THE question has been asked in recent days whether Rangers’ season has been a success or a failure but I don’t think you can say it is as black and white as that.

When you don’t win the Premiership and you don’t lift any of the cups, then you can’t say that the campaign has been a success. Not when you are at Rangers.

But it can’t be written off as a failure either. Look at the European run and reaching the group stages, something we haven’t done for so many years.

The supporters loved it, they packed out Ibrox, and the players will have come on for the experience of it. It made Rangers a few quid too.

The Betfred Cup and the Scottish Cup are obviously really disappointing and not reaching a final isn’t good enough.

Steven Gerrard knows that and the players know that. And they will be frustrated with how the league campaign has unfolded and the points that have been dropped when we really should have won and built some momentum.

Look at the games at Pittodrie, Motherwell and Dundee early on, or the three draws with Hibernian and the St Johnstone fixture at Ibrox. Those points could have made all the difference for Rangers.

I know second is never good enough for Rangers, but they now have to go on and finish a good second in the Premiership, if, as looks likely, they don’t catch Celtic and win the title.

Everyone at Ibrox is aware that second can’t be accepted but there weren’t many that thought Rangers had a realistic chance of winning the league at the start of the season.

That is the nature of the best and what you sign up for. They have signed for a club that are used to winning things, that have been successful for nearly 150 years now.

Second is no use at Rangers and anyone that thinks that it is won’t last long at the club.

It is all about winning. But that doesn’t mean that we can write this season off as a failure.

The manager had to rebuild the squad in the summer and title winning teams aren’t put together in a couple of transfer windows.

More players will come in to add to the group and the ones there will benefit from a season at Rangers and in Scottish football.

That will be the case for the manager as well and he will have learned so much this term.

Crucially, he will also know exactly what he needs to try and compete with Celtic for the title.

You will see changes in the summer and the side will be strengthened once more.

I would like to see a bit more physicality in the side at times because I thought there were moments on Tuesday night where Aberdeen bullied Rangers. They got several yellow cards because they were in and about Rangers and never allowed us to play.

So that might be something that Steven will look at for next season.

Rangers have done OK for three quarters of a season but they have to be lifting silverware, and Steven and the staff know that.

He had that expectation on him at Liverpool every season he was there and his mentality won’t have changed now he is at Ibrox.

I certainly won’t say the season is a failure and I think most of the fans will be pleased with how things have gone and the progress that has been made overall.

Everyone associated with the club knows it has to be even better next time out, though, and we need to be up there chasing right until the end.