PERHAPS the exuberance of the celebrations amongst the Rangers supporters at McDiarmid Park yesterday owed something to the collective delight which everyone at the club can take at being able to finally put season 2016-17 behind them.
While they have been through far worse in recent memory, the Ladbrokes Premiership league table, which shows them limping home in third place, some 39 points behind their historic rivals Celtic, offers little in the way of comfort.
While there were plus points from this 2-1 victory at the home of their fellow Europa League qualifiers St Johnstone - not least the performances of young players like Jamie Barjonas and central defensive duo David Bates and Aidan Wilson - relief at the end of an arduous campaign was certainly the dominant emotion for Kenny Miller last night, whose 14th goal of the season - he is the only Rangers player to hit double figures in the league - got them off and running.
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"I am happy the season is over to be honest with you," the 37-year-old said. "You can't take your foot off the gas at this club. Every game, there is always a meaning to it, so it was nice to finish on a high, especially bouncing back after the result on Wednesday."
For all that he is glad to see the back of this season, equally Miller can't wait for the start of the next one. That is just as well, as he doesn't really need to. With both these sides back in Europa League action as early as June 29, Rangers and Miller will be back in training in just a fortnight's time, with St Johnstone's players getting the comparative luxury of an extra week's holiday. While much onus will be on the Ibrox club's recruitment by then, it says something about the man that Miller is already targeting increasing his haul from the 14 strikes he has managed this season.
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Asked if he will still be a first pick for the club next season, he said: "Why not? I have finished strongly. I have just played three 90 minutes in a week at the end of the season and I feel brand new. So there is absolutely no reason why not and there is no way I am going to settle for sitting watching football when I feel I have a lot to offer. There is no reason why next year I can’t go on and be better. I am always critical of myself and I could have had another three or four goals."
Who exactly will be vying with Miller for game time next season remains to be seen. There was no Joe Garner in the Rangers matchday squad, the striker apparently succumbing to a recurrence of an ongoing shoulder problem to join the likes of Danny Wilson, Lee Wallace and Lee Hodson on the club's injury list, rather than Rob Kiernan, Harry Forrester and Michael O'Halloran in the catalogue of those already on Pedro Caixinha's naughty step. Jak Alnwick, prised from Port Vale for £250,000 in January, made his debut in goal.
By rights it really should have been St Johnstone who were in the party mood yesterday. Not only was this their sixth successive top six finish - or their third top consecutive fourth placed one - they tend to do pretty well when they get there. Prior to yesterday, they had suffered just four defeats in 24 post split, top flight, matches and their supporters must have fancied their chances of another scalp.
Trying to exploit the space behind James Tavernier is a time-honoured tactic against Rangers, and match was just minutes old when St Johnstone almost used the Englishman's keenness to attack to his disadvantage. Chris Millar's lofted pass allowed Blair Alston to go up and attack the ball, but Steven MacLean's touch dribbled inches wide when he was first to his headed knock down. Liam Craig started peppering Alnwick's goal from distance, MacLean headed wide and Craig Thomson scampered down the right for a low shot which the goalkeeper touched wide.
Read more: Pedro Caixinha meets his people and promises better things to come for Rangers
Rangers began to grow into the game and typically it was Miller who provided the inspiration. The veteran had fired over from a Tavernier pass but he got his angles spot on when he exchanged passes with Martyn Waghorn, and somehow avoided attention near the penalty spot to steer in a right foot finish.
Suddenly confidence wasn't in such short supply, and the Rangers players on the ball found they had multiple options. The second goal arrived in style, Tavernier skinning two players on the touchline and producing a clever final ball which allowed Toral, booed off against Aberdeen in midweek, to find a finish.
While Waghorn, Josh Windass and the impressive young Jamie Barjonas all had chances to increase the Ibrox's side's lead, it isn't in St Johnstone's nature to fold and two substitutes, Graeme Cummins and Greg Hurst, combined to give them a way back into the match. They might even have got their equaliser - Alnwick produced the most important save of his Rangers career when he got a foot to MacLean's low finish from a Cummins headed knock down.
"If you had said at the start we'd get 58 points, score 50 goals, win 10 away games and get fourth place and a European place, I'd have bit your hand off," said a defiant Tommy Wright. "So it's been an incredible season for us. Outwith Celtic and what they've achieved, what we've achieved has been great with the resources we have."
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St Johnstone 1
Cummins 76
Rangers 2
Miller 40, Toral 53
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