The tribalism within Rangers fans over the manager: whoever the manager happens to be.
Ever since Mark Warburton became boss, Rangers fans, in massive chunks, have endorsed their supervisor unquestioningly.
Ally McCoist did not receive the degree of backing Warburton did, and the Bread Man became an immediate cult, with fans by and large devoted to his behavior and methods. Ibrox Noise talked to this person many times and his view never wavered. But had we openly produced his title, his popularity could have deteriorated so we did not.
Since the fans in large loved Warby supported his persistence with Rob Kiernan, he backed his signing of complete lumps like Garner and Zelalem since he was the director.
And the thing is, it ended up exactly the same using the Staunch Loyal who believed Pedro beyond reproach too.
It did not even require a blind person to see that the Portuguese was the wrong guy at the incorrect time, entirely out of his depth and an appalling appointment, he got 100% support from large swathes of the service who endorsed him unquestioningly.
And yes, this happened under Graeme Murty also staggeringly, a youth coach was now 100% trusted with the seniors, and lovers, in most, backed him too and were thrilled the club had appointed him eternally.
You may all read this and think’well ah wine wan o’ them, ah hated all those’, and possibly you were not and you did, but you did not make yourself too heard at that moment.
Since we were deeply critical in areas of all three of these and we did not get much backing.
This isn’t us judging him, that is for another time and place, but rather we are observing that once again lovers are blindly, recklessly, and adamantly placing their faith in the supervisor, and if things go wrong, it’s the players’ fault.
When Ibrox Noise highlights players we especially like, often the answer is that we’ve got an obsession with the person players and ‘back the supervisor’ particularly if said player isn’t a favorite of his.
There is a trust, a religion put in the director whoever he is that he is the ideal man that he’s absolutely the 100% right selection and has to be endorsed whatever happens on the pitch.
This tribalism isn’t just tolerable, nor is it useful.
Steven Gerrard is just as accountable as each player he’s ever chosen, just as accountable as the management team supporting him such as Tom Culshaw, Michael Beale and the remainder.
There is no more significance about the supervisor, beyond one thing they make the last call and thus they take more credit for success and much more pelters for defeat.
However, when the dust settles after one of such consequences, the patterns of before restart, and the director get defending till departure as the ideal man and the man to trust, where the players get slaughtered.
We believe there is a simple reason for this, after the players go out there, it is down to them the supervisor, outside yelling at them, can’t kick the ball for them. Therefore, even if he has sent them out in an ill-fitting formation or gave a rotten pre-match talk, they are the ones we see loose on the pitch rather than him.
This isn’t us defending or criticising this, we are just analysing and celebrating it.
And with Stevie, it is clearly true again.
This was not true under Walter, and it was not true under Ally, we recall Walter getting pelters after dreadful results like Steaua and Grasshoppers and shedding 10IAR. Or if there was a terrible form dip throughout 3IAR. And Ally barely stood a chance from the start, because most fans did not want him.
But Warburton was this blind faith originated, all of the songs about magical hats and the like — and because him, backing the director appears to have become the main thing about Rangers for lots of the fans.
We are not sure what other clubs are like online, but we do not believe we have seen this degree of cult-heroism over the manager along with different clubs like occurs at Ibrox.
