Philippe Clement saw his Rangers side lose their fourth league game of the season as any hopes of a spirited comeback in the Scottish Premiership all but evaporated.
A run of positive results could have made the New Year Old Firm derby an interesting one, however, a predictable performance at the SMiSA Stadium put paid to that.
The manager is under increasing pressure given that he was already walking on thin ice with Rangers fans urging Patrick Stewart to make what looks like a tap-in decision.
Rangers fans want Kevin Muscat to replace Philippe Clement
Linked with the job on two previous occasions, Kevin Muscat is available and appears to be the favourite amongst the Ibrox faithful to replace the struggling Belgian.
“It’s Muscat time, make it happen,” demanded one disgruntled Gers fan on X, whilst another hoped that the Australian might be able to help with recruitment, “Clement has to go simple as that, get a new manager in preferably Muscat he might be able to bring in some gems from where he is just now for pennies.”
It’s an approach that is still paying dividends for Celtic.
“Clement out, Muscat in. Don’t see anything else we can do,” mused another, summing up what many feel is an obvious decision.
“Muscat is the man,” claimed one fan, with another suggesting that the current squad would fear the former no-nonsense defender more than nice guy Clement.
What has Clement said that will annoy Rangers fans now?
Clement isn’t doing himself any favours, suggesting that what he saw in the second half is what he is looking for, Rangers drew 1-1 after the break with St Mirren:
“They didn’t give it in the first half, that’s clear. We lost the game there, that’s why I was so angry at half-time,” Clement said when asked about the efforts of his team.
“We played far below our level in every sense, on the ball, without the ball, in the duels, in movements, in everything.
“So, I made two changes and it’s not about the two guys, it was the whole team. I could have made eight or nine changes maybe.
“And [then] you lose the game because in the second half, you see what you want to see. You see the football you want to see, you see the intensity you want to see, you see the duels you want to see, you see the chances you want to see.
“The only thing that we missed there is to score two, three, four goals, which we could have done.”
To suggest that the second half against St Mirren should be the standard Rangers to aspire to is a worrying sign from a manager struggling to keep his head above the water.
