Rangers 1 Dundee United 1
It’s rarely the boos and jeers which do for managers in the end. The point where apathy sets in tends to be the trigger point.
As Philippe Clement looked towards the middle distance at the conclusion of this affair, the noise in his ears would certainly have told him what the paying public now thinks of his project.
As audible as the cat calls were, though, it was the sight of tens of thousands of empty seats which told the real story.
Many had been unoccupied even as his side tried to snatch an unlikely victory in the closing stages.
There is now a demonstrable lack of faith in the Belgian and his team. Too many fans who hoped he was the real deal have grown tired of the chore of watching this outfit labour from one week to the next and have now switched off.
Malcolm Offord, who looks set to become the club’s next permanent chairman, will need no one to tell him as much.
Apathy has set in among Rangers fans, which is bad news for manager Clement
Time is running out for the Ibrox boss, while United counterpart Jim Goodwin checks watch
The Rangers players look dejected after dropping more points in Premiership
There’s now a huge disconnect between the rank and file and the manager.
Even Clement dispensed with much of the usual empty platitudes after this latest meek effort.
His admission that ‘we don’t have credit in the bank’ sounded like a man who’d now just accepted that there was no way back for him.
Even if Rangers somehow pull a rabbit out of the hat when they play Nice in the Europa League on Thursday, the wider picture will remain bleak.
Nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen before kick-off, a convincing Rangers’ win might have applied just a little pressure to those above them.
In starting the game like they had lead weights in their boots, Clement’s side made it far too easy for Dundee United.
Although they eventually cancelled out Sam Dalby’s opener through Vaclav Cerny, the paucity of quality in the first half was the only thing on the minds of supporters of they made their way home.
Such substandard efforts have long become the norm, as have the manager’s promises of jam tomorrow.
Sam Dalby races away in delight after giving Dundee United the lead at Ibrox
Dalby, centre, celebrates with his team-mates after scoring in the 36th minute
Cerny equalised in the second half but Rangers could not find another goal
‘In the second half, I think fans see what they want to see and they know also if they see this from the team for 90 minutes we’re going to win again a lot of games,’ he said.
Even the most optimistic Rangers supporter is finding Clement’s vision of the future extremely hard to buy into now.
His team have already dropped 13 points in a dozen league matches. If the current pattern continues, his side will finish 35 points behind Celtic and 26 behind Aberdeen.
They have scored just 17 times in that period — the same as St Johnstone and fewer than Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Dundee and St Mirren. A season which started off badly is only getting worse.
On Saturday, Clement’s side had two tactics. Lump it long to Cyriel Dessers (this doesn’t tend to work) or give the ball to Cerny and cross your fingers.
One year after enjoying a promising start to life in Glasgow, the Belgian is out of ideas and surely will soon to be out of time.
This was a Rangers side that were meant to have been irked by Jim Goodwin’s comments.
Clement had referenced the Tannadice boss’s claim that the Ibrox outfit had ‘had their character called into question numerous times’ and promised it would fuel his team’s fire. So much for that.
Goalscorer Cerny pulls his jersey up over his face following the 1-1 draw
Manager Clement is running out of excuses after his Rangers team flopped again
Even United’s chaotic preparation for the game didn’t work in Rangers’ favour.
Having opted to ignore the weather forecasts and travel down from Dundee on the morning of the match, they arrived at the ground at 2.59pm having been on a bus for six hours for a match that had already been pushed back to 3.45pm and actually didn’t start until 3.55pm.
Those of the light blue persuasion who believed it would be worth the wait would be sorely mistaken.
Lacking any tempo, spark or imagination, Rangers passed the ball sideways and backwards.
With the midfield trio of Mohamed Diomande, Nico Raskin and Connor Barron failing to exert any control on the game, United sat deep, did what was required of them and bided their time.
A tame Cerny effort and a couple of routine Raskin strikes aside, Rangers offered no real threat.
Nedim Bajrami did belatedly work United keeper Jack Walton after dropping a shoulder and letting fly but it was a rare moment of inspiration.
The frustrations of the home fans were audible long before Dalby headed United in front.
With Rangers uninspiring in everything they did, Clement’s players did themselves absolutely no favours.
There were moments when Diomande seemed to invent new ways to give the ball away.
United’s opener was clinically taken but was all too easy from Rangers’ perspective. A switch of play immediately had Clement’s players scampering back towards their own goal.
By the time Vicko Sevelj delivered an in-swinging cross from the left, the blue shirts that had congregated in from of Jack Butland were on their heels and culpable of ball watching.
Completely unmarked, Dalby planted a header past Butland. A lengthy wait to confirm the on-loan Wrexham man wasn’t offside gave the visiting fans another opportunity to celebrate.
It could have been worse for Clement and his players. Only a fine block by John Souttar prevented Kai Fotheringham making it two just before the break.
For the home fans, the sound of the half-time whistle came as a blessed relief.
‘There was a lack of intensity in the first half which is frustrating because teams come here to frustrate,’ said keeper Butland.
‘They come here to make things difficult. You have to force it, you have to pry them out of positions and you have to make a statement of intent that you’re going to make it difficult for them. And we didn’t do enough of that in the first half.
‘As a result, we get punished for defending a routine situation not very well.
‘From there, the game becomes what it becomes. They hold on.
‘As a result, you have to respond, you have to play with intensity that you should have started the game with.’
The improvement in the second half was marginal. The fact that it came via the introduction of Danilo and Ianis Hagi, the latter of whom was discarded earlier this season by Clement, said a great deal.
With a No10 who could pick a forward pass and more mobile centre-forward on the field, Rangers then had the better of it.
Danilo missed a sitter but redeemed himself by playing a one-two with Cerny which ended with the winger sliding home the equaliser.
On another day, Rangers could have pinched it. United goalkeeper Walton was excellent, though, denying Danilo, Hagi and Hamza Igamane late on.
Without a proper warm-up, several United players cramped up late on, but their character took them over the line.
This Rangers side just doesn’t have enough of that.
Rangers (4-2-3-1): Butland 6; Sterling 6, Souttar 6, Propper 5.5, Jefte 5 (Yilmaz 67); Barron 5, Raskin 5; Cerny 7, Diomande 3.5 (Hagi 45), Bajrami 5 (Igamane 79); Dessers 4 (Danilo 45). Booked: Cerny.
Manager: Philippe Clement 5.
Dundee United (3-4-3): Walton 7; Sevelj 7, Gallagher 7, Holt 7; Strain 7, Babunski 6.5 (Van Der Sande 63), Stephenson 6.5, Ferry 6.5; Fotheringham 6.5 (Thomson 73), Dalby 7 (Odada 78), Middleton 6.5.
Booked: Stephenson, Walton, Middleton.
Manager: Jim Goodwin 6.5
Referee: Don Robertson 7.
Attendance: 47,714.
