Arthur's Column // 21st February 2024

Philippe Clement deserves enormous credit for being top of the league.

Given the situation he inherited, if I'm being totally honest, I never thought it was going to be possible for him to do it this season.

Back in October after Michael Beale was sacked, Rangers were trailing Celtic by seven or eight points and the squad was very low in confidence.

But Philippe has got everything going again and there is such a feel-good factor around the football club just now.

The 3-0 win against St Johnstone on Sunday was an extremely important result. On a difficult playing surface, the grip to Perth was never going to be easy but the players were calm, focused and clinical when it mattered.

I think the performance showed that most definitely we can win the SPFL Premiership this season.

We have taken advantage on three or four occasions when Celtic dropped points. But we now do not need to worry about them. It really is all about ourselves and that is the best situation to be in.

With 12 games to go, we can just about see the finishing line. But we must adopt the 'one game at a time' attitude. 

Next up is Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday. The stadium is going to be absolutely rocking and the players must be eager for the game to come.

James Tavernier has the leadership qualities to guide the team in the next few weeks. He has been solid and also made his contribution at the weekend with two finely executed penalty kicks.

With Jack Butland in goals, we don't look like conceding many goals and that will be important in the run-in.

I also think that John Souttar has been excellent in the heart of the defence. He is so calm in possession.

Ridvan Yilmaz has also been assured in the left-back role when he has been called upon.

He likes to put in a tackle and can also join in up the park to link the play and put crosses into the box.

Overall, we are in a really good place. But nothing has been won yet. The hard work has only just started.