Scott McDermott and Jonny McFarlane discussed all of the latest Rangers news on the most recent edition of the Record Rangers podcast and the journalists spent some time reacting to this past weekend’s Scottish League Cup results during the show.
The Gers managed to win their round of 16 League Cup clash with Falkirk at the weekend 4-0, earning themselves a place in the quarter-final against St. Mirren.
Rangers have won this competition more times (27) than any other team in the past but they haven’t claimed the League Cup since the 2010/11 campaign, with their Old Firm rivals, who have won the competition the second-highest number of times (19), winning each of the last four League Cups.
The Hoops were knocked out of the League Cup on Sunday by Ross County, and while discussing the weekend’s results on this podcast, McDermott shared that he believes Rangers are now “huge favourites” to lift the trophy once again this term and went on to indicate that he thinks achieving success in this competition could have a positive impact on Rangers’ chances of winning their first Premiership title since the 2010/11 campaign, saying:
“It’s opened up now for Rangers to go and win that first trophy under [Steven] Gerrard – first trophy of the season.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that Celtic going out early on Sunday was just huge in terms of Rangers’ potential to go and win that trophy. They are huge, huge favourites now to go on and win that tournament.
“Without being disrespectful, again, to the clubs that stand in their way, it’s a huge opportunity and also, we don’t know how the league table will be sitting by that point but you have to say, if Rangers could win the first silverware available this season, I just think it would give them a huge psychological lift, it could really drive them on to win this title.”
Do you think winning the League Cup would boost Rangers' chances of winning the league?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what McDermott had to say about the impact last weekend’s results could have on Rangers going forward this season…
Considering that they haven’t tasted defeat in any of their 23 competitive games this season, perhaps there is no reason for Rangers to be low on confidence at present.
However, we do feel that Celtic’s poor form, which has led to them being knocked out of both the League Cup and the UEFA Europa League in the last week, will surely only give Rangers even more belief that they can claim the league title this season, preventing the Hoops from winning what would be a historic 10th-straight Scottish top-flight title in the process.
Ex-Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, who managed current Gers boss Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, referred to winning as a “habit” in the past, and if Gerrard shares a similar view, then perhaps the Rangers boss would also think that claiming League Cup glory would give his side a psychological boost and benefit their chances of winning the league this season, so perhaps McDermott’s comments have some merit.