Rangers sword of Damocles hangs over Philippe Clement despite challenging conditions and Celtic

A Tannoy message relaying a birthday greeting to an elderly Dundee fan might have made Philippe Clement’s ears prick up at Dens Park on Thursday night.

The announcer misspoke when mentioning the supporter had attended Dundee’s “European Cup final” against AC Milan.

It perhaps offered some kind of explanation for Rangers’ struggles and provided mitigation for Clement. ‘Well, a draw against former European Cup finalists, that isn't too bad, is it?’ the Belgian might have reflected before looking up and seeing the wall of jabbing fingers in the away end pointing accusingly in his direction. And then he will have made out the words, which were admittedly hard to decipher at first, being volleyed forth as the visiting fans informed Clement where they would like him to get to.

Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart and manager Philippe Clement. | SNS Group

The tipping point had arrived at a ground where the manager enjoyed such a successful and eventful first away trip as Rangers manager 14 months ago.

After the fire of that evening - play had to be stopped due to the smoke from the away fans' pyro display engulfing the pitch - it was perhaps only natural that the brimstone would arrive at some point, although the omens appeared favourable at first.

A 5-0 win that evening perhaps backed up an emotional Kris Boyd’s eyebrow-raising contention on Sky Sports on Thursday evening that Rangers should be “wiping the floor with Dundee” every time they come to Dens.

Well, it hasn’t happened since. Clement has suffered two bruising draws. The first, after the saga of two previously postponed matches, finished off the job Ross County had started a few days earlier of knocking Rangers off course for the title.

The 1-1 draw on Thursday did not seem as dire as the stalemate at the same ground in April because Rangers have long since given up hope of catching Celtic. But the manner of this latest draw – the visitors did not test Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson enough - and the circumstances – a lot was made pre-match of Rangers’ injuries, but Dundee were missing ten first-team players, including arguably their best in Lyall Cameron – meant it was probably more dispiriting, hence the angry reaction from travelling supporters.

Of course, a draw with Dundee – former European Cup semi-finalists rather than finalists in actual fact - amidst an already poor period will never be acceptable for Rangers fans. Clement is sorely aware of this.

Just as a draw against Hibs after being 2-0 up was not acceptable and another draw, against Motherwell this time after being 2-0 down, is not acceptable. And that’s just last three away outings and before the 2-1 defeat to St Mirren in Paisley that started this current run of away day blues is taken into account.

Philippe Clement watched his team drop more points in Dundee. | SNS Group

Rangers fans have been asked to put up with a lot and on Thursday night, in freezing temperatures, their patience snapped like an icicle looming dagger-like overhead from the roof of the Bob Shankly Stand.

A sword of Damocles is meanwhile hanging over Clement. Although he insists he is “200 per cent” sure he retains the board’s backing, it’s also surely true that he is just one game away from the chop. Can he survive a home defeat or even more dropped points against St Johnstone on Sunday? Probably not, although it’s hard to see how Rangers fail to prevail against the league’s basement markers, particularly when they have dropped just two points at Ibrox all season. This record – including a 3-0 win over Celtic in their last home game - puts their desperate away form into even sharper context.

The manager took training on Friday morning at the Rangers training ground and the mere fact this was considered headline news underlined the seeming vulnerability of his position – Rangers manager takes training shock!

It was a shock - or at least alarming - for some fans. The Rangers Supporters' Association released a prompt statement on Thursday night calling for Clement to be sacked. Must this mediocrity simply be endured?

Something else that might be alarming is the struggle players are having to put their finger on what is going wrong. “It's difficult to say,” Robin Propper, the temporary skipper, replied when that question was put to him in the cramped media room at Dens. “We try really hard, everybody wants it,” he said. “We want to take three points, we want to be happy and cheering with the fans, of course. They are there for us again in many ways. It's hard to take, I don't know, it's difficult to say what's happening.”

Even Celtic’s so-called problems serve to mock Rangers. How Clement will wish his only worry were some fans singing about a former Ibrox star or booing after a pass backwards.

One of his major difficulties is the perception that Rangers are going backwards rather than evolving under him. It’s not just the perception either. Are Rangers really any better than they were when Michael Beale was sacked 15 months ago? Are they even as good?

Rangers are languishing behind Celtic in the title race. | SNS Group

They’d just won four games in a row, including against Real Betis, when the axe finally fell on Beale after an admittedly dire 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aberdeen at Ibrox. And no-one is pining for the Beale era however bad it's been and is getting under Clement.

Of course, it’s incumbent to note the conditions in which the Belgian has been working. The club has only recently begun to resemble a fully functioning operation with the appointment of a new non-executive chairman in Fraser Thornton and new CEO in Patrick Stewart, who has got his work cut out. If he didn’t already know the extent of the poisoned chalice that he has been handed then he does now.

Clement keeps repeating that Stewart will relay information about Rangers’ January transfer strategy “in the next few days”. He might pray that the next time we hear from the Rangers chief executive it is for this reason and this reason alone.