Over the past week or so, since their hopes of Europa League qualification went up in smoke, many Rangers supporters went into a state of mourning.
Looking through social media in the days which followed the defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok, much of the discourse centred on how far the club has fallen in Europe over recent years.
Only four years ago, Rangers were beating the likes of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on their way to reaching a Europa League Final.
The following season, they faced Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax in the Champions League. They were back dining at the top table once again, even if that Champions League campaign ended in ignominious fashion.
Yet, in the here and now, Derek McInnes’s side had just been humbled by second-rate opposition from Poland and failed to even qualify for the Europa League.
Rangers lost their Europa League qualifier against Jagellonia Bialystok of Poland
The contrast is stark. Yet, as they prepare for what they hope will be a maiden voyage into the UEFA Conference League, it still feels like any mention of this competition is viewed as an act of blasphemy.
Too many still view this as a competition for the also-rans in Europe. Or, to apply a more blunt Scottish phrase, it’s a competition for the wee diddy teams.
The quality and standard of opposition may well be diluted from that of the Champions League and Europa League, but the list of past winners makes for decent reading.
Since the inception of the Conference League in 2021, Roma, West Ham, Olympiacos, Chelsea and Crystal Palace have all lifted the trophy.
Whilst they will hold a legitimate sense of frustration and anger at how things panned out against Jagiellonia, there is no sense in Rangers fans taking such a dim view of the Conference League.
This may not be the competition that Rangers hoped for this season, but they are in no position to turn their nose up at it. Right now, this is their level.
Ultimately, it’s still European football, there’s still prize money at stake, and there’s still a trophy to be won. To start getting sniffy about it only signals a sense of entitlement.
Look at Atalanta. They won the Europa League a few seasons back and reached the last 16 of the Champions League last season.
Tonight they will find themselves in a Conference League qualifier against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Rather than viewing the competition as an embarrassing inconvenience, they will embrace it.
Derek McInnes is hoping Rangers can build on their weekend League Cup win over St Mirren
Atalanta are among several decent names whom Rangers could join in this season’s Conference League, should McInnes’ side see off the challenge of Jablonec.
FC Copenhagen, Midtjylland, Brighton, Monaco, Ajax, Panathinaikos, Freiburg and Braga are among the others to be contesting qualifiers.
Once you get to the latter stages of the competition, it is a good level – and that’s exactly what Rangers should be aiming to achieve.
The alternative does not bear thinking about. If Rangers were to lose to Jablonec over two legs, they would have no European football whatsoever for the season ahead.
They could also wave goodbye to the £2.7million that comes with qualification for the group stage of the Conference League.
The competition also offers £340,000 per win in the group stage. Whilst it may not be the same level of finance to which they were once accustomed, it would be foolish to write that off.
Jablonec will be no pushovers. They currently sit second in the Czech top flight and arrive in Glasgow having won six matches on the bounce in all competitions.
‘It is difficult to assess who are favourites and who are not,’ said McInnes when asked about the prospects of facing the Czechs at Ibrox tonight. ‘I am not really bothered by that.
‘The emphasis is on ourselves to go and win the game. You watch them, but you can never fully tell because they are playing teams in their own league and the teams they have faced in Europe may not be at our level.
‘At the same time, you can only take on what is in front of you. They are clearly well organised and have a few good individuals who can make the game problematic.
‘They can also change shape, even with the same personnel, so we have to be ready for that.
Rangers’ new signing Kosta Nedeljkovic trains alongside Vanja Dragojevic and Bojan Miovski
‘But I want us to concentrate on finding our level and getting big individual performances. I am expecting a tough game, but if we do that, I expect it to be tougher for them.’
McInnes notched his first victory as Rangers manager last weekend with a 5-1 thrashing of St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup.
That eased some of the pressure that had built during the four-match winless run at the start of the season, a sequence pockmarked by the defeat to Jagiellonia.
He has since been able to strengthen his squad, with James Penrice and Kosta Nedeljkovic arriving to bolster the options at left-back and right-back respectively.
Penrice enjoyed a fine debut against St Mirren last Sunday, with a goal and an assist seeing him named man of the match.
Both he and Nedeljkovic should go straight into the squad for Thursday’s clash with Jablonec, with McInnes keen for his new-look side to start building a run of form.
‘We are always looking for that [to build momentum],’ he added. ‘If we can get another win and take a victory over to the Czech Republic next week, that will help.
‘We have looked at the opposition over the last few days, but you also have to concentrate on yourselves and what you want to do.
‘If the players can be individually strong as they were at the weekend, that gives us a good chance. Our best physical output came against Hibs after travelling from Poland, and I thought that was a decent performance in terms of effort.
James Penrice celebrates his debut goal in the 5-1 League Cup win over St Mirren
‘The lads were rewarded for that effort again on Sunday. It was important to win for so many reasons.
‘The supporters needed to see a winning team, and it was nice to get a few goals and good individual performances. If we follow it up with another win, it can only help before we travel to the Czech Republic.’
If Rangers perform as they did against St Mirren on Sunday, they should have enough to see off the challenge of Jablonec over the two legs.
But if they repeat the same mistakes witnessed against Jagiellonia, it will feel like one step forward has been followed by two in the opposite direction.
The Conference League may not set the pulse racing. But the simple reality is that this is where Rangers belong right now. It is not beneath them. To pretend otherwise would be an act of delusion.
