"The fact that Rangers made it to the Europa League final is amazing. 

"When you think about it, probably no club has contributed to advancing Scottish football on a European level or really in general than Rangers in the last three years. That’s progress.”

It was a set of quotes to stop you in your tracks. Not because what Hibs' American owner Ron Gordon had to say was bizarre or outlandish, but simply that he'd set aside the tribalism so frequently inherent in our game to give credit where it's due.

Gordon was speaking in relation to a review commissioned by five Premiership clubs from Deloitte with the express intention of coming up with ideas to improve the top flight and help teams perform to a higher standard at European level.

It was refreshing to hear such a candid assessment of last season's remarkable run and how it sets the standards for the entire league going forward.

And, of course, he's absolutely right.

Rangers Review:

It's been said before, but this run stood out because, unlike in 2008 when Walter Smith performed a feat of tactical alchemy to make his side near impossible to break down, this was a set of games where Rangers were the better team across each tie. It was no smash and grab and that makes you all the more confident that performance is unlikely to dip any time soon. 

Steven Gerrard deserves great credit for building a squad capable of not only breaking Celtic's stranglehold but restoring the club as a genuine European power while Giovanni van Bronckhorst took it to the next level with his brilliant tactical tinkering.

READ MORE: Ron Gordon and argues 'no club' has advanced Scottish football more

And based on their summer transfer business, Rangers show no sign of being in the mood to slow down their forward momentum. 

If you'd told anyone of this significant turnaround in just five years since the abomination of Progres Niederkorn and Pedro Caixinha standing in a bush remonstrating with angry supporters you'd likely have been laughed at. Challenging to conquer Europe? The Scottish Premiership looked like a monumental ask at that point, never mind the biggest trophies on the continent.

From Progres to being lauded for achieving progress for the entire Scottish game? 

It's a feat something every employee of Rangers and every fan can be proud of.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

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