A FEW poor performances require calm heads and perspective - things social media is regularly sadly bereft of!

Last season showed how quickly the tide can turn in football. Celtic went from being shoe-ins to complete 10-in-a-row, to a humiliating collapse that saw Rangers claim as comfortable a title win as any in living memory.

The start of the 2021-22 has accelerated a change in momentum and attitudes. Less than one month ago, you could find Celtic fans who truly believed their fate for multiple seasons was consigned to misery. On the flip side, Rangers looked in the process of a seamless transition into another title win.

Performances over a short period of time can radically alter perceptions. No one can dispute how well Celtic are playing after a dodgy start to the season.

While Rangers’ point tally and results are identical to their rival's, it’s difficult to pretend Rangers aren’t struggling to find that spark that made them impossible to beat in the league last season.

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Yesterday’s performance at Dingwall had a lot of the positives from last season, peppered with a handful of the negatives that Rangers have struggled with this season. The team controlled large portions of the game, scored some nice goals, and were able to reassert dominance rather than buckle when County applied pressure. The other side of that was a number of defensive mishaps and missed opportunities that could have proven costly against better opposition.

There were signs of improvement, but no one could currently suggest yesterday’s win at Ross County was itself a turning point. We can revisit that notion in seven days’ time after Alashkert and Celtic. Come next Monday, we may have seen two potentially season-defining results and we will also be 24 hours from the closing of the transfer window.

It’s natural that fans want to see new faces in. Transfer chat can be the biggest buzz in football aside from actually seeing your team win and if one team is used to signing splurges - it has been Rangers. Transfer windows of 10 incomings have been commonplace in recent years.

This season’s transfer windows has been comparably quiet and those that have signed have yet to make an impact. Sakala and Ofoborh are injured, Lundstram is still to find sharpness, and Bacuna has only just signed. Essentially, Rangers currently work with the same squad as last season but it shouldn’t be forgotten that there are options still to become available.

As the team struggles to start the season with the level of comfort Rangers did last year, some fans have tilted their heads elsewhere to see if the answers lie in signing players, but this cannot be the answer this time. While Gerrard and McAllister’s recent comments suggest they may still look to bring another player, it is simply unrealistic to suggest the club have the funds to make significant improvements to the starting XI. With no Champions League money, a silence surrounding potential exits, and an inevitable Covid slump in revenue to account for, it is no surprise spending has been light on the ground this summer.

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Even if Rangers did have some cash to burn, there is a natural squad depth and balance that shouldn’t be breached. This squad is at its capacity, if not even over its capacity. More players in means more players left out of match-day squads. More players left out of match-day squads leads to more potential for disharmony.

The answers to Rangers early season jitters lie within the current squad alone. The board continued to plunge money in to a loss-making business to give the team the platform to win the title, and that team still remains in place. The squad depth is incredible by Scottish football standards.

For every Kent downturn in form, there’s a Wright bursting to go. For every Barisic fitness issue, there’s an eager Bassey. For every Morelos off day, there’s a calm and composed Roofe. While it hasn’t been enjoyable seeing some players struggle to reach the standards of 2020-21, everyone knows there is another good player ready to fill a shirt.

The over-investment has to end now. Books need balanced and the manager needs to work with the extensive resources we have.

This is a squad that has won the league. This is a squad that can win the league again. It requires calm heads and for Gerrard to think carefully when playing his chess pieces. He perhaps didn’t expect to see such a resurgent Celtic side so quickly, but that pressure is nothing new for Rangers. Now is the time for this Rangers squad to put their stamp on this season and give the uppity challengers a harsh dose of reality.