THE LOGAN ROY TEST

Rangers failed their exam on Sunday but one of the title pretenders must pass it if they're to usurp Bhoys, whose killer instincts remain embedded like some sort of default position.

- KEITH JACKSON

THERE'S a spectacularly gripping and brutal scene albeit one among many - in HBO's masterpiece series Succession.

Logan Roy, the blunt instrument, billionaire boss of the family's media empire, is brow beating oldest son Kendall into agreeing to take the fall as the sacrificial lamb for a potentially ruinous corporate cover-up.

Completely crestfallen, emotionally broken and yet still desperately seeking his father's approval, the obliging Kendall asks just one question. Did his old man ever regard him as the next in line for the top job? The query elicits this gut punch response: "I don't know.

You're good. You're smart. But you're not a killer. You have to be a killer!" And, while we must always be mindful of hyperbole as well as the use of overly emotive language when discussing the sporting complexities of Scottish football, those words ought to be swirling around the corridors of Ibrox at this critical point in our game's own blockbuster of an unfolding drama.

And maybe even inside Tynecastle and Fir Park too.

Because, if any one of these clubs are really serious about taking over Celtic's crown in what's left of this campaign, they are going to have to be every bit as ruthless and unflinching in their own approach.

Rangers had the chance to inflict what had the potential to be a fatal wound on their rivals at Ibrox on Sunday.

But, having stormed into a 2-0 half-time lead, they lacked the instincts required to finish off the job. Instead, they allowed Celtic's players to regroup and to recover from the fog inside their own heads after a dizzying first-half beating.

And then Danny Rohl's men took it in turns to capitulate and to freeze in the line of fire as the champions rediscovered the relentless streak which has kept them at the top of the Scottish pile for so long.