It's a great shame Rangers prefer no longer to engage with the wider world.
Press conferences at Ibrox and Auchenhowie these days have become rather torturous, insular affairs involving a great deal of happy-clapping and pointless questions eliciting the most humdrum of answers.
It’s hardly how a big club is supposed to conduct itself.
And yet it does seem as if, on the inside at least, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his players are beginning to appreciate the benefit of straight-talking and of holding one another to account.
That was the somewhat ironic message coming out of the training ground yesterday and even though it may have been lost on some, the importance of communication appears to have hit home inside van Bronckhorst’s dressing room following the feeble, mealy-mouthed capitulation in last week’s Old Firm derby.
Rangers found their voice again on Sunday when they crashed five goals past Craig Gordon to respond in kind against Hearts after Celtic had hit four at Motherwell.
And, although talk can sometimes be cheap, they were making all the right noises again yesterday as van Bronckhorst and his men counted down towards tonight’s top-flight visit from Hibs, knowing nothing less than three more points will be deemed acceptable.
Take John Lundstram for example, this softly-spoken Scouser who has had so much trouble announcing himself in Scottish football since arriving in a fanfare during the summer.
Lundstram was brought in off the fringes to start as van Bronckhorst rang the changes on Wednesday night.
And the former Sheffield United man played a dominant, central role in probably the most complete and impressive Rangers performance of the season.
And yesterday Lundstram, himself a man of few words, admitted the club had to become a talking shop in the wake of that Celtic thrashing.
Asked if the sheer ferocity of the reaction to that 3-0 defeat had caught him by surprise, he said: “It’s definitely, definitely bigger at Rangers, 100 per cent.
“I knew how much of a big club it was before I joined but I didn’t quite realise how big that it is and the scrutiny you come under to perform.
“Of course, you get that at other clubs and you’ve got to perform but a club like Rangers is such a big club that it’s hard to put into words, really.”
Just as well then that some of his more outspoken team mates have no such problem with shooting from the lip.
Lundstram said: “Of course, things get said but you need to be truthful with each other and be truthful with yourself.
“You know within yourself if you’ve done enough within a game and you know when you haven’t. You just have to be honest with yourself and honest with each other.
“As players we speak to each other and say what we think. That’s needed to push on. You’ve got to have that, you’ve got to push each other. We’re all pulling in the one direction at the end of the day so it’s got to be done.”
Van Bronckhorst even spotted signs of this newly-galvanised group-mentality during the hammering of Hearts which slashed the gap at the top of the table back to a single point.
It was precisely the response he was looking for.
When asked what he has learned from these last two games, van Bronckhorst spoke in glowing terms about the
character of his players.
The manager said: “It was very good for me to see that we reacted in the way we wanted. We were very dominant and that’s also good to see.
“The aim now is to continue on this path, make sure we keep the levels and also be sharp and able to confront players when they aren’t doing that or making mistakes.
“I saw that on Wednesday. Everyone was pushing each other, helping each other, coaching, making sure
we did everything to win the game.”
Van Bronckhorst let his players know all about it too afterwards.
Now that they have proved themselves able of hitting such a sparkling, polished level the boss will not tolerate any more sudden slumps.
He said: “Of course. I mentioned it also after the game. We showed the way that we can play and that is our standard, that is the level you want to reach every game.
“Not only playing wise and tactically but character wise and this is definitely the way to go forward.
“We have to make sure that we keep the levels high and make sure we have the same performance.”
Lundstram will be hoping to be back in the thick of it after doing so much to impress when his chance finally arrived.
And the combative midfield man nodded: “That’s what you’re there for.
“The lads were performing well up until the Celtic game. Well, a couple of games before the Celtic game we weren’t great.
“But we were winning games and it was hard to get a look in.
“We weren’t great against Celtic and that’s what I’m there for when rotation is needed.
“There are dips in form and injuries so when the squad gets rotated you’ve got to go in and take your chance. And hopefully I’ve done that.
“We all know what’s needed for the club but it’s about going out there and showing it. It’s alright knowing what’s needed but it’s about putting that on the pitch. We did that against Hearts but we need to keep doing it now.”
