IT was May 2012 and the final home league fixture of the season for Rangers. The sun shone at Ibrox, but dark clouds hung above.

As supporters left their seats for the last time of the Scottish Premier League campaign, they didn’t know what, if anything, they would be coming back to. They said their farewells for the summer, but the future was uncertain.

The performance and result – a goalless draw with Motherwell – were the least of their worries. That was then, this is now.

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The road to recovery has been a long and arduous one for Rangers but they are now just a couple of steps away from completing The Journey. After 142 matches across the lower leagues of Scottish football, only another two lie ahead for Rangers before they return to our top tier.

On Saturday, 50,000 Gers fans headed for the Ibrox exits. They will return in just a few weeks full of optimism and expectation. There is plenty to look forward to once more.

Glasgow Times:

Like it was four years ago, the outcome of Rangers’ last home league fixture mattered little, the 1-1 draw against Alloa never threatening to spoil the Championship party.

The next time the Light Blue legions click through the turnstiles at Ibrox, they will be watching top flight football once again.

A banner proclaimed that Rangers were ‘Back where we belong’ and the sight of the Championship silverware being held aloft was one that supporters, staff and players have waited so long to witness.

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The achievement is far from Rangers’ proudest, but it is one of their most significant and it was a moment to savour for those who have taken every blow yet still got back up through the most tumultuous years in the club’s history.

Like every other dropped point along the way, the two that Mark Warburton’s side let slip through their grasps on Saturday are now largely irrelevant. Every high and every low has been a means to an end and those in Light Blue rightly enjoyed the party on Saturday.

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“It is good for the players to get their rewards,” Warburton said. “We speak about all the hard work and when you get your rewards you have to make sure you enjoy them.

“It was good for the fans. It means we are back in the top flight so they have got to enjoy that. Disappointed with the performance, but the celebrations were well deserved.”

It has been a couple of weeks since Rangers got the points they required to confirm their status as champions and their outings since have brought their own mixture of positives and negatives.

Warburton’s side followed up the Petrofac Training Cup success against Peterhead with their best result of the campaign as Celtic were beaten in the Scottish Cup.

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But there has been a hangover from Hampden in recent days, Saturday’s draw with the already relegated Wasps following the midweek defeat to Hibernian.

Neither performance has been at the level Rangers have produced so often this season, while defensive errors at Easter Road and a lack of cutting edge at Ibrox have given Warburton plenty to think about.

After rounding off the campaign with trips to Livingston and St Mirren in the coming days, Rangers will then have a three week break before they bid for Scottish Cup silverware against Hibs.

Their last two outings are understandable, but they remain unacceptable as Rangers look to raise their game ahead of their Hampden return.

“They had their own inquest at half-time. It wasn’t good enough,” Warburton said.

“The captain spoke really well about standards and falling below them and the impact of that. We know at full-time, we had a chat, that it wasn’t good enough. It was flat.

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“But, subconsciously, we can understand it after what they have gone through after achieving the goal of the league, then the Petrofac, then the big game last week. Maybe it is understandable.

“The fact that they are arguing amongst themselves and demanding higher standards speaks well of them and bodes well for the future. We have to make sure we deliver higher standards.”

If Rangers are to end the campaign, and The Journey, with the ultimate high then Warburton will have to ensure his side don’t allow their dip in form to become a slump.

He has two Championship fixtures to get the Gers back on track, and then an extended build-up to ensure they are right mentally and physically for a shot at the silverware.

He has sent the Light Blue legions home happy from Hampden twice already this season and taken the adulation from the Ibrox crowd in the aftermath of the Championship coronation.

The sight of the Scottish Cup in the Trophy Room once again would be one to cherish for supporters.

It is that of Rangers playing Premiership football they will relish most when they take their seats at Ibrox next season, though.

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