If Rangers end up winning the league, then Thelwell deserves a slice of the credit whether folk like that or not. That shouldn’t even be controversial. You can’t spend the whole season demanding heads, then quietly slide back into the celebrations when things pick up.

Credit and blame can’t be a one-way street

There’s a habit in our support of picking the bit of the story we like. If a call doesn’t work out, it’s all on the people upstairs. If it does work out, suddenly it’s “in spite of them”. That’s not analysis, it’s just choosing a side and sticking to it regardless of what actually happens on the pitch.

It’s the same pattern with managers. We get restless, the noise ramps up, and the moment there’s a wobble it becomes a sackable offence. Then when the next guy comes in and things start settling, folk act like it’s proof the previous one was always hopeless. Truth is, teams often look better once they’ve had time to bed in ideas, relationships and a bit of rhythm. That’s not excuse-making, it’s just football.

Spending big doesn’t buy instant perfection

The other thing that does my head in is the fantasy maths around fees. An £8m signing does not automatically mean “best player in the league, 30 goals, no bedding-in period”. Especially not if it’s a younger player. Youth fees can be chunky because you’re paying for potential, resale value, profile, the lot. Sometimes you wait. Sometimes you graft through the rough edges.

And whether we like it or not, the level of money around the club is shifting. What used to feel outrageous to supporters might be closer to the new normal for Rangers. That doesn’t mean every fee is justified, but it does mean the knee-jerk “waste of money” shouts after a couple of poor games aren’t automatically serious critique.

Stop making every dip into turmoil

A couple of bad results and the whole place turns into a court case. It’s constant doom, constant brinkmanship. And that noise matters. It seeps into the stadium, into the mood, into the pressure on players who are already trying to get results for Rangers.

Back the team through the sticky spells. Hold standards, absolutely. But don’t turn every wobble into a campaign to burn it all down. Because if we end up in a title race, it won’t be because of the meltdown merchants. It’ll be because the club stayed steady and the squad found its feet.

And if we’re going to hand out responsibility when things go wrong, we’ve got to be honest enough to hand out credit when things go right as well.

Written by My Point Made: 16 January 2026

Tags: transfers