Breaking News:Rangers need to ask serious questions before Clement can be afforded any more

Breaking News:Rangers need to ask serious questions before Clement can be afforded any more

James Tavernier will be ‘disappointed’. Isn’t he always?

 

Philippe Clement will point to a job half done in terms of a long term rebuild which will have to be carried out in instalments. And maybe both of them will cling to the delusion that there was only three goals of a difference between their own team and that of the champions from across town yesterday in Glasgow’s east end. But they’d be kidding themselves from the truth of the matter.

And Rangers have been guilty of doing that for so long now that these derby days are causing their own supporters all manner of distress, anxiety and seemingly endless embarrassment. No, the truth is – as unpalatable as it may be for them to swallow – is that these fans are now on the point of throwing in the towel, in the same way that captain Tavernier did yesterday afternoon while his team was being taken apart by the neighbours.

Celtic’s 3-0 win could easily have been doubled. It could have been four or five before the half time whistle allowed Clement’s players to escape from the beating that was being inflicted upon them. And that’s precisely why serious questions have to be asked about the direction Clement is taking this team before any more trust can be afforded to the Belgian.

From the outside looking in, Rangers appear to be regressing at quite a staggering rate and the gulf between his side and that of Brendan Rodgers looks set to widen into a chasm over the coming months. There may be only five points separating the two of them at the top of the table after four league games. And yes, the season is only one month old.

 

But only the most optimistic Rangers supporter will not concede already that yet another title is already disappearing out of sight. And optimism is thin on the ground these days.

And it has left them stumbling hopelessly from one calamity to the next while occasionally getting some respite to go back to base at Auchenhowie and repeat the process of licking their own self inflicted wounds. They certainly seemed to be in a rush to get off centre stage yesterday as they capitulated to another Old Firm mauling and this latest rout means Clement has registered zero wins from this fixture after five attempts.

 

And yet the Rangers board have locked him into a new long term contract in the belief that he really does know what he is doing and where he is going, when it looks very much as if the entire club is hurtling in entirely the wrong direction. Clement’s first major responsibility yesterday was to select a starting XI which would be robust enough to withstand the whirlwind which was about to come at it, from every conceivable angle.

 

The Belgian acknowledged as much by firming up his midfield, where Dujon Sterling’s considerable muscle was added to the burgeoning partnership between Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande. That seemed like a smart move even although it meant, in order to do so, Clement had to sacrifice a more creative, forward thinking option by leaving Tom Lawrence on his bench.

 

The burden of causing Celtic problems further up the pitch fell upon the shoulders of a front three of Rabbi Matondo on one wing, Vaclav Cerny on the other and Cyriel Dessers fronting it all up through the middle