For those unschooled in the idiosyncrasies of Scottish football, the weekend must have been a little confusing, especially when the full-time whistle sounded at grounds across the country.
Of at least three extended celebrations, only one was for actually winning a trophy. That honour went to Arbroath, whose 4-0 victory at home to Stenhousemuir sealed the League One title and completed a remarkable turnaround in their season.
In Paisley, St Mirren rejoiced in a third consecutive top-six finish, thanks to Roland Idowu’s late winner against Ross County. Stephen Robinson and his low-budget squad were entitled to revel in their achievement, however odd it must have seemed to anyone tuning in from abroad.
Then there was Rangers, caught up in the moment at Pittodrie when Ianis Hagi earned a 2-2 draw with virtually the last kick of the ball. Staff exploded from the dugout and there were heated exchanges on and off the pitch, most notably between John Souttar and Graeme Shinnie.
In many ways, we ought to be thankful that the game in these parts has the capacity to mean so much. Without its many sub-plots, who would care about the accumulation of a solitary point from a title race that has long since been lost?
On the other hand, it shows what Rangers have been reduced to. While it was another compelling episode in their long-standing rivalry with Aberdeen, their season should always be about more than that.
Ianis Hagi takes off to celebrate his stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen
John Souttar and Graeme Shinnie have a heated exchange after a dramatic finish at Pittodrie
Emotions run high in – and behind – Rangers’ technical area after Aberdeen were denied victory
If you didn’t know any better, you would have looked at the Pittodrie climax, then at the Premiership table, and concluded that the visiting team were a side whose primary objective was to stay ahead of the chasing pack.
Yes, it was another show of character by Barry Ferguson’s team, who had Ross McCausland sent off in the first half. In the Premiership this season, they have won 13 points from losing positions, more than any other side.
But it begs the question: why do they find themselves behind in the first place? Seven times in their last 10 outings, Rangers have fallen 2-0 down, a statistic that reflects badly either on the players’ attitude or the manager’s team selection.
With this week’s European commitments in mind, Ferguson fielded a reserve team at Pittodrie, and boy did it show. This season has demonstrated that their best players aren’t good enough. On the evidence of this game, neither is their squad.
A desperate first-half display highlighted once again the need for their prospective new owners to start a complete rebuild, not just of the squad and its constituent parts, but of the departments and processes that feed it.
Recruitment has let them down badly. Danilo and Oscar Cortes have had their troubles with injury, but they were anonymous before their inevitable substitution at half-time. Robin Propper and Nedim Bajrami were no better. The four of them, all squad men remember, cost Rangers the best part of £15million.
Player development is another weakness. On a disastrous day for McCausland, the 21-year-old Northern Ireland international really struggled. Let’s hope he is not the latest academy product to be found out when the going gets tough.
And there are wider questions about the culture around the playing squad, especially the apparent absence of a big-club mentality. For the umpteenth time this season, they found themselves flailing against lesser opponents, embarrassed into salvaging a modicum of pride.
And yet, they have somehow been able to raise their game in Europe — and against Celtic. The consensus seems to be that they struggle with the ball, as well as with the weight of expectation, which isn’t much use to a club like Rangers.
On Thursday, they will contest the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao, encouraged by the way their 10 men ground out a goalless draw at Ibrox last week.
They will doubtless make a decent fist of it, as they so often have against better teams this season. Who knows, they might even go through. And, if they do, it will be cause for a party.
But it still won’t disguise the club’s problems or the need to get back to ‘meaningful’ celebrations: for titles, trophies and all the parochial obsessions that, like it or not, are how success is measured in Glasgow.
Rangers’ draw at Pittodrie effectively means that Celtic have won the title, although Brendan Rodgers wasn’t able to crack open the champagne. His team weren’t even playing. And the mathematics are such that it isn’t official yet.
And so, the irony is that the biggest winners of another eccentric weekend in Scottish football could not properly celebrate. Make of that what you will.
