Rangers manager Philippe Clement has dropped a massive hint about mismanagement at the club going back years after he rebuked a reporter at his pre-Dundee press conference over issues with player fitness.

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Clement was in focused mood as always, but when asked if he was surprised by the condition of the players (in light of injuries and health), he refused to answer and asked for the next question instead.

This is a stunning response from a Rangers manager, and probably the first truly honest insight fans have had into the utterly shocking fitness issues inside the club and how bad it has actually got.

As we’ve suggested on Ibrox Noise, Premier League clubs in England have also suffered this level of injury issues, with Arsenal and Chelsea particularly undergoing massive fitness problems, but Rangers’ issues are consistent – every autumn, a new injury crisis envelops the club and sees up to 15 players fall.

Clement has been clear that he has never seen this nonsense before, never at any club in his entire career this level of injuries, and when challenged directly on players’ condition, took a moment to consider his response, then realised very swiftly it would serve no purpose to ‘tell the full truth’ about this right now, and courteously decided not to answer.

It’s the first time we can ever remember a Rangers manager clearly rejecting a question, and the topic is very important.

Indeed, his non-answer told us more than any fuller one ever could.

Whatever has been going on at Rangers in terms of fitness is clearly abysmal, and likely a combination of fitness staff and the players themselves.

Clement appears to be the right guy to fix it.