There’s an iconic television image dating back to Rangers ’ liquidation crisis a decade ago.
Crowds have gathered outside Ibrox as tension mounts and speculation about the future rises to fever pitch.
The camera pans in on a middle-aged man, wide eyed and agitated because of his anxiety.
He jabs a finger at the outside of the stadium and says: “The Big Hoose must stay open.”
As imperishable soundbites go, it might not have been on the same immortal level as Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to walk on the moon and accompanying his footsteps by stating, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” for global posterity.
But there was honest sincerity from a man who only had his love of a football club to offer after being failed by the leadership of those inside the building he cherished.
He would have been mocked and derided by rival supporters at the time but I thought of that fan when Rangers’ fourth goal went in, on VAR’s say-so, against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Big Hoose did indeed stay open in spite of the best efforts of some on the inside to have the front door locked and bolted.
And now it is time to take a fresh inventory of the household goods and contents.
Time to commemorate the past but celebrate the present.
Time to drop the victim status and enjoy the victor’s podium.
Time to remember that Rangers are the reigning champions of the Premiership, and will return to the top of the table, for however long, after they have beaten Dundee United at Tannadice this afternoon.
Time to be more aware of where the club is at present than where it has been in the past.
Time to think more of themselves than looking to blame people for what once happened.
The quickest way to make your life a misery is to have anything to say about what happened at Rangers 10 years ago.
The very mention of the subject polarises people in a way that is awful to watch and depressing to listen to.
Anyone who has ever had cause to visit social media since 2012 will have borne witness to exchanges of abuse on a never-ending basis that is mortally wounding to the spirit. A shouting match for the tone deaf.
That’s why I found nothing particularly edifying, or uplifting, about the 10th anniversary accounts of who did what to whom while
Rangers courted disaster.
It was simply a grim reminder of a business collapse that had grotesque ramifications for a game and a country.
The scars may never heal for some but there has to come a time when the forensic examination of the past gives way to exploring the scale of an achievement like the destruction of the second-best team in the Bundesliga on their own ground.
In my lifetime I have seen Rangers record their greatest ever result in European competition and return from Barcelona with a trophy to show for it in 1972.
Thursday night in Germany might arguably be the next best performance since that night in Spain 50 years ago.
Giovanni Van Bronckhorst deserves credit for that rather than playing second fiddle to people looking to settle old scores.
