ALL good things come to an end, and when they do, the true character of an individual or a team is often revealed. Every side can look confident when performances and results are going well, but it is when things go badly that their true resilience is tested.
Sooner or later, both Rangers and Hibernian seem sure to find themselves in that position, and the manner in which they respond to adversity will go a long way towards determining the outcome of their Championship campaigns. Hibs are on a high thanks to a long winning run that has included a victory over Rangers, while the Ibrox side themselves, despite that loss, still lead the division. Neither, then, has yet experienced the sort of shock to the system that can cause severe self-doubt to set in - although, it should be said, Hibs and self-doubt went hand in hand for years before manager Alan Stubbs succeeded in stiffening their resolve.
We always tend to concentrate on the big head to heads in any division. They often produce some of the best, most memorable games, and that was certainly the case between those two clubs last season - particularly in the match at Easter Road two days after Christmas, when Hibs, inspired by Scott Allan (remember him?), eviscerated Rangers and ran out 4-0 winners.
But that match - no matter how encouraging for one club, worrying for the other, and entertaining for neutrals - meant nothing in the long run. Hearts won the title, and Rangers won the tie against Hibs that mattered most, in the play-offs, before themselves losing to Motherwell.
With Hearts out of the equation this season, games between Rangers and Hibs could play a bigger part in deciding who will win the title and go up automatically to the top flight. But, as both Stubbs and his opposite number Mark Warburton know all too well, points dropped against the division’s lesser lights can be just as damaging.
This weekend, for instance, Rangers are at Livingston while Hibs travel to Alloa. If Warburton’s team lose, they could be overtaken at the top of the table provided Hibs win. If Hibs are defeated - and they lost at Alloa last season - there is a risk that the deflation felt by their players will carry over into the succeeding games.
It was a risk of which Hearts manager Robbie Neilson was very aware last season. Week after week, as his team built up a commanding lead in the table, Neilson would spend part of every press conference warning that the real test for his players would be in how they responded to a defeat. Could they bounce back immediately, or might a setback have longer-term repercussions?
It was a question they did not have to answer until the end of January, after Falkirk had visited Tynecastle and left with a 3-2 win. And they answered it emphatically, winning their following nine league matches with a goals tally of 32 for and five against. By the time they lost again, to Rangers in April, they were champions.
Apart from that Falkirk match, the only real adversity Hearts experienced in the league came during a few games in which they played below themselves. They always found a way to win those games, retaining a composed confidence in their own ability.
Hibs are certainly stronger now, both mentally and in terms of their squad’s balance and ability, than they were last season. Rangers, too, have improved significantly.
If both succeed in maintaining their present high standards perhaps they will leave the rest of the division trailing in their wake, and drop points only when they meet each other again. But it is far more likely that, somewhere along the line, both clubs will suffer an upset. And if they do, the match after it - not any of those head to heads - could become the most important 90 minutes of their season.
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