THE incomings and outgoings at Ibrox this summer have generated as much excitement, disappointment and debate among the Rangers supporters as any victory or defeat will this season.
Fans of the Glasgow club are eager, and not a little apprehensive, to see if the likes of Ben Davies, John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Malik Tillman can atone for the losses of Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey and deliver success and silverware.
But regardless of how well the new recruits fare in the months and years ahead one thing is for sure - none of them will prove as influential on big European nights in Govan as the home support.
Where would Rangers be in continental competition without the Ibrox crowd roaring them on from kick-off to the final whistle?
Would Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig have been overcome during their run to the Europa League final last season without their 12th man behind them? It is unlikely.
The intimidating atmosphere that 50,000 bellowing Bears created during the knockout rounds enabled them to outplay far wealthier opponents from bigger football nations and record famous and unexpected triumphs.
It was little wonder that both manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst and midfielder John Lundstram spoke about the edge their followers could give them in their Champions League third qualifying round rematch with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on Monday afternoon.
The Brussels club may have stunned Belgian football last term by coming close to winning the Jupile Pro League in their first top flight campaign in 49 years. And they might have been deserving 2-0 victors in the first leg of this double header in the Den Dreef Stadium last Tuesday night.
However, as Lundstram was at pains to point out, none of Karel Geraerts’ charges had ever experienced anything like a packed Ibrox previously in their careers.
Union SG got average attendances of less than 6,000 at their quaint Joseph Marian Stadium in the 2021/22 season. Their play-off match against their biggest rivals Club Brugge in the Jan Breyel Stadium last term was watched by just over 25,000 people. So they were very much entering unknown territory.
The visitors had been the better side seven days earlier and held a two goal lead. But could they cope with the welcome they would receive with as they walked out the tunnel? Would they crumble in the intimidating environment the second leg match would be played in?
The tannoy announcer attempted to crank up the decibel levels five minutes before battle commenced when he bellowed: “Let’s get the stadium rocking! Ibrox, it’s over to you! Make. Some. Noise.”
The sell-out 48,454-strong crowd responded appropriately. A giant RFC banner was unfurled in the bottom half of the Broomloan Stand and Blue Sea of Ibrox was belted out.
When Teddy Teuma gathered his team mates together for the sort of pre-match huddle that Celtic do before every game they play it was like a red rag to a bull. The locals made their disapproval obvious with a chorus of boos.
A team needs to perform at a decent level in order to get a venue rocking and make life uncomfortable for their adversaries no matter how much their supporters want them to win and Rangers did that tonight.
They were not, unsurprisingly given how early in the season it is, how little the likes of Lawrence, Antonio Colak and Tillman have played since joining and how many key players were missing, at their brilliant best.
Still, the half-time lead by no means flattered them. When James Tavernier slotted a penalty kick beyond Anthony Moris just before half-time to put his side ahead on the night and within one of their opponents on aggregate the reaction made the ground reverberate.
Several hundred Union SG fans had made the journey to Scotland and they were in fine voice themselves. They chanted, sang and banged their drum throughout even though their heroes spent the majority of the match soaking up relentless pressure and rarely made it out of their own half. Hell, many even took their “taps aff”. Tikt af?
But it was impossible for Christian Burgess, Dante Vanzeir and Simon Andingra to hear their words of encouragement. Especially after Colak had headed home from close range in the second-half to level the tie overall. When Tillman rose and headed in Borna Barisic cross the noise was deafening. As it was when Alfredo Morelos replaced Colak.
Morelos, who made his comeback from injury against Kilmarnock on Saturday and scored a late goal, tried to whip up the fans further during the closing stages. But no encouragement was required.
Malmo succeeded in killing off Rangers’ hopes of joining Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid in the lucrative group stages of Europe’s top club competition when Colak scored a second-half double 12 months ago.
But they have improved and gained invaluable experience since and can, with the raucous Ibrox crowd behind them, negotiate the play-offs and take their place among the continent’s elite. No team will feel confident of getting a result in such a febrile cauldron.
