IT is said that there are lies, damned lies and statistics.

When it comes to the myriad of numbers around the game today, there can often be a feeling that you can make them suit whatever argument you want to put forward.

Facts and figures are fine, and there is increasingly a place for them, but it is more worthwhile to use the evidence that you see with your own eyes rather than looking for a numerical back-up view.

That is where the differences have occurred in recent days as Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox reign so far has been analysed and assessed.

Comparisons have been made throughout the campaign between Rangers’ points tally under Gerrard and those achieved in recent seasons while Graeme Murty, Pedro Caixinha and Mark Warburton were at the Light Blues’ helm.

In black and white, the progress may not be that obvious.

The draw with Kilmarnock on Saturday was Rangers’ 30th Premiership game and Gerrard has collected 60 points so far.

This time last term, Rangers had 58 and were also sitting second in the league. The season before, they were ten adrift of Aberdeen and had just 51 points to their credit.

In both of those campaigns, Rangers were all-but written off before a ball was kicked and few backed them to mount a title challenge, never mind go on and stop Celtic’s run of successive top flight crowns while Brendan Rodgers was in charge. This time it was different, though.

Rangers were far from title favourites, but the increased expectation was a sign that Gerrard had made progress at Ibrox.

The Light Blues are better, but not good enough and draws have cost them dearly in the Premiership.

Nine matches have been drawn and four lost in the league. Last season, it was four draws and eight defeats at the same stage and the year before nine had been drawn and seven had been lost.

Fine margins have big implications in title races and Rangers have been on the wrong side of them too often.

Supporters may not be, as Jermain Defoe suggested, excited right now as recent results have demoralised and frustrated. But there is more place for optimism under Gerrard than there has been previously.

Fans are only as angry and upset at Rangers’ current predicament because they believed that better was possible, that silverware wasn’t an unrealistic ambition. It shouldn’t be next season, either.

The task of building a team capable of winning the league in just two transfer windows is an almost impossible one and it is a challenge that has proven beyond Gerrard in his first season in the dugout.

His critics will say that Rangers aren’t that much better off than they were under previous managers that rightly paid the price for their failures in the league and cups.

And Gerrard knows as well as anyone that a similar fate will befall him if his side are destined to be empty handed this time next term.

There is no doubt that Rangers are in a far better place right now than they were under their last two permanent managers, however.

The squad that Gerrard has assembled hasn’t proven good enough to be champions, but there are enough players there who have the ability to be part of a group that runs Celtic far closer next season.

Rather than make wholesale changes once again during the summer, Gerrard need only sign a handful of quality players in the right positions to make a difference.

A centre-back, two midfielders, one a defensive and one a creative, a winger and a striker are required as a minimum and there will be a natural evolution to the squad as players are sold or allowed to move on.

Gerrard will be judged on his signings as much as his results and if neither are up to scratch then the pressure will start to quickly mount.

His reputation and standing in the game buys him a level of goodwill but that won’t protect him forever and silverware is the only way he can prove there has been progress.

He has done enough this season to merit that opportunity and there is nothing to suggest the experiment should be brought to a premature end, like it was with Caixinha.

Rangers’ first season under Gerrard will soon end. Everyone at Ibrox will be better for it.

AND ANOTHER THING

SPEAKING of facts and figures, the stats surrounding Ross McCrorie make for interesting reading for Rangers fans.

And questions have been asked about the way he has been used, or not in many cases, by Steven Gerrard this season.

Rangers have lost eight games at home and abroad this term and McCrorie hasn’t been involved in any of them.

He was on the bench away to Celtic and Livingston and didn’t make the squad for the Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen.

And the midfielder watched on from behind his manager in Moscow, when the Dons won at Ibrox and as Rapid Vienna ended Rangers’ Europa League campaign.

McCrorie was part of the 18 at Rugby Park in January, but was in the stands on Tuesday night when Aberdeen won in the Scottish Cup.

Now, all of that doesn’t mean that the 20-year-old is the missing piece of the jigsaw and could have saved Rangers’ silverware hopes this term.

But his physicality and energy has been badly missed at times, especially when teams like Aberdeen and Hibernian have turned games into a midfield battle.

Competition for a spot is fierce at Ibrox but some matches seem custom-made for a player that, while still raw, has an approach that sets him apart from his counterparts

McCrorie has still made 24 appearances for Gerrard’s side and has impressed more often than not, so it was a surprise to see Lassana Coulibaly start ahead of him against Kilmarnock at the weekend.

McCrorie has the potential to be a mainstay for Rangers for years. He should get a chance to show why.