Rangers supporters have had their say after Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at Pittodrie left Philippe Clement’s side nine points below both Aberdeen and Celtic.
Some want a change in the dugout, others are willing to be patient, with players coming in for criticism.
‘No plan or identity’ & ‘too many passengers’
Clement’s Rangers have now lost three times in the Scottish Premiership and five in all competitions. Some have seen enough of the Belgian manager…
Don Rae: Time is up for the manager, he keeps making excuses. It boils down to not having a striker that has the ability to score. The board need to look to Derek McInnes, a Rangers man who knows the club.
Anon: At the moment, the team is embarrassing to watch and Clement has no idea on tactics.
Chris: Shambles on and off the park, Clement is an embarrassment if he thinks they are 200% better this month.
Anon: Looks like we’re going to struggle to hold on to third place, never mind second. Defence always looks like they’re going to concede. Need more of a threat up front, Dressers is not enough. Why give Clement a new contract during the summer? Was he threatening to walk? Maybe.
Graeme: Seems to be no tactical approach on any game domestically. His so called style clearly isn’t working and does not work in this league for a club like us. Needs to go before he causes any more damage to our season in what is already a salvage job.
Athur: No structure in the team, too many average signings. The games they have won this season they have just got over the line. Supporters will start to show their feelings if this season gets much worse and the manager has to take a lot of the responsibility for the shambles we are watching every week.
George: Embarrassing what’s going on at Ibrox both on and off the field. Clement has to go and quickly.
Barry: Too many passengers, not just at team level but all across the club. I fear it will take several seasons for Rangers to even begin to resemble the team they once were. The previous two managers were sacked by this point in time in the season but at least they were sitting in second place. The job appears too big for Clement at the present time.
John: Clement has to be SACKED. He hasn’t got a clue and doesn’t know what he is doing. Excuse after excuse. Don’t know what game he was watching, Aberdeen could have been out of sight at half-time. He shouldn’t even be in the dugout, get rid of him now. Season is over.
Sandy: I’ve been trying to stay off the bandwagon of sack the manager. However, it really is becoming more apparent that he can’t put together a team that can battle and earn results in games that matter. I think if we fail to beat Motherwell then it’s the exit door, unfortunately.
Lennie: This squad of players are not good enough, more than half of them not good enough to wear a Rangers shirt. I feel that this manager is not the man to take us forward. Excuse after excuse. Absolutely disgusted with last night’s result and performance.
Ross: Clement has to go! It’s as simple as that. Rangers are so bad teams don’t fear them. They never dominate games, no hunger, no desire or playing for jersey. This Rangers team is as poor as I’ve seen for a long time!
Robert: Sorry, but the manager has to go. He can’t seem to motivate the team. He’s turned Rangers into a laughing stock. The performances this season have been so dreadful you turn up fearing the worst. Still waiting on a real style of play to emerge or an obvious game plan. The players don’t seem to know what the tactics are. Team totally lacks pace.
Eamon: It is time for Clement to go. However, the two issues are can Rangers afford the resultant pay-off and what manager would want the job given the limited budget to improve the current mediocre playing squad?
Scott: The manager must go now.
David: Absolute mess of a club. Clement will go either sooner or later. He is not the answer. Over a year and still no plan or identity. Some big decisions to be made and they need to be the right ones. Thoroughly depressing.
‘A rebuild takes time’ & ‘fix the club first’
Others are willing to give Clement more time…
Anon: I for one think Clement needs more time. We can’t keep sacking managers as its costing us a fortune. Keep the head, give him and this team more time.
Anon: It’s good to see the investment in young players and talent, but what quality manager would possibly want the Rangers job knowing you’re inevitably going to lose it after 10 games (that can take them to the next level)? Time for us fans to accept we’re just not in the same league at Celtic these days, both financially and ability.
Anon: Worst Rangers team I have seen but can we afford to sack him? Don’t think we can. No improvement in the year Clement has been in charge, I think we are a poorer team now than when he took over.
Martin: Unfortunately, Clement has fallen into the Rangers job at the worst possible time. No money to spend, a stadium that has required money to patch up etc. His signings have been of a very low quality and he has become increasingly wild with his post-match assessments. We’ve seen all this before at Rangers and there is only one way this will end.
Anon: The fans’ expectations have to change. There is no divine right to success. It has to be earned. Recruitment policy has been awful for years and especially the last two. Sacking the manager and his Belgian coaching entourage costs money they don’t have and will achieve nothing. Who comes in and improves this team? Stick with him, no other option.
Stuart: Rangers gave this guy an extended contract this year. What other manager could go into the club right now and turn it around with the current players? Costly to part ways, even more costly for new managers and new players.
Andy: Happy to wait and see if he can turn it around. There’s a much bigger picture to consider than this season only. He said it would take a few transfer windows.
Mark: Look at the board update before the game… playing squad budget trimmed by £2.5m with further £6m to follow. So reduced footballing budget against free spending Celtic… it’s no surprise Rangers are struggling… a manager is being asked to downsize squad, bleed youth and win leagues. He’s a football manager not a magician.
Grant: Clement must stay. He’s highlighting how poorly the club is being run by losing so many games. If we appoint another manager we’ll get the new manager bounce and we’ll soon be back to where we are now. Fix the club before worrying about the manager.
Andrew: The club is a mess. I personally don’t think Clement should be sacked but can the club afford to even if they wanted to? Performances need to improve but too many fans think we are the same club that deserved to win everything in the 90’s. A rebuild takes time and sacking a manager every year is not the answer. Patience and realism needed.
Iain: I’m all for backing the manager but how can we watch things deteriorate and not say anything. We are supporting, we just aren’t being repaid.
‘Being this far behind is unacceptable
Some of those who commented reserved their criticism for the players…
Wild Bill: A centre forward that does know how to hold the ball, falls down at the slightest touch. Defenders that don’t close in on the ball and turn their backs on a shot. What do the coaches do at training all week? Half the squad on the treatment table. This coupled with turmoil in the boardroom. Ibrox is a mess and it’ll take time to sort out.
David: If as what so called experts are saying that we will finish 3rd..we should be doing it with young players, some who have been at the club for years rather than expensive mercenaries and stick with them. Fed up listening to pundits who have all the answers from the comfort of their TV studios.
Gareth: Absolute shambles, boring to watch now and nothing up top to make you think they are going score goals. Dessers has to be the worst striker I have ever seen.
Louise: It would be easier to say the better team won, but once again Rangers were punished for their lack of quality and threat going forward. Another poor performance from Dessers, who managed another 80 minutes on the pitch – when will we learn? I don’t think any of us thought we’d win the league, but being this far behind in third place is unacceptable.
Drew: Absolute rubbish…I haven’t seen any progress or consistency. Too many in the squad are below Rangers quality. Dessers would have to be one of the worst number 9’s I’ve seen at Ibrox and I’m 66yrs old! No cohesion, no speed, no fight, no clue!
Andrew: Really poor…no progress whatsoever, £17million loss and spent countless millions on bang average players…rudderless ship going nowhere under captain Clement…watch out for that iceberg.
Michael: Regretfully this is one of the worst Rangers teams I’ve seen in my 66 years of watching. I’ve been through good and bad and this is really bad. No fun watching them anymore, need a complete clear out from top downwards. The fans who have committed so much recently deserve better. Only thing we are good at is bringing in injured players regularly.
Anon: Can’t blame management or goalkeeper. Backs not strong enough, midfielders too naive and forwards just not good enough.
Robert: These defeats highlight the poor quality of player recruitment over the summer with the exception of one or two. When you can’t buy the quality players then it’s bargain basement.
Russell: Rangers might as well have taken the field with 7 players last evening. Dessers, Lawrence & Bajrami were non-existent for all of the first half & large chunks of second. Tavernier’s performances as a defender never cease to amaze and his attacking threat has dwindled to nothing. We must defend better so bring in best defenders & find a forward!