First there was Steven Gerrard, then Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale, now Philippe Clement has a decision to make with a leadership group that has consistently led Rangers to failure.
The Gers boss might not have made the substitutes you wanted in recent games, however, would any of the current squad really have made that much of a difference to a malaise that is flowing through our performances?
We saw how the standards that Philippe Clement enforced and the simplifying of a message had a positive impact on Rangers results and got us back into the title race, but the performances of three individuals in particular against Dundee shows just how big a problem he has.
Philippe Clement is being let down by Rangers leaders
Most fans understood what the manager was trying to say in his post-match press conference.
You might not have liked it, or agreed with it, but there was a rationale that is as old as football itself.
He was protecting a group of players that know they should be, at least, five points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table but now find themselves three behind.
Philippe Clement has to work with the players that he has at his disposal, he will also have one eye on the summer when he will look to overhaul this Rangers squad.
I used to think there could be as many as 10 players leave the club including the six who are out of contract, you could probably add another few names to that list now including some big ones that were called out after the game.
Who were the guilty suspects?
If he was playing any other position on the park, Connor Goldson would have been taken off last night.
Time, after time, he passed the ball straight out of play under no pressure when he had easier forward passes around him.
The look on Clement’s face said it all, it clearly wasn’t part of the game plan.
Then, there was John Lundstram.
Did he come out the dressing room for the second half?
That is the type of game that Steven Davis would control, take charge of and try to make something happen.
Lundstram left it to Goldson and John Souttar – that’s the player trusted to be our main playmaker in midfield.
A new contract seemed inevitable when we were top of the league, all he’s done recently is remind us why we’ve failed so many times in recent seasons.
And as for James Tavernier.
You can never fault his work rate but, on a night that was so important, there was nothing from the skipper.
After the third of fourth time, he should have been going through Goldson for his decision making.
He should also have been demanding that Lundstram get on the ball and dictate the tempo.
We saw nothing other than a few hopeful crosses into a packed penalty area.
It’s not good enough.
We can’t keep having these slumps and expect to win the league and it happens every season with the same players being the biggest culprits.
The last few games needed Philippe Clement’s leaders and the players that he trusts the most to drag us through to get the points and they have let Rangers down again.
A team can’t function if its spine is weak and ours is as weak as they come.
