Former Rangers manager Graeme Souness has urged the club’s fans to be patient with boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst – and says the title race is not over.
Van Bronckhorst is under pressure with Rangers nine points behind Celtic after two draws and a defeat in their last five games before the World Cup break.
But Souness said: “Of course there’s a way back. It’s not a long way back, it’s beating Celtic next time out.
“There are three Old Firm games – win those and it’d be a different picture.”
Rangers’ pointless campaign in the Champions League – when they lost all six games, including a 7-1 thrashing by Liverpool – has added to the spotlight on Van Bronckhorst.
But the former Liverpool and Scotland captain believes Rangers’ chastening experience in Europe simply “exposed the weakness of the Scottish game” and that the Dutch manager should be given the opportunity to turn things around.
“I am never comfortable talking about a manager losing their job,” Souness, who managed Rangers from 1986 to 1991, told BBC Scotland.
“I know how tough it is to be a manager, I know how tough it is to manage in this city and Giovanni van Bronckhorst would have known that coming into it.
“All the spotlight comes on you because you’re second and that’s when you have to be big – you have to stand up, be counted and play your way out of it.
“It’s not always about managers. The players have to stand up and be counted. This is a time you want your leaders in the dressing room.
“Now is the time where he’ll be finding out what he’s got in his dressing room. Who motivates the motivator?”
Souness, who guided the Ibrox club to four Scottish titles in five years and ended an eight-year barren run, believes the supporters have a part to play in catching Celtic.
Asked what his message would be to the club’s fans, he said: “Be patient. I know it is unlikely, but there’s a chance.
“If the fans turn up in a negative mindset, that can only hurt the players. Stick with your team, stick with the manager.”
You can hear the full interview on Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland or BBC Sounds from 14:00 GMT on Saturday
