People love to compare Rangers to the big clubs in England, but the truth is the expectation levels at Ibrox are on another planet. Up here, if we drop points, especially at home, the place can turn in a way you just don’t really see with most of the so‑called elite sides down south.
Arsenal, Arteta and the "progress" chat
Take Arsenal as an example. For years they’ve spoken about progress under Arteta: keeping pace with Manchester City, pushing them close, finishing second. Their support has largely bought into that. They’ve backed the manager, backed the board, and seen finishing behind City as a sign they’re moving in the right direction.
They’ve even rewarded Arteta with a massive contract. Not because he’s sweeping every trophy, but because they believe he’s building something and they’re willing to ride out the bumps. There’s a patience there, an acceptance that you can be competitive, improve year on year, and still fall short of the very top prizes at times.
Now ask yourself this: is that really comparable to Rangers? Would our support, as a whole, settle for finishing second to Celtic and just talk about progress for years on end? Deep down, we all know the answer to that.
Why second place is never enough at Ibrox
At Rangers, everything is framed around one thing: winning the title. Not just being close. Not just having more points than last season. Actually finishing top. When that doesn’t happen, the manager is immediately under heavy pressure and the cycle starts again. We’ve seen it over and over.
It’s not that fans here don’t recognise improvement or context, it’s that the bar is simply different. Keeping up with Celtic is not celebrated. It’s expected as a bare minimum. Anything less than first place, over any kind of period, is treated as failure. That creates a volatile atmosphere that you just don’t really see with most clubs elsewhere.
English giants don’t react like we do
Even if you look at Manchester City, who have dominated English football in recent years, their supporters wouldn’t suddenly demand the board be emptied and half the squad sold if they missed out on the title a couple of seasons in a row. They’d be angry, aye, but the reaction wouldn’t be as extreme as what you get in Glasgow around Rangers and Celtic.
Down south, the biggest clubs are expected to challenge because of their budgets and squads. But their fans don’t expect to win every single domestic game, or every single trophy, and then completely lose it if that doesn’t happen. There’s disappointment, there’s criticism, but the mood doesn’t swing quite as wildly game to game.
That’s the difference. At Rangers, the emotional stakes are higher every single week. That’s part of what makes this club what it is, but it also means comparing reactions here to reactions in England never really tells the full story.
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