Game, set and' title to Rangers

Scottish Premier League: It felt as if this Scottish Premier League championship would never end. The game at Ibrox was over and yet there was a moment of stillness. Rangers led the table on goals scored but Celtic's match at Rugby Park remained in progress.

The players paused, wiped faces on jerseys and waited a minute for confirmation of the inadequate 4-0 win for Celtic. The title returns to Ibrox, by a margin of one on goal difference, for the first time in three years and extends the remarkable performance of Alex McLeish.

He has now taken Rangers to success in every domestic honour feasible since his appointment in December 2001, when the SPL situation was already irretrievable. The treble will probably be completed in the Scottish Cup final against Dundee on Saturday.

It takes an effort now to recall how muted the reaction of supporters was when Rangers took him from Hibernian. From that beginning McLeish has conducted himself perfectly and he even welcomed the misgivings of the fans because it is in his nature to relish the battle for life's rewards.

Even he, though, might have found the degree of strife excessive yesterday. His side was briefly in second spot when Martin O'Neill's men eased 3-0 ahead at Rugby Park and Rangers led Dunfermline by only 3-1. The fear and the feverish calculations never abated thereafter, with ecstasy erupting when word of Alan Thompson's missed penalty for Celtic was relayed.

At 5-1 in front, another development in Ayrshire had to be endured. "When the gaffer shouted that Celtic had scored a fourth it was the worst I have ever felt," said the Rangers captain Barry Ferguson. Once the emotions are stowed away, the record will show that it was the fifth goal from a substitute that made Rangers champions. Steven Thompson, a mid-season signing from Dundee United, called it variously "the worst I've ever scored" and "the most enjoyable".

Rangers could then begin to throw off the dread that they had blown the championship. On April 27, after all, Celtic had been eight points behind, with only a game in hand, yet won at Ibrox that afternoon.

"There were a lot of questions about our bottle," said McLeish, whose side were to falter again only in a draw at Dundee. "The players showed resilience and strength of character to come back. Our performance against Kilmarnock [a 4-0 success] was a turning point in getting back to the way they really can play."

It is a mark of his contentment that he could even give thought to the notion that this title is the highlight of a career that includes a Cup Winners' Cup triumph as an Aberdeen defender in 1983. Sport, though, is remorseless and there could be tough situations for the manager to resolve.

Rangers are reported to be £80million in debt, a burden greater even than the one that has crushed Leeds United to a pulp. The difference in circumstances can lie only in the Bank of Scotland's willingness to let the Ibrox club address their own problems without imposing drastic pressure. Nonetheless, finances will have to be put in order.

Ferguson spoke innocently of a need for five signings before the Champions League challenge but dealings will have to take place at the cut-price end of the market. Arthur Numan, Michael Mols and Claudio Caniggia are at the end of expensive contracts and it will be tricky to find replacements.

Resolving the issues of this match definitely took McLeish's mind off everything else but harder work had been completed over previous months. Dunfermline, incompetent in defence, were welcome visitors. They began the game with the third-poorest defence in the SPL and ended it beside Motherwell as equal worst.

They did not so much capitulate as perform in their normal manner. Mols scored in the third minute and, although Jason Dair equalised from 20 yards, Caniggia converted Fernando Ricksen's cross-cum-shot in the 16th minute. With 29 minutes gone, Shota Arveladze glanced in Lorenzo Amoruso's delivery.

The introduction of the speedy McCann provided even more energy and it was his free-kick that was headed in strongly by De Boer before Mikel Arteta added an injury-time penalty.

RANGERS: Klos, Ricksen, Moore, Amoruso, Numan, Ferguson, Arteta, Caniggia (McCann 45), de Boer, Mols (Thompson 62), Arveladze. Subs Not Used: McGregor, Malcolm, McLean.Booked: Ferguson. Goals: Mols 3, Caniggia 16, Arveladze 30, de Boer 64, Thompson 67, Arteta 90 pen.

DUNFERMLINE: Stillie, Bullen, MacPherson (Walker 70), Scott Wilson, Grondin (Dempsey 45), Dair, Nicholson, Mason, McGroarty (McGarty 77), Brewster, Crawford. Subs Not Used: Ruitenbeek, McNicoll. Booked: MacPherson, Scott Wilson, Bullen. Goals: Dair 11.

Referee: S Dougal (Scotland)