Content area
Full Text
THE Rangers-Aberdeen fixture has become enveloped by so much darkness over the years that even the truth has become obscured.
The belief that Rangers should feel trepidation ahead of the latest contest at Ibrox tonight, that somehow the Dons will raise their game to a degree which will jeopardise the league leaders' challenge for the title, should not be confused with hard fact. One defeat in 16 league games against Aberdeen is hardly a statistic to induce a panic attack.
Though Aberdeen tend to display an uncharacteristic, almost feverish zeal against Rangers, the end result is often little better than a narrow defeat.
The genesis of the antipathy which suffocates the fixture predates Ian Durrant's shattering knee injury and the 1979 League Cup final, in which Rangers striker Derek Johnstone angered Aberdeen fans, who felt he dived to earn Doug Rougvie a red card.
For decades previously, Aberdeen supporters had felt -...