It’s one thing Clement calling for time and patience … but where exactly is the evidence of PROGRESS with this Rangers team?
By the time Philippe Clement had made it back to the sanctuary of his home on Sunday evening, those days spent managing on the French Riviera must have felt like a lifetime ago.
Scores of Rangers fans – angered at witnessing yet another abject defeat to Celtic from afar – decided to take their complaint straight to source.
Eight hours after being given a rousing send-off at Ibrox, those on the team bus returned to a scene of outright hostility.
Clement’s attempt to placate supporters with the same statistics he’d trotted out to the media a couple of hours earlier was like trying to douse an inferno with a cupful of water.
Forced to walk through a gauntlet of abuse as they later made their way out of the stadium, you could have forgiven the club’s new recruits from wondering what exactly they had signed up for.
Notwithstanding the fact we are only four league games into the season, Rangers are in a dark place right now.
Clement bellows at his players during a damaging 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park
The Rangers boss makes changes but it was to no avail as Celtic triumphed
Clement complains to the fourth official during a tough day for the Ibrox side
While a return to Ibrox appears to be on the horizon, that won’t repair the lack of faith supporters have in those running the club. The £40million that went up in smoke after losing to Dynamo Kyiv at Hampden isn’t coming back either.
Required to cut the wage bill this summer, yet still keep pace with an ever-improving Celtic side, Clement’s task has been thankless.
While the Belgian plainly can’t be held wholly responsible for all of the club’s woes, however, he’s increasingly being viewed as a part of the problem.
After Sunday’s loss extended his winless sequence in the Old Firm fixture to five games – an unwanted mark that even Michael Beale avoided – his analysis of the game raised more than a few eyebrows.
The Rangers players simply had no answer to hard workers like the dynamic Daizen Maeda
Clement looks on forlornly as his side collapse to a 3-0 reverse
Furuhashi’s verve and darting runs proved too much for the opposition at Parkhead
Claiming that an equal share of possession and identical shots on goal demonstrated that the only difference between the sides was a lack of cutting edge, the 50-year-old reprised a familiar theme. ‘It could have been a 3-2 or a 3-1 or a 3-3,’ he insisted.
Surely even the most myopic Rangers supporter would concede that Clement’s take on what they’d witnessed bore little resemblance to reality.
Save a spirited opening in which his side did fashion a couple of chances, the visitors were second best by a distance in every department thereafter.
Celtic were clinical in front of goal, they controlled the midfield and were resolute defensively. Technically and tactically superior all over the pitch, they never wavered from Brendan Rodgers’ plan and looked good for the three points the instant Daizen Maeda turned in the opener.
Strip away the noise and hype that always surrounds this fixture and Celtic’s victory was as comfortable as those they’ve enjoyed against other Premiership sides this season. With just one defeat in 19 derbies, Rodgers has made triumphs like Sunday matters of routine.
Clement is duty bound to accentuate the few positives. But he’d be better served acknowledging there is a gap between the sides and asking for time to bridge it – rather than insisting that it simply doesn’t exist.
‘The biggest problem Rangers have got is that the three-versus-three in there (midfield) is a mismatch in terms of footballing ability,’ said former Ibrox winger Neil McCann.
Ex-Rangers striker Kris Boyd added: ‘We keep hearing that the midfield battle is so key, but Celtic are better than Rangers all over the pitch.
Clement’s positive impact when he arrived at the club last year has ensured he has credit in the bank, although that can only ever sustain a manager for so long.
Starting in December, Rangers went on a run of 18 victories in 19 games in all competitions, a loss at Celtic Park being the one bump in the road.
But all the promise of those weeks, which included winning the League Cup, soon fizzled out.
The business end of the season saw Clement’s men secure just six wins from 15 in all competitions. With three wins from seven at the outset of this campaign, a record of nine victories in 22 matches is dismal.
Celtic skipper McGregor sealed a wonderful day for the hosts with brilliant third goal
Clement tries to make a point to his players during the mayhem at Parkhead
Belgian Clement is still to get the better of his Celtic counterpart Brendan Rodgers
It’s one thing calling for time and patience. But there has to be tangible evidence of progress along the way.
Even allowing for a summer of transition and the need to cut costs, it’s hard to argue that the Belgian and his coaching staff are getting the best out of the squad that’s now at their disposal.
Aside from Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny, none of the summer signings have made any appreciable impact.
While the opening 12 minutes on Sunday was encouraging, that’s all it was. The ease with which Celtic finally broke the high press to score a goal – eventually ruled out for offside – exposed the folly in Rangers’ approach.
‘When it gets played through, there’s nothing there,’ McCann added. ‘That comes from your coaching department who should say: “We can’t disappear”. There must be a balance in the team. At no time should you just empty that space. Everybody knows how Celtic play.’
For Rangers supporters breathing a sigh of relief as Kyogo Furuhashi’s strike was rued out by VAR, what then unfolded was like a rerun of an old horror movie.
Celtic’s speed of thought on the wing created an opening which allowed Nicolas Kuhn to cross. With the visiting defence having fallen asleep, Maeda netted.
The personnel of those in Light Blue jerseys may change. The same errors are being made.
‘It’s a concern if you keep doing it,’ admitted keeper Jack Butland. ‘We’ve got lots of new players in, some new faces, different people that we need to get up to speed.
‘But all of us as a collective, we need to address and defend these moments better because it then becomes difficult to get a foothold back in the game once you’ve done that.
‘So, while there was positive stuff early, we’ve given away some opportunities and conceded goals and then it’s a tough day.’
The club have not yet arrived at the point of a full-blown crisis but that may only be just around the corner.
The Premiership table currently shows Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee United sitting ahead of Rangers. If this retro feel continues after Clement’s men visit Tannadice on September 15 then all that statistics in the world won’t prevent the flames from licking at his ankles.
‘All I’m hearing is can Rangers get to Celtic?’ said Boyd. ‘Forget Celtic. They are miles off it. They are in a battle right now for second.
‘They’re five points behind Aberdeen. There’s nothing at the moment which suggests to me that Rangers are better than the rest of this league at this point in time.’
