Rangers players are on a massive audition v Celtic | OneFootball

There is no doubt how important this weekend’s Scottish Cup Final is to Rangers.

We do not expect to win the thing, we’ll be clear on that on Ibrox Noise – the team, manager, players and injuries have absolutely crashed the past two months and we gifted Celtic the title with a nice pretty bow on top, so we half expect to do the same at Hampden.

But that said, it is in many ways the most meaningful match of the season:

This weekend at Hampden is the final chance for some Rangers players to play their way into plans for next season, because there is going to be one hell of a cull this summer.

The players who actually show up, work, try, play, and show grit, determination and a bit of ability too, give themselves a fighting chance of remaining at Rangers, or more tellingly, getting into the club’s plans for next season.

See, this final will show us which players actually want to play for Rangers, and who have been living off the fat of the Ibrox land instead – we will see first-hand who in a blue shirt has the heart and the stomach to put the shirt on again next season, and who can just be bumped off to rot in League Two.

The majority are most definitely the latter.

Of course, we also have to be wary – many players will be using it as a shop window – as a major final, many eyes will be on Hampden (despite the clash with the FA Cup Final) because the Old Firm remains the biggest football rivalry in the world.

And a lot of the players in the blue will be looking for their move out of Govan – they might just put on a bit of a show.

But there are those we know that, in theory, want to be in our shirt.

Well… they need to show it, don’t they?

We need to see players giving everything out there, leaving it all on the pitch, and even if (when) we lose, can hold their heads up high and walk away with their conscience clear. Those ones may have a chance of being part of the Ibrox ‘story’ going forward.

The ones who don’t, the shysters who show nothing, have absolutely zero chance.

The weekend is a good test of the survival of the fittest.

Let’s find out who wants to play for Rangers.