Connor Goldson was front and centre of the celebrations following confirmation of Rangers’ title success on Sunday.
Which is no great surprise because that’s where this colossus of a defender has been right through a dream season for the Ibrox club.
Rangers have played 45 games and Goldson has started every one, clocking up 150 appearances for the club in a quicker timescale – 965 days – than any player in Ibrox history.
And he has been the cornerstone of a defence that has conceded only nine league goals all season.
So if anyone was entitled to milk the moment it was the former Brighton defender.
But now that calm has been restored, among the players if not the supporters, Goldson can’t wait to get the working togs back on in Prague tonight as Rangers attempt to put the icing on a very rich cake by beating Slavia Prague.
The Czech league leaders are blocking Gers’ path to the last eight of the Europa League and, having knocked out Leicester, will be formidable opposition.
But having beaten Galatasaray in the play-off round, topped a group that included Benfica and Standard Liege and smashed nine past Royal Antwerp in the last 32, Goldson believes there should be no fear in the Ibrox ranks.
He said: “We had a meeting about it yesterday. The pressure that comes from being champions is completely different to being chasing and being the underdog and finishing second for the last how many years.
“Now we need to go on and prove we’re worthy of being champions and that begins this season.
“I’m not going to say we didn’t enjoy the weekend because we did and I think we deserved that after all we’ve put in. We haven’t been able to celebrate like that before, we haven’t been able to have a night together as a team this season, so to say we didn’t enjoy it I’d be lying.
“As soon as we came in yesterday and got back into training, we had a meeting with the team and the gaffer showed us what this month is.
“We’ve got the two Slavia games which we want to go and prove in Europe we’re good enough to compete at this level and not just domestically, then we’ve got the Old Firm at the end of the month.
“We’ve got three huge games coming up and it’s all about refocusing. Now we’re champions we’re there to be shot at. We want to prove the season and how hard we’ve worked, we want to put it into full effect and see how far we can go in Europe.”
Goldson was one of Steven Gerrard ’s first signings and has experienced all the highs and lows of the journey.
The 28-year-old paid tribute to the work his manager has done in completely turning around the fortunes of the club, and not only on the playing side.
He added: “Did I think it would be three years? Probably not.
“I didn’t know how far behind Rangers were at the time. I didn’t realise that until I came up here and played that first season and then, yeah, you do have doubts.
“At the same time we’ve worked our socks off. Recruitment has been brilliant. You look at the club I’m in today, it’s 100 times better than the club I joined. That’s not just the playing squad, it’s around the place.
“What’s been done in the canteen, the training ground, Ibrox. Every place has improved and that’s credit to every single staff member, from the board to the chairman, and what they’ve put in to make this club successful. It has paid off.
“I still don’t think it’s sunk in properly, what we’ve actually achieved. It’s a weird one.
"Whenever I’ve won things in the past you’ve been going on holiday, going away straight away with your team or your family and we’re only in March so there’s a lot of the season left to play. The focus is straight back on football and back on a huge tie we’ve got ahead of us.
“At the same time I’ve still got goosebumps now thinking about it because it was amazing and, yeah, probably the best day of my career.
“The boys who’ve been here a few years probably predicted the reaction, probably knew it would happen. I said to a few of the new boys, ‘Welcome to Rangers’ because they haven’t seen that over the last 12 months maybe. They haven’t been able to witness the fans and how much they follow this club.
“I’ve been able to witness that for the last three years and that’s why I think the boys who have been here a bit longer, it hit home so much more with the emotions we’ve had over the last few years.
“The failures we had and now to turn it to a positive and to actually be
champions is so much more worthy.”
Goldson is now bracing himself for possibly the test of the season, although he remains confident it’s another examination that can be passed.
He said: “These will be very tough games, very intense. We’ve watched their games against Leicester and previous matches in the Europa League and they look a very strong side.
“They have a lot of powerful players and a lot of powerful running, a lot of intensity up and down the pitch. We’re going to have to be ready for that.
“We know they beat Leicester and we know the form they’re in
domestically so I’m sure it will be a tough game.”
