I’VE been thinking about writing this article for a long time. However, it isn’t an easy one for me. I’m accustomed to writing about politics and policy; it feels natural and, because I am not party political, I find it relatively easy to offer independent analysis and perspective. Not so, though, today, when writing about Rangers.

I first went to Ibrox, with my father, when I was less than 10 years old – more than 30 years ago. For much of the 20 years after that, as a boy and then a young man with, at the time, no major responsibilities, going to Ibrox with dad was the highlight of my week.

Dad and I had, and still have, such an emotional investment in the club’s fortunes. Like a lot of fathers and sons, it’s also part of the connection we have with each other. We lived and loved Rangers together. Car journeys home when Rangers won were exuberant. When we lost, silence.

With my own responsibilities increasing – I have four primary school-age daughters – trips to Ibrox have become a rarity. But despite my physical connection with the club diminished, the emotional connection is as strong than ever.

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Sunday’s title victory was, therefore, an enormous relief. As devastated as I was when Celtic stopped our ten-in-a-row bid in 1998, the equivalent weight was lifted from my shoulders when the final whistle blew at Tannadice on Sunday.

Elation didn’t last long. By Sunday night, the almost constant feeling of agitation I’ve experienced over the last 10 years reached its peak. That agitation wasn’t about Rangers performances on the pitch; it was about our performance off the pitch.

When I started going to Ibrox with dad, we sat in the Broomloan Road end, self-styled as the family stand. It was quieter than the rest of the stadium, and somewhat insulated its inhabitants from much of the rhetoric deployed elsewhere. Before long, though, we moved to the Main Stand, and it was there, as I went through my teens, that I became more aware of the songs being sung around me.

I wasn’t initially offended by it; I was interested. So much so, in fact, that I would say my interest in the politics of the island of Ireland, which continues to this day, started at Ibrox. However, by the time the club went into administration, which coincided with my first child being born and diverting my attention elsewhere, I had become disillusioned.

The Herald: Steven GerrardSteven Gerrard

Being away, I think, deepened that disillusion. Watching from an armchair rather than a seat in the stand offers a different perspective. Instead of regarding the Old Firm as a special sporting rivalry, I began to see it as something of a national embarrassment.

How else are we supposed to view it? How else are we supposed to assess a rivalry which all too often organises itself around a religious and community divide which we have imported from another nation? How much pride can we take in clubs where some supporters sing songs glorifying IRA terrorism, or chant in commemoration of a battle which took place 330 years ago?

The easy thing for the clubs to do is protest that they are trying. But are they, really? Or are they dog whistling to the lowest common denominator? Does Celtic really need to fly the Irish tricolour above Celtic Park? Does that help or hinder progress? And did Rangers really need to create an orange change strip, or dress their goalkeeper in that colour every week? How is selling those strips helping us to create a less febrile atmosphere?

I was of the view that Rangers’ administration and relegation to the bottom tier of Scottish football was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the club fundamentally. To earn a moral high-ground, rather than just claiming one. Rangers has the hinterland, and the history, to become a truly globally iconic institution. Perhaps not Mancehster United or Real Madrid, but not far off. But such a status is not achievable with so much baggage attached.

We could have created a situation, by adopting a zero-tolerance approach to sectarian singing involving real consequential actions in the form of ejections, bans and behind-closed-doors games, where we cleansed the club of its dirty side during a time when it mattered least, in the lower divisions and during the slow climb back to the top, where expectations of challenging Celtic were low.

Rangers wasted that chance. Instead, we doubled-down on a belligerent, aggressive public persona. The club’s public relations are an abomination – for someone in my line of work, it’s head-in-hands stuff.

And so we come back to last weekend. In amongst Chairman Douglas Park’s letter to the First Minister on Tuesday, there was an important timeline of contact between the club and the relevant authorities. It shows that the club does have reason to feel aggrieved at the scale of negative attention it has received.

Furthermore, the club cannot be held responsible for the individual decisions made on Saturday and Sunday by a large number of idiotic fans; a case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts if ever there was one.

However, Rangers’ leadership must ask itself a simple question: did they really do all they could to disperse the gathering on Edmiston Drive on Saturday, and prevent the gathering in George Square on Sunday?

I have blue-tinted spectacles, and when I wear them I can concoct a series of justifications for answering ‘yes’ to that question. But, as soon as I take them off, I cannot.

Because, as much as the discussions with authorities may have been useful in managing an impending issue, communications on Saturday and Sunday could have served to prevent one. Instead of leaning out of the dressing room window to celebrate with fans, Rangers’ newest legend, Steven Gerrard, could have leaned out with a megaphone. “I know you’re excited. I know how long you’ve waited. But please, if you love your club, please go home.”

He could have been on every news bulletin and every front page on Saturday night into Sunday morning. “No matter what happens at Tannadice today, please stay at home. If Dundee United give us a reason to celebrate, please celebrate at home. Your club needs you to play by the rules. I need you to play by the rules.”

The people running Rangers know what they did. They know what they didn’t do. And they know what they could have done.

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And, now, here we are again. Back at the top, and simultaneously back at the bottom.

If we, as a club, want the respect that our leadership thinks we deserve, then we have to change.

And if we don’t want to be targeted, then we really should stop making ourselves such an easy target.

Andy Maciver is Director of Message Matters

Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Herald.