Even at the end of a year in which Rangers have sustained more body blows than a fairground fighter, Sunday’s loss at Tynecastle was grievous.
On the back of eight unbeaten league games under Danny Rohl, the Ibrox men alighted in Gorgie with a degree of momentum and a clear road back into the title race.
A share of the spoils against the Premiership leaders would have been no catastrophe. Coming up short in a six-pointer felt like one.
Not only do Derek McInnes’ men now enjoy a 12-point lead over a Rangers’ side still sitting in fourth place in the table, they have the look of a team who are now embracing the prospect of creating sporting history come May.
For many of a light blue persuasion, it was the moment when all remaining hope was lost. With Saturday’s fixture card bringing up the midway point in the league campaign, many feel their team now have too much to do and too little time in which to do it.
Rohl accepts the table showing his side have seven wins from 17 games ahead of Christmas does not make for good reading.
Rohl commiserates with his players after Tynecastle loss but he is not giving up on title
Derek McInnes celebrates a superb victory for his Hearts side over Rangers
Yet he’s seen enough since being introduced to the mad, mad world of Scottish football in October to sense there’s something unpredictable in the air right now. And consequently, he fully believes that Rangers’ race isn’t run yet.
‘The season is so long and it’s been such a crazy season already,’ said the German. ‘There will be twists and turns in this title race down the stretch.
‘Even though I wasn’t here before, I see this year we have more competitive teams. They can take points in other games. I think that helps.
‘If you do your job, the other teams have to play against teams that can take points, and this is helpful to have in this league.
‘We spoke about going from game to game. This weekend we will face a (Motherwell) team that are also on a good run. They are flying, a lot of good results, a lot of good points.
‘It will be a good game. We will have a lot of supporters, it’s Christmas. Let’s try to create a good energy in the stadium, a togetherness and we have to deliver a proper fight, a good performance on the pitch and take the next results and then we can look to the next game.’
Having blown the chance to close the gap to Hearts to six points, Rohl didn’t immediately waste time and energy trying to revive his players’ spirits. A period of reflection was necessary.
Once the dust began to settle, he invited them to look at the situation in a different light via a team meeting on Monday.
Rohl is adamant there will be many more twists and turns ahead in this season’s title race
The German cuts a pensive figure as he contemplates 2-1 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle
He reminded them their league form up until the Hearts game was impressive. Provided the harsh lessons from the defeat are learned quickly and put into practice, Rohl is certain Rangers can yet work their way back into contention.
‘At first the emotion in the changing room was really down, but this is my part to bring them back,’ he said.
‘In general, we looked at the seven games, which started with Hibs, and we spoke about how we need a lot of points.
‘The second thing is that I give them a picture of what we have to improve, and what I want to see in the next days and weeks.
‘After the Hearts game, of course, the feeling is disappointment. But we have to go forward again.
‘It’s about us creating a new momentum, a new run. When you look back, I know football is not always easy, but if I asked you eight weeks ago if it is possible to have, at the end of December, a game where we can play again for maybe the title? Then you would say: “I’m not sure”. It hurts so much at the moment that we had this small setback, but it’s for us to start winning games again. There are still 20 games to go, and if you do this, then you have a chance.
‘I felt the players went out of the meeting and the confidence was back. It’s my job to lead them straight, to give them a clear message.
‘And now it’s the next game. And with the next game you can influence the confidence.’
A win over Motherwell would appear to be non-negotiable. If it’s to happen, Rohl believes his players can’t do it alone. A side who have never strung together more than four league victories evidently need all the help they can get. An angry Ibrox crowd isn’t going to help matters,
Oisin McEntee and Stuart Findlay celebrate victory for a Hearts side who are going to be difficult to stop
‘Yeah, it’s always helpful if you create energy in the stadium where the opponents feel they don’t have a chance because they are against 12 or 13 men because you have the supporters on your side,’ said the German.
‘I’m really convinced of this and I hope we have it. We didn’t get the result we wanted at the weekend. I believed that, if we took the right result, the stadium would be on fire. Hopefully, we can do this now as a squad. It’s about us on the pitch, but also on the stands, to bring these positive emotions back.’
There were precious few positives for Rohl to take from his first visit to Tynecastle. He can only hope the stoppage-time goal for Youssef Chermiti proves to be one in the longer term. With just two goals in 19 appearances, the £8million man has a long corner to turn as he seeks to justify Rangers’ sizeable investment in him.
Rohl feels that the forward has now started on that journey. ‘If you ask me, this goal hopefully helps him, helps us,’ he said. ‘This action, he showed that he has speed, he has the body, he has the finishing, what we want to see from a striker.
‘For him, it’s about consistently the performance. In my opinion, in the Hibs game, he put a lot of effort in, he ran for the team, and now his next step should be he has a more dangerous situation where he scores. If he does this, he can help us.’
