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In this day and age, the biggest problem with playing at either half of the Old Firm is that when the supporters have decided you aren’t good enough to wear the shirt, that tends to be that.
If you’re lucky – really lucky – you might be able to get away with a couple of sub-par performances as part of a fast-tracked settling-in period.
But while on the face of it, it’s perfectly reasonable for players to expect some sort of leeway early on, they soon learn that rationality is in short supply when it comes to Glasgow’s big two.
Cammy Devlin is learning that the hard way.
The Australian’s arrival at Ibrox over the summer was seen by most as a no-brainer.
While the likes of Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga rightly received all the plaudits for firing Hearts to within minutes of a first top-flight title win since 1960, the displays of Devlin in the middle of the park last season were every bit as important to the club’s unprecedented success.
He did the dirty stuff which allowed his more forward-thinking team-mates to flourish.
Cammy Devlin has struggled to impress since moving from Hearts to Rangers
Indeed, had he not have missed the best part of two months with an ankle injury in the new year, Hearts may have had the title wrapped up before that dramatic final-day showdown at Celtic Park.
You suspect Derek McInnes would have been happy to spend a bit cash to bring his former player along the M8 with him, so to get him on a free was an added bonus.
But it’s fair to say things couldn’t have gone much worse for him, eight games in.
The team’s poor early-season form isn’t down to him, of course. Rangers’ issues go far deeper than Devlin.
However, he hasn’t helped himself.
There was the foolish red card against Jablonec within five minutes of coming off the bench. There was the slack pass which led to Falkirk’s equaliser last Wednesday evening before Shankland bailed him out with a late winner.
And then in midweek, with his side desperately chasing a goal in the dying stages against St Mirren, the 28-year-old sliced a seemingly straightforward pass to Kim Min-su right out of play. It’s not as if the crowd needed any encouragement to get on his back. He has already become the Ibrox whipping boy.
Which is why today’s Old Firm Premier Sports Cup quarter-final clash is monumental for Devlin. Boy, does he need a big performance.
In theory, this is the type of fixture which is tailor-made for him to step up and show he belongs at Rangers.
Nico Raskin is a nailed-on starter, which leaves McInnes with a decision to make regarding who lines up alongside the Belgian. Will it be Devlin or Dan Neil?
It may even be both if the manager opts to spring a surprise with a midfield three, but a 4-2-3-1 looks like the best bet.
McInnes and Devlin both moved from Hearts to Rangers this summer
If indeed Devlin gets the nod, he needs to grasp the opportunity with both hands.
Keeping things simple would be a start.
Part of his issue this season has been his tendency to overcomplicate things on the ball. Devlin is not an elite passer. He never has been, nor will he be in the future. He knows that himself.
His job is simple: get the ball to those who can make things happen. That’s it.
Devlin has been guilty of trying to impress a little too much in these first few weeks. At times, he’s been too eager for his own good.
He would be better served stripping things back and focusing on what he is good at. And for the record, he has several top attributes, despite what some would have you believe.
It’s not as if there haven’t been flashes of what he can offer.
In the opening-day draw at Dundee United, he was one of very few to emerge with any credit. You could also make a case that he was Rangers’ best player in the 1-0 win over Aberdeen up at Pittodrie a fortnight ago.
Even in the home defeat to Hibernian, he was in the right place at the right time on multiple occasions to thwart the visitors on the counter, including one brilliant tackle on Adam Mayor as the forward broke clear late on.
Nothing flashy, just an ability to do the basics. That’s all Rangers really need from him.
They don’t even need it every week. In games where his side will dominate 70 per cent of the ball – and you have to assume they will come at some point – Devlin isn’t going to be of too much use. And that’s fine.
However, that itself is a problem in the eyes of the punters, who are struggling to see why a player of his profile should be getting anywhere near the team given their expectations that their side will constantly be on the front foot, particularly at Ibrox.
It’s perhaps a fair point.
Even if the fans aren’t having him, at least Devlin knows he has the absolute trust of his manager. For now, anyway.
It would be of no great surprise to see him tasked with keeping Benjamin Nygren quiet this afternoon.
It’s frankly remarkable that the Swede continues to divide the Celtic support given his numbers since joining the club last summer. They wouldn’t have won the league without him.
His ability to always find pockets of space between midfield and attack makes him difficult to track, and he is by far and away the most adept player in the country at timing his runs into the box.
Deploying Devlin to fill that void is Rangers’ best chance of stopping him, and Celtic, for that matter.
History shows us that far superior players to the Australian have been swallowed up in the heat of the Old Firm cauldron, particularly those making their first appearance in the fixture.
Devlin simply cannot afford to join that long list today. But deliver, and maybe he can start winning over his doubters after all.
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