It might seem crazy to suggest that Steven Gerrard’s already reached the point of the season where he must beat Dundee at home but it could be vital that his Rangers side do just that this weekend.

The English manager has worked wonders at Ibrox when it comes to the Europa League after he successfully guided them to the group stages, not bad considering that they were unceremoniously dumped out of the same competition at the earliest stage last season by Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn.

It has been a different situation in the Scottish Premiership for the Govan giants as they won just once, drawn twice and lost last time out to Old Firm rivals Celtic.

Gerrard has already called on his squad to give him a reaction:

“The players should be bottling the hurt of that result in that fixture and go take it out on Dundee.”

To be fair, three of those four Scottish top flight fixtures were played away from home.

They were a bit unlucky not to win those games in which they picked up just a point against Aberdeen and Motherwell but in fairness they need to learn to concentrate for the full ninety minutes and close games out. Games simply won’t be handed to them.

Yet the circumstances and the performances don’t really matter as they are seventh in the league table and are seven points adrift of league leaders Heart of Midlothian. Rangers need to start winning Premiership games and climbing back up the domestic ladder and maintain the feel good factor that’s come from the stands since Gerrard’s summer arrival.

The Gers boss wants to make Ibrox a fortress. If you included Europa League ties, then Rangers have won four out of five games at home so far this term. Their next two league encounters both come in Govan and surely Steven and his players will want to win both and hopefully close gaps with the other potential title challengers.

Rangers enterain Dundee tomorrow and their opponents will also be looking for the victory, as they’ve not picked up a single point thus far this season.

I’d fully expect that The Dee will be heading to Glasgow spoiling for a fight but Rangers have to step up to that threat and get the triumph themselves.

Now a loss or a draw for the Light Blues won’t end their season but it could put a big dent into it and it might impact negatively the supporters confidence, which as I’ve already said has been buoyant since Gerrard stepped into the managerial hotseat.

The sooner Rangers can get back on track the better, it’s as simple as that. As I said during Pedro Caixinha’s disappointing tenure at the club, you need to get into the winning habit to succeed in Glasgow’s goldfish bowl and winning runs are essential if you’re going to challenge for trophies and keep the fanbase happy.

That’s why, I believe, Rangers have to outgun Neil McCann’s Dundee and get a victory this weekend.

Posted on September 14th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article