YOU have to be careful what you sing about in Scottish football these days.

 

Look at the members of the Hearts team who took a trip to the Tynecastle Arms, a fine hostelry on the Gorgie Road, after clinching the SPFL Championship last weekend.

A couple of pints, a bit of chat with the punters, a few choruses of "f*** you, Rangers, the Hearts have won the league" and, before you know it, you are all over YouTube and the newspapers.

You can be sure the celebrations staged by Robbie Neilson's players merited a mention in the Rangers dressing-room, too.

Nicky Law certainly took note. Despite their well-documented demise in recent years, he believes those jubilant scenes carry clear signs of a hatred still burning with considerable intensity within the game towards the Ibrox club.

The English midfielder has worn its colours for less than two years, but he has clearly bought into the "no-one likes us, we don't care" mentality of the fanbase.

There is a song about that, too, of course.

The Offensive Behaviour At Football And Threatening Communications Act makes it unwise to chant it, particularly in the presence of Plod, but this particular Law cannot resist from reacting to those taunts from Tynecastle and warning all rival clubs to fear the day that Rangers get themselves back on top.

"First and foremost, you have to say they have earned the right to celebrate," he said. "I think when anybody beats Rangers, it is celebrated.

"No-one is more hated than Rangers, so, when teams get one over us, they celebrate.

"It doesn't happen often. This year has been very difficult for this football club and you get that. I hope it will just make us more determined.

"We need to get up this season. If we can manage to do that, I am in no doubt the club will come back strongly.

"Rangers will have their day again and many more days than most clubs in the near future."

Fresh from an impressive 2-0 win over Hibernian at Easter Road last weekend, today's visit of Cowdenbeath can easily be looked upon as another small step in the rebuilding of an institution that has gone to the dogs.

Rangers have not won a home game since beating Dumbarton 3-1 on January 3. In the interim, they have lost to Hibernian and Raith and drawn with Queen of the South, Livingston and Alloa.

It is a run that Law insists must end immediately. If Rangers are ever to become a renewed force in domestic game, their stadium must become a place the opposition fear and the home players take comfort from. In recent times, the opposite has been the case.

"I go back to my old Motherwell days when you had Rangers away and you'd dread going to Ibrox," he said. "That's what it should feel like for teams, but they have probably been looking forward to it this year, which never happened before.

"If you're a team coming to us, you'd probably think that, if you can keep it tight for five or 10 minutes, the fans are going to get frustrated and probably turn on the team.

"That has happened. As an away team, it's going to give you a lift. Teams have also been coming to Ibrox and playing 4-4-2, which you'd never have done a year ago.

"We want to put a marker out there against Cowdenbeath and maybe send a little message. I hope teams will fear coming to play us."

There has been a more positive mood around the club since Dave King and his cohorts seized control of the boardroom, though, and Law has certainly welcomed the arrival of his old Motherwell manager, Stuart McCall, on the scene.

"In home games, square passes and backwards passes were getting jeered," he recalled. "People were tense. Unless you were taking on three or four players and scoring, you were getting jeered. I think that just comes with the season we've had.

"The manager has been brilliant with that. He has told us to keep taking the ball in the right areas and that nobody is going to rollick you if you lose it.

Law also believes McCall must be a strong candidate to land the manager's job permanently because of the fact he showed he can succeed with limited resources at Fir Park.

"The big thing he did at Motherwell was that he got players in and improved them, which he might have to do here if he does get the job full time.

"He is certainly the man for the job with his eye for a player."

McCall, himself, has been heartened with the attitude he has witnessed within his players, none more so than Marius Zaliukas. He was in the Lithuania squad for last night's friendly with England and had to be dissuaded from playing against Cowdenbeath today.

"He is coming to the game because he wants to be involved, which is good," said McCall.

"However, I think he is kidding himself on if he thinks he can play against England at night and then play for us the next day.

"It is a good attitude, though, and that is what we want."

McCall has also expressed his sympathy for Gael Bigirimana, one of five Newcastle United players on loan. He has been diagnosed with an illness that prevents him from playing and, like all of his team-mates from St James' Park, was signed by the previous board without being put through a medical.

"I was excited when I came in here at the thought of having him for the team, but it's not the lad's fault," said McCall.

"He can't go back to Newcastle and play for anyone else, so, it's actually ruined him, if you like, the past few months."