THE Journey has been completed but Rangers still have steps to take on the road to recovery. One goal has been achieved, yet sights have now been set on a greater one.
Ian Durrant was there through the dark days at Ibrox and hopes there is now light at the end of the tunnel. He is realistic about when the Premiership party will begin, though.
As part of Ally McCoist’s management team, Durrant helped deliver the Third Division and League One titles. They were the silver linings, but the clouds still hung over Ibrox.
Read more: Ian Durrant: Rangers are a better side without Joey Barton
In his final season at the club, the 49-year-old saw Mark Warburton lead his side to the Championship crown and now he watches on from afar as the Gers embark on a top flight campaign once again.
While Warburton stated his side would be ‘highly competitive’ this term, many fans only had eyes for the Premiership title. It was an ambition that McCoist downplayed last month as he insisted it would take a couple of years before Rangers could challenge, and the subsequent 5-1 defeat to Celtic was a harsh reality check for the Light Blues.
Warburton’s side are seven points adrift of their Old Firm rivals ahead of their trip to Inverness tonight before attentions turn to another derby next weekend, and Durrant believes it will be the knock-out competitions that give Rangers their best chance of silverware this season.
Read more: Ian Durrant: Rangers are a better side without Joey Barton
“I can see where Ally is coming from and I said a similar thing,” he said. “It is about trying to buy the manager time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and Celtic have the financial clout.
“Rangers are coming back in the first year, having to rejig and bring in a lot of players so it is going to take time to bed in. It would be great to think they could go up and challenge straight away but there is a steadying of the ship this year. Hopefully they can do that and they can go and push Celtic. But it will be hard because of the financial clout they have got and the players they are enticing to the club. Hopefully Rangers can go and match them next year. This year, they have to stay on to them as long as they can.
“Who knows what the results will be? And Celtic could get pushed all the way in Europe and there could be a degree of tiredness. I think this year is about steadying and getting back in the ball game again.”
After serving under Walter Smith and McCoist and then taking up a role in the Academy at Auchenhowie, Durrant left Rangers in the summer as boss Warburton shuffled his backroom staff. It was the end of a tumultuous few years on and off the park as Rangers suffered a series of blows and dragged themselves, with the help of the fans, back up off the canvas.
Durrant returned to Ibrox on Thursday morning to promote a book by photographer Willie Vass that charts the club’s climb back to the top flight. It was a story that staff and supporters never thought they would find themselves at the centre of, but a tale that many had to live through.
“I think it was the realisation and the day when they said we were going to go to the Third Division,” Durrant said. “We were hoping and praying that it wasn’t going to happen, that we were going to get a fine or demoted one league. But the realisation that we were going to the Third Division was a bit of a shock. You just had to dust yourself down.
“We knew we were going to lose players because there was no way they were going to stay and play in the Third Division. You look at the calibre of player that left and we had to start from scratch and entice players to the division. They were able to ask for things out with what they would have normally got.”
Much has happened at Ibrox since McCoist, Durrant and Kenny McDowall set their sights on the Premiership back in the summer of 2012 and started the season away to Brechin in the Challenge Cup.
Read more: Ian Durrant: Rangers are a better side without Joey Barton
The top flight title was the dream in those days, but the reality was harsh at Ibrox. There were issues on the park, but major problems off it.
Life in the lower leagues was a means to an end for Rangers but further progress has to be made on Warburton’s watch before the rebuilding job can be considered completed.
“It (the transformation) had to happen,” Durrant said. “The aim, you take your medicine and go down the leagues, but it was to get back up the league as quickly as you can. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it in the final year but Mr Warburton made sure we made it back. Now we are steadying the ship.
“There will still be a lot of things to be unravelled in the years to come. But now we are back where we belong. It was a journey. When you look at the start, there was excitement, but then it did become a bit of a chore I think. For most of the players, I thought it did."
*Rangers legend Ian Durrant has launched Glasgow Rangers The Journey: Mission Accomplished – a new 192-page hardback book celebrating the Light Blues’ return to the top flight of Scottish football.
It features stunning pictures from renowned photographer Willie Vass, who attended every game, and words by respected author Jeff Holmes.
Priced £19.99, fans can visit www.gersjourney.co.uk to order copies now.
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