At the break, the conversations around a stressed Ibrox could have had a similar tone.
Trailing 2-1 against an effervescent Hibernian – who fended off a brilliant chance to make it 3-1 – Rangers were in a hole. A night meant to be a celebration of new manager Michael Beale was shaping up to be decidedly uncertain.
Rangers under Beale looked suspiciously like Rangers under Giovanni van Bronckhorst. So those conversations could have asked about Beale and what he could do about it. His first real test, 45 minutes after his reign.
Had it gone 2-1, even the most loyal would have given up hope of catching Celtic – or ‘the other team’ as Beale called them last week and again in pre-game play.
Rangers turned him around and left Ibrox delighted. Doomsday had been averted. In his 23rd competitive game as a coach, Beale earned his 10th victory.
It was deserved, but it was hard earned and it ignited a cold night. The Premiership came back and delivered a cracker.
Until the energy started flowing from their bodies, the Hibs were wonderful. A team with a lousy recent record – six losses in seven – and an even lousier one-on-one with their hosts went on with the game with a vengeance.
Ryan Porteous put them forward from the start. How the Rangers defense – with the ill-fitting duo of James Sands and John Lundstram forced to play as centre-backs – could have missed him was something of a thing.
Porteous is about as missable at Ibrox as a giant bogey, that’s what he is. He soared into space and smashed a header past Allan McGregor at close range. It was his third goal in 10 games, a strike rate that anyone wearing midnight blue would be happy to register.
These minutes were frenetic and wildly entertaining. Fashion Sakala equalized and, with the ‘thank goodness for that’ looks still visible on the faces of the home crowd, Kevin Nisbet made it 2-1.
The Rangers were all full of energy and not rushing. The Hibs didn’t have that much ball, but they had the best chance until it all turned upside down.
There was local discontent at the break. Among the officials? To the combative Porteous? In his own team? Maybe all of that. Ultimately, the Bears were angry and wanted to know what Beale was up to.
They got their answer. Rangers put a vise around Hibs in the second half and never stopped tightening. Visitors have become jaded and vulnerable. Younger Adam Devine, the teenage left-back, has grown in strength. Malik Tillman became the game’s most important player.
Tillman has skimmed over Rangers history this season, sometimes suggesting he has a lot to offer, more than occasionally suggesting he may not.
Beale’s coaching is his forte and perhaps Tillman will be one of those who really benefit from it. “The players needed a smiling face,” Beale said beforehand. If Tillman was one of them, he produced when his manager really needed him.
After watching Ryan Jack equalize, Tillman then created the winner from Alfredo Morelos, grabbing the ball through from James Tavernier and slaloming before laying it on a plate for the striker, a man who needed of a goal.
Calamity averted. ‘The Other Team’ leads the standings with six points and not nine, which could have become a KO 12 by the time they face Aberdeen on Saturday.
Rangers have a mountain of work to do to combat this, but at least they found a convincing answer when asked questions. Too often this season they haven’t.
It was supposed to be Beale’s party and it turned out to be. The new man is one of one. The boos turned into tumultuous cheers. The treatment room begins to empty. A cavalry arrives on the hill.
Celtic won’t be bothered, but the weeks and months ahead will be interesting all the same.
