It’s the day after the afternoon before, and Rangers fans are still coming to terms with the shock loss at home to Motherwell, a result that could have major implications for the title.
As Ibrox Noise warned, this was the three-match stretch we feared, but we put our hands up and admit Hearts then Killie were the two we were especially wary of. We didn’t think Motherwell would be such a banana skin.
And yet it was.
But the warning signs were there, and Philippe Clement bears a tonne of the responsibility for recent performances.
If we’re going to praise the man for the Killie result, for the Hearts result/performance, he must also take responsibility for some clear errors in there which have not helped Rangers.
While he is everyone’s toast of the season so far, and understandably, Ibrox Noise has not agreed with a lot of what Clement has done.
We’ve been vocal about that – we just always added the disclaimer that as long as we won and it didn’t cost us we’d keep our objections to ourselves.
Now, you’re reading wondering ‘wtf, he pulled a 9-point deficit to +2 with a superior goal difference, got last 16 and won the League Cup.
Absolutely true, and deserves all the credit and plaudits for that. It was some going.
But the (now) 4 BIG blots on his CV were at the Dons in that poor draw, the loss at Celtic, the shock call to select Cortes at Killie, and now this huge one, a loss at home to Motherwell, which may just be the worst one in many ways.
Rangers worked so hard for almost 5 months to secure a 2 point lead, and in one shocker of a result, may have just undone all that good work overnight, depending what Hearts do.
Hearts may get us out of jail yes, but Ibrox Noise has been whining that Clement, like every other manager we ever have, keeps on playing the wrong players, or players out of position, and making similar errors to those from Gerrard, Gio, and Beale.
They hadn’t been costing us, and let’s not forget, Gio and Beale had a very similar revolutionary impact at Rangers when they took over. Difference? Beale faced Celtic in the League Cup final, Clement didn’t have to face them at all. And Gio also got a hapless Gerrard mess into the last 16 of the Europa League, well, the playoff round.
The past two matches have shown that even with the tools at his disposal, Clement makes very similar errors to everything we keep seeing from every manager. Let’s not revise history and claim Gio was a bad manager just because of one injury, he was terrific, and was horribly treated.
The advantage Clement has is he’s up against a terrible Celtic, who made a dud call to bring Rodgers back. That one hasn’t worked out.
Now, are we ‘turning’ on the manager?
No, we do very much rate Clement. We wanted him, and we’re happy with him.
But he’s making fundamental errors just like every previous Ibrox boss in recent years, and they finally bit us on the backside v Motherwell.
And just like every other Rangers manager, he won’t fix them.
He’ll keep on with Sterling on the wing (wtf?), he’ll keep picking Goldson, he’ll rely completely on Tavernier, and he’ll continue to use Nico Raskin.
He made big mistakes v Killie and got away with them (mostly), but he wasn’t as lucky v the Steelmen.
He’s a big man, he’s stubborn, and he’s got an aura for sure.
Even Walter, the great Walter, carried out some stuff in management that tore our hair out at the time.
But unlike Clement, and many of the fans, we’re not (even in part) blaming the referee. Motherwell just had the measure of him and the team yesterday, and how both of them respond may well define where title 23/24 goes.