Andy Walker reflects on Aberdeen's win over Rangers and what the result means for Mark Warburton's side...
In Sky's TV gantry at Pittodrie on Sunday, I really enjoyed seeing Aberdeen and Rangers go head-to-head for the first time in five years.
Of course you despair at the pitiful vandalism of the Rangers team bus and I was horrified at the very dangerous exchange of various missiles thrown between the Aberdeen and Rangers fans but to concentrate on the football, there is clearly a great deal of work still to be done by Mark Warburton and his men if they are to have a successful season.
So, just what exactly would constitute a successful season for the Ibrox club? From the very outset I thought it was absurd to give the idea to Rangers fans that they could compete for the title.
Celtic have gathered momentum, financial muscle and most importantly of all, good experienced players over the last few years to ensure a sixth successive title is more than likely.
But it is alarming for Rangers to have picked up just nine points from their opening seven matches.
Money is not everything but for a club with the second biggest budget in Scottish football, Rangers right now are vastly underachieving. Mark Warburton's post-match comment at Pittodrie that his side dominated from start to finish was absurd.
Rangers played well at times and dominated possession but did very little in the last third. Apart from the excellent move that led to Andy Halliday converting a pressure penalty, the only real chance of note in the second half was the miss from Martyn Waghorn from inside the six-yard box after some great play from Barrie McKay.
Converting chances like that could make all the difference.
Last weekend before his team played Dundee at Dens Park, I listened to Derek McInnes bemoan Aberdeen's lack of a killer instinct, insisting it was costing his team points. Rangers suffer from the exact same problem.
Watching them play against Ross County and Aberdeen on successive weekends, there's enough good play to be reasonably satisfied with the level of performance but they have to find that killer instinct to climb the table. They pass up far too many decent opportunities.
My guess is that Joey Barton is finished as a Rangers player. After his high-profile altercation with manager Mark Warburton, I can't see the former Burnley man returning to the Rangers team again. In his absence, Jason Holt, Andy Halliday and Harry Forrester were clever and mobile enough to dominate some spells in the game and the return from injury of Josh Windass will also help.
Rangers simply can't expect to be successful when, in the opening two months of the season, they have been soft and fragile against Celtic and second best to an Aberdeen side who were far from top form. Throw in an awful performance against Kilmarnock and wasteful days against Hamilton and Ross County when numerous chances have gone begging and the lack of a killer instinct is clearly their biggest problem.
It is inevitable that Rangers will dominate possession again next weekend when they host Partick Thistle. But they have to remember that like Hamilton and Kilmarnock, Thistle have some solid, reliable professionals who have plenty of experience in the Scottish Premiership and are used to being under siege.
These clubs rarely dominate for long spells but continually survive in the top flight thanks to their dogged determination.
Rangers as a team have to recognise this. Dominate the game as long as you want but without a killer instinct, it's useless. Mark Warburton in particular, has to hope that he can put a team together that can handle the growing pressure.