It's been an incredible start to Michael Beale's Rangers career, nobody can take that away from him - though as the Englishman said himself on Wednesday, there is still a long way to go at Ibrox.
Beale came in for Giovanni van Bronckhorst after the Dutchman's poor run of form across the October and November months saw him booted from the Ibrox hotseat during the World Cup, with Beale - who had previously turned down the manager's job at Premier League side Wolves - returning to Ibrox after 12 months away.
Since entering the dugout as boss, he's won 10 of his 11 matches for the Light Blues in all competitions; with only Celtic spoiling the perfect record with Kyogo's late equaliser at Ibrox. But, whilst there is clear progress being made in Govan, Beale is still picking up the pieces from van Bronckhorst's shortcomings that leaves them nine points adrift in the title race - which he must fix in the summer window.
One such shortcoming is the lack of influence in wide areas for Rangers. There is a lack of out-and-out winger options for the Light Blues; Ryan Kent being the obvious choice to start, alongside Tom Lawrence, Fashion Sakala and Rabbi Matondo. All have their qualities, with three of the quarter t possessing the pace to stretch the back lines of teams up and down the country, with Lawrence being more of a wide forward.
But the key significance here is the lack of goals from that group of players. Kent is usually one of Rangers' biggest threats, if not the most dangerous. But he's had a relatively poor season by his own standards, notching just five goals in the Scottish Premiership in his last 48 appearances; a far cry from the 23 in the three seasons prior to that.
It isn't just him that has lacked a little this season - Sakala has not been as prolific as expected with just four goals in 15 games, which included starts upfront whilst Antonio Colak was injured and Alfredo Morelos was out of the squad. With 12 strikes last season and the obvious factor that he is supposed to be improving season upon season, the two main starters show that they aren't quite prolific in front of goal in comparison to Celtic's stars.
The Hoops have a plethora of attacking options out wide; the main men being Jota, Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda and James Forrest. Even Forrest, who you would consider as the fourth-choice of those players, has four goals, in line with Sakala who is Rangers' highest-scoring wide man.
That is without the eight, seven and six league goals that Abada, Jota and Maeda have provided so far this season respectively - and that is without counting Sean Haksabanovic who is typically a winger but has played in the No. 10 role this season - he is also on three.
It is clear to see where Rangers must improve if they are to successfully bridge the gap next season. Whilst Sakala and Kent bring the same level of havoc that Abada and Jota do in terms of intensity, the output is just not the same and the chances created compared to the Celtic duo therefore dwindles.
Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin have been added to the midfield ranks, and the injured defensive unit at Ibrox is slowly starting to return - things are looking up. But with Kent out of contract at the end of the season and Lawrence's fitness keeping him on the sidelines, serious improvements are needed out wide if the blue ribbons are to be threaded into the Scottish Premiership trophy come next May.
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