying about the football. Which is a shame, because this support is more than capable of having a proper, grown-up discussion about where we go from here.
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