RANGERS midfielder Nicky Law is probably angry and frustrated right now.
Reading him say he can’t wait to get away on holiday to escape people telling him how s**t the Ibrox team have been in the past six months struck a chord with me.
I know his position. I’ve been there – and I’ve hit out the same way.
But you learn through time that dealing with such scrutiny is par for the course at Rangers.
You are operating in an intense environment where nothing less than the best is acceptable.
One minute you are a hero, you are great. The next minute, when results are not going to plan and your form dips, you are hopeless and not fit to wear the jersey.
That’s how it is at Rangers, I’m afraid. It’s nothing new and it’s not something that will ever change but you need to try to use it to your advantage, however hard that is to do.
You need a strong mentality to be a Rangers player and I don’t think it is going over the score to suggest that footballing ability is only half the battle when you play for the club.
Ask any ex-Rangers player and they’ll tell you that. The current boys are finding it out for themselves and it’s something you have to deal with.
I’m talking youth team. I’m talking reserve team. I had it drilled into me from the moment I went in the door.
Strong characters such as John Brown and John McGregor made the situation crystal clear to me and the rest of the boys.
Win. That’s it. Don’t dare lose, don’t even think of drawing a game because quite simply it is not good enough.
I knew the expectations and what would happen around us if we didn’t win.
Listen, you are not going to triumph every single time you step on to the park, but at least I had some idea of what was coming when we didn’t and got ready for the consequences.
By the time you came through the ranks, you knew exactly how to handle the first team.
Not that it made it any easier when things went wrong. When we had a bad result it was straight home and curtains shut most of the time but there were plenty occasions I was exposed to the criticism.
To tell you the truth, I can’t count how many times that happened to me during my career at Rangers and it’s not very nice, especially when you are with your wife and kids.
I’d rather not go into specific incidents, but be assured, it happened.
I wanted it just directed at me when I was on my own, walking to the shop, or driving in the car with the window down because you don’t want to hear it when your family is there. They don’t deserve that.
I did eventually learn to deal with it and it made me a stronger character, but I wasn’t always as good at handling the situation.
If I’m honest, I dealt with things the wrong way at a younger age. I answered back to people and that wasn’t smart.
I couldn’t help it, it would just come out but looking back I know it was wrong.
It was daft. I was stupid, I would want to go mental, but you learn things with age.
I’ve now managed to turn it around and work it to my advantage.
When people get on my case these days, it just makes me more determined and that’s what Nicky has to do.
If someone is having a go at me or my club, be it fan, Press man, anyone, I use it as a positive and think: I’m going to show you.
That is how I have learned to deal with situations and that is the path to take for Nicky and anyone else in the current dressing room if they feel that way.
I’m not going to lie. I can see a bit where Nicky is coming from because he’s signed for a new club where the expectations are absolutely massive and it takes some getting used to.
Like I said, it’s week in, week out and Nicky will learn to deal with it and become a bigger and better player.
The past couple of weeks have been bad for Rangers and I’m just talking on the park.
Let’s not go off the field because that is just getting ridiculous.
I’m sure I’ll go into that in more detail at a later date but all I would say right now is that I just wish they would sit down and get something sorted for the sake of Rangers.
There is too much talk. Just sit down around a table, bolt the door shut and don’t come out until a long-term solution is sorted.
But anyway, I’m talking football criticism here. I didn’t see the entire game live against Dundee United last weekend but I recorded it and sat down for a look on Sunday.
It was my feeling that, from the Ramsdens Cup Final, there was a reaction which the fans wanted and the manager would have wanted.
Rangers played a lot better but lost again and at the end of the day these things happen.
Raith Rovers was an off day. Fair enough, Rangers were hammered by the fans and the Press for that but the players reacted in the right way.
There was passion and effort against United and, had they got the early goal from the chances they created, it could have been different and they may now be in a Scottish Cup Final against St Johnstone.
They’re not but the big task for Rangers this season was to win promotion. That was No.1.
A Scottish Cup Final at Parkhead would have been the icing on the cake but being in next season’s Championship was the only thing that mattered and Rangers are there.
Now it is time for boys like Nicky to take these adverse comments and use them as the motivation to get promoted from there too.
If not, you’ll never get on because it’s part and parcel of life at Rangers.
