Owning your mistakes isn’t always the way of it in Scottish football. Just look at champions Celtic.
Not so long ago, they were telling all and sundry in belligerent 9pm Saturday statements that their transfer methods were the right transfer methods and then doubling down with the assertion that Brendan Rodgers was to blame for everything else going a bit off-kilter.
Now, they’re flapping around like a binbag in a force ten gale trying to sign a striker, any striker – giving off the same vibe you get from a bloke in the garage on the eve of his anniversary, having realised in the juicer that there’s trouble afoot and just any old box of chocolates isn’t going to fix it.
Fair play, then, to Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh for giving his head a wobble early-doors and getting his hand in his pocket this January.
Back in late November, he was still branding the Ibrox outfit ‘highly-skilled’ and with ‘upside’. Mercifully, he has since completed his very own road to Damascus and given head coach Danny Rohl the funds to bring in three relatively expensive signings – with the remit to sign even more.
Working up the gumption to bullet Russell Martin was a start. Emptying CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell a real turning point. Accepting the starting XI needs torn up just confirms the American isn’t only serious about winning the title, but finally seems to be getting a handle on what he’s taken on.
Chukwuani, Skov Olsen and Rommens were unveiled in Friday’s win over Annan at Ibrox
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh is spending big to rectify previous mistakes
But Martin O’Neill is waiting for the Celtic board to bring in the fresh blood he craves
He admits he has made a mess of things and wants to change it, which is all Rangers fans can really ask unless foul-ups start becoming a pattern.
Thanks to their UEFA coefficient, the Ibrox club, at the present moment, would qualify directly for the £40million Champions League group stage by clinching a most unlikely Premiership crown.
Of course, Olympiakos and Copenhagen could still have a say in that, depending on results in Europe, but Cavenagh had to be ready to speculate to accumulate when the transfer window opened and is delivering with Andreas Skov Olsen, Tuur Rommens and Tochi Chukwuani already through the door.
Rohl is close to having the tools he needs to start playing more his own way and having a real go at toppling league leaders Hearts.
Compare his position with that of Celtic counterpart Martin O’Neill.
O’Neill has been able to make light, so far, of being asked about what’s going on with transfers every time he pokes his head round a door. Yet, you sense it is wearing thin even with him now.
Certainly, the snippets you hear about what is going on behind the scenes at a club picking up the legacy of axed ‘football doctor’ Paul Tisdale – he of the funny hats and failed managerial spell at Stevenage – don’t engender huge confidence.
O’Neill’s done all he can to make it clear new faces must be brought in ASAP. Yet, nothing continues to happen – with a trip to Tynecastle that could sink Celtic below the waterline just a week away.
Skov Olsen is the kind of signing that could be a game changer for Rangers
It feels like O’Neill has just been landed with handling everything, clearing up everyone’s mess, by a board that continues to hide in the shadows.
It is a poor way to treat a legend. And if Celtic’s title hopes do go the way of the dodo next Sunday, maybe even O’Neill would agree that the biggest mistake in a season full of them was his decision to pick up the blower as Wilfried Nonsense was on his way out and agree to put himself back in the middle of this.
Cavenagh is slowly winning hearts and minds with his visibility, acceptance of errors and proactive approach. Across Glasgow, opposite number Brian Wilson and CEO Michael Nicholson are surely only moving themselves closer to the exit door as no market activity rides side-saddle with even less in the way of communication.
