WHEN an international break comes around, managers are always asked if it has come at a good or a bad time for them.

On the face of it, after a defeat in the Old Firm derby, it would look to have been bad timing for Rangers to have been left licking their wounds. I’m sure the players, whether they are away with their countries or not, would have loved to have gotten out on the pitch that midweek to put things right.

But after the hectic start to the season, I actually believe that the respite might be a good thing for Rangers, and it will give the players and the manager a chance to reflect on what they have achieved in the jam-packed schedule they had from July through to the start of September.

Steven Gerrard should be very proud of what he has managed to implement in such a short space of time. I have seen people pointing at the relatively low return on points in the league as evidence that this Rangers side are no better than the other ones over the last couple of seasons, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Let me tell you, watching this Rangers team is like night and day compared to watching Pedro Caixinha’s side last season. There is an identity there, a steeliness and a resilience, and there are goal threats from all over the team.

Yes, they would have like to have had more points, but you can’t forget that in the four league games they have had so far, they have been to three of the toughest venues in the league to play Aberdeen, Motherwell and Celtic.

At Pittodrie, they showed exactly why they are a different animal to the soft-centred side put together by the Portuguese coach last season. I wouldn’t have fancied that team to perform so well after the early setback of going down to 10 men. In fact, I think they would have folded and lost the game.

Not this Rangers team though, and they were desperately unfortunate not to take the three points after the late equaliser.

At Fir Park too, although they again lost a late leveller, they had shown grit and determination to claw their way back into the game after falling behind twice in the first half to lead at the break.

The perfromance and the result at Celtic Park was disappointing, yes, and it showed that there is work that still needs to be done, but you have to remember that not only did they go into that game on the back of such a punishing domestic schedule, but also a trip to Russia to round off their wonderful efforts in getting to the Europa League group stage.

What an achievement that was. Let’s not forget at what stage last season’s team went out of the competition.

For me, that was always the priority at this stage of the season given the financial rewards that came with qualification, and now, full attention can now turn to domestic matters. The group stages will be a wonderful distraction of course, but anything Rangers get from that is a bonus. The league is where the bread and butter is now.

The good news on that front too is that the international break will have allowed Gerrard some precious time on the training field with his players, which has been hard for him to come by given the travelling and frequency of matches in the early part of the campaign.

It is remarkable really that the manager has got the players so well-drilled, particularly when it comes to their defensive responsibilities, in the little time he has had with them on the training pitch, and that can only have improved in the last week or two.

There is more good news for Rangers as well in that the domestic fixture list gets a little kinder for the foreseeable future, with bottom side Dundee and then St Johnstone coming to Ibrox before the League Cup quarter final against Ayr and then a visit to Livingston, so the situation on the home front should look a lot rosier come the end of the month if those games go to plan.

I can’t see anything other than victories from those games, and I think then we will be able to say with complete certainty, that this Rangers team under Steven Gerrard are a different beast.