For the second year in a row, Rangers entered the winter shutdown having won over Celtic. They've enjoyed a winter break of crowing the shift in dominance over their rivals. For the second year in a row, they've then utterly collapsed in the weeks after the winter shutdown, such that the league is over by Easter in every way but the purely mathematical.
The Rangers board now have a very difficult decision to make. Next season Celtic will be going for 10-in-a-row, a feat that has never been achieved and may never be equaled. (Though Scottish football is so poor I guess you can't really say 'never'.) That means that Rangers must win the league next season, and indeed the board will no doubt throw everything they have at that challenge.
But the big problem is that if the manager changes in the close season, it's a really big ask to get to grips with everything that's going on, learn the dressing room, identify and bring in the required new players, and win the league. If they're going to switch the manager, the sooner they do it, the better.
So I think the board really need to consider very carefully: are they going to trust Steven Gerrard with this most important of seasons, or do they make the switch? And if the answer is that they make the switch, they should do it now. Never mind the Scottish Cup, never mind Europe, the absolute priority for the club is stopping 10-in-a-row, and if they are to make the switch, their best chance for the new manager to succeed is to make the switch now.
#8: "Raw Spirit", by Iain Banks
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