Philippe Clement's Rangers woes becoming all too common - a penny for Lord Offord of Garvel's thoughts

Rangers are said to be closing in on a new chairman who has reportedly begun the process of landing their next chief executive. How long before the pair are also starting the search for a new manager?

Penny for the thoughts of Malcolm Offord, or Lord Offord of Garvel to give him his official title, then, if the chairman-elect was at Ibrox to watch yet another insipid display from Rangers as they dropped more points in what has become a title chase in only the loosest of senses.

Dundee United showed limited invention but scored with their only notable chance, tucked away by Sam Dalby, then defended with their lives for the rest of the contest. Vaclav Cerny, one of the few in blue to get pass marks, equalised midway through the second half but, try as they might, Rangers couldn’t break their visitors down for a second time. News that second-placed Aberdeen had lost was the only consolation for Philippe Clement and his players on an otherwise afternoon to forget.

These days are becoming too common for Clement and his team. Rangers continue to falter from one mis-step to another as they struggle to build any kind of momentum and it is difficult to see how their manager, linked this week with the Belgian national team position, can survive much more of this. A Europa League trip to Nice is the immediate hurdle that must be overcome and Clement will be hoping his players show far more for him than they did here, in the first half especially.

Ianis Hagi's face says it all as Rangers drew 1-1 with Dundee Utd at Ibrox. | SNS Group

It was they and not their visitors – who spent six hours on a bus due to traffic congestion - who looked more affected by the delayed kick-off as they struggled to get into any sort of rhythm. Their build-up play was laboured and lacking tempo and, when they did get into promising positions, too often the final pass was misplaced causing the attack to break down.

Jack Walton in the United goal saved well from a Nicolas Raskin drive and a curled attempt from Nedim Bajrami that looked destined for the far corner but beyond that there wasn’t a huge amount for Walton to do throughout a disjointed first half.

The Rangers crowd, not the most patient at the best of times, were not slow to air their frustrations and the volume of their venomous rage was turned right up to 11 when their team fell behind after 36 minutes. United had shown precious little as a creative force until that point but all it took was one attack to unpick the Rangers defence, Dalby completely unmarked as he connected with Vicko Sevelj’s cross to head beyond Jack Butland. VAR had a very long check for offside – the players stood around for three minutes – before the goal was confirmed, Dalby’s fifth in six games.

Clement whipped off Cyriel Dessers and Mohamed Diomande at half-time – on came Danilo and Ianis Hagi – but he could have hooked most of the starting line-up after such a timid offering. Rangers, belatedly, began to show some semblance of life and Danilo could have quickly lifted the mood of their supporters had he not slid a Cerny cross beyond the post. The tone, though, was now set, with United sitting deep in their 4-5-1 shape and challenging Rangers to try to break them down.

It was little surprise that when they did so after 66 minutes that Cerny was at the heart of it. The Czech was the brightest spark in an otherwise low-watted Rangers performance and a well-worked 1-2 with Danilo opened up a shooting chance that Cerny was never going to miss as he stroked home his seventh goal of a productive loan spell.

Dundee United's Sam Dalby (R) celebrates scoring to make it 1-0. | SNS Group

The busiest people inside Ibrox by this point were the United medical staff, waved on repeatedly by referee Don Robertson to treat stricken players for some minor ailment or other, adding further disruption to an already stop-start afternoon.

The visitors had long foregone any thought of attacking to pack out their defence and what a job they did to deny Rangers a second goal. Hagi’s shot was pushed out by Walton and somehow neither Danilo nor Hamza Igamane could force in the rebound as United threw numerous bodies in the way to ensure the ball didn’t reach the net.

Eight minutes of injury time extended their defensive shift but, when Walton made another fine save from Igamane, Rangers knew the jig was up. It could be for Clement soon, too.