Record Sport columnist and legendary Ibrox captain Fergie isn’t giving up on the Premiership title after the late Fir Park collapse
06:00, 13 Feb 2026
Rangers legend Barry Ferguson sees hunger in Danny Rohl’s squad
It’s only a short drive from Fir Park to my home. But it was a sore one the other night.
To lose a 1-0 lead in the dying moments against a ten man Motherwell side was like a boot in the stones and I’m sure every single Rangers supporter who was there on Wednesday would have felt the same way.
But that doesn’t mean it’s time to start questioning whether or not this team has the balls for a title fight.
I’ve heard the accusations that have been levelled against these players over the years. There’s a suspicion they don’t have the bottle or the stomach for it and I’m well aware there are some people out there who are waiting for them to fall flat on their faces now that they’ve dragged themselves back up off the floor where this league campaign is concerned.
But that thought didn’t enter my mind on the way back up the road. Because I don’t believe it to be true.
Yes, I was as disappointed as the next fan at dropping two potentially vital points right at the death. But when I got back in through the front door I took a minute to look at the table and to consider the bigger picture.
And you know what? I actually started to feel excited about the fact that Rangers are still right in the middle of this drama, given that they were looking in at from the outside with their noses pressed up against the window just a couple of months ago.
When things are as tight at the top as they right now there will always be emotional overreactions along the way. Yes, what happened on Wednesday felt like a massive moment. But there will be plenty more twists and turns to come so you’d better get used to it.
So, yes, as hard as Wednesday night was to swallow in the moment, I think it’s time for a few calm heads.
For example, there is a school of thought going around that Rangers have blown it already. And that the two points they left behind in Lanarkshire is just another sign of a team which just can’t cope with this kind of pressure.
Well, I’m not buying that for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s my belief that there has been a shift in mentality inside Ibrox over the last year or so. I don’t see a weak group of players. I see a hungry one.
Motherwell’s Stephen Welsh celebrates his equaliser
Secondly, if anyone out there thinks that they’ll be the only team to drop points against this Motherwell side between now and the end of this season then they’ve not been paying attention to what’s been going on at that club under Jens Berthel Askou.
That’s a few times this season I’ve watched his side in the flesh and I honestly can’t praise them highly enough.
Someone pointed out to me at the game after Nico Raskin had opened the scoring that the last goal Motherwell conceded at home in the league was against Falkirk on October 18.
Honestly, it’s impossible to say just how impressed I am by them and the way they play the game under Askou.
Even when they went down to 10 men they continued to do their own thing and play their own way. You could hardly tell it was 10 against 11 for the last half hour or so and that’s probably the biggest compliment I can pay them.
So they’ll cause every team they come up against some really serious problems all the way to the end.
Who’s to say a point at Fir Park might end up looking like a decent result when it’s all done and dusted?
I know Danny Rohl has come in for some stick for saying exactly that in his post match press conference. Rangers fans don’t like the idea of thinking it’s acceptable to drop points at Fir Park and I completely get where they are coming from.
But this is not an ordinary Motherwell team. It’s far from it. And this is not an ordinary season.
It’s what comes next that matters most of all and what comes next just happens to be Hearts at Ibrox.
Rangers now go into that one knowing they simply have to find a way of winning it. No ifs buts or maybes.
I don’t care how they do it. I don’t care what the performance looks like. I don’t even care if they deserve it over the 90 minutes.
All that matters is, when the final whistle blows on Sunday, they have cut the gap at the top of the table back to just two points.
That’s not going to be easy either and I’m well aware of that. I’ve seen enough of this Hearts team to know that they are going nowhere in terms of this race to the line. They’ll be in there until the last stride.
Gutted Rangers boss Danny Rohl
They’re organised, they’re well coached, they have some very good players and, most importantly of all as we saw in the Edinburgh derby on Tuesday night, they have the bit between their teeth and a will to win at all costs.
So Rangers will have their work cut out to take three points off them but the manager and his players will be perfectly well aware of that.
The team selection will obviously be very interesting because some supporters weren’t happy with the starting XI on Wednesday because the likes of Tuur Rommens, Ryan Naderi and Andreas Skov Olaen were all left on the bench.
I was a bit surprised myself when I saw the line-up but I listened to what the manager said afterwards and it was clear to me that neither Rommens nor Naderi were fit enough to start.
The last thing Rangers need at this crucial stage in the season is to rush these guys into games when they are not physically ready and then end up losing one or both of them for the rest of the run-in when there’s still 12 games to go. That’s just common sense.
The manager may also have felt that Motherwell away was not an ideal sort of game for Skov Olsen and I can see that argument too. It probably wouldn’t have been.
But one thing is perfectly clear and that’s the importance of stopping the leaders in their tracks at Ibrox this weekend.
That’s the perfect message to send out to anyone who is asking questions about whether or not this Rangers side really is capable of taking this fight all the way. If they have the bottle for it or not.
If you’re asking me, I have absolutely no doubts.