Rangers-Hibs reaction: Vile fans must be outed, calm Philippe Clement, did groundsman take seed talk literally

Talking points from Rangers’ big win over Hibs on a day the visiting club will want to forget quickly

Rangers started life under new manager Philippe Clement with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Hibs at Ibrox. There were talking points on and off the pitch - and the behaviour of some visiting supporters needs addressing:

Hibs need to weed out classless fans

This was a terrible day for Hibernian Football Club. Not only were their players completely outclassed on the pitch, but some of their 900 supporters were utterly classless off it. Pictures from the away end after the match showed stickers and graffiti that, hideously, gloried in the Ibrox disaster of January 2, 1971 when 66 fans lost their lives in a crush in stairwell 13. Messages scrawled such as “Stairwell Thirteen – it’s the greatest sight that I have ever seen” as well as words mocking the death of Queen Elizabeth II and supporting the IRA covered the seats between the Broomloan Road Stand and the Sandy Jardine Stand. Rangers called their actions "outrageous" and Hibs were also quick to condemn in a statement vowing to seek the strongest possible sanction for those found to have been behind these "intolerable" acts. The people at Hibs right now are decent sorts, so to be humiliated by the vile actions of a few - even First Minister Humza Yousaf weighed in with comment - will be truly embarrassing for the Easter Road hierarchy and many associated with the club. Celebrating the deaths of innocent people who did not come home from a football match is just sickening and while Hibs are taking action to identify the culprits, their fanbase must also self-police and do the same. Football has no place for such cretins.

Clement takes win with pinch of salt

Rangers manager Clement was obviously pleased to start of his tenure with a comprehensive win, but it was noticeable how grounded he was in his post-match press conference. The Belgian knows too well that it would be foolish to take loads from Saturday's match, given how open and cavalier Hibs were. I can't remember a team ever lining up so aggressively at Ibrox in what was essentially a 4-2-4 formation at times. Hibs manager Nick Montgomery said pre-match that he would not deviate from his so-far adventurous tactics and ultimately they came unstuck spectacularly at Ibrox. There has to be an element of pragmatism when visiting Govan, especially on a day when their players and fans are buoyed by a new manager. Rangers pressed Hibs high up the pitch and suffocated them, forcing errors in their own third of the pitch. While Clement can clearly take heart from the early germination of "little seeds" that he planted during the week, the 49-year-old knows all too well that most teams he will face - starting against Sparta Prague on Thursday - will not be so naive.

Real seeds on pitch

What has the Rangers groundsman been putting on the Ibrox pitch this week? Clement talked about sowing metaphorical seeds in the minds of his players but one wonders whether the groundstaff decided to chuck some real ones on the surface. The Glasgow pigeons were not complaining, though, with flocks of the birds munching away at parts of the turf while play raged on around them.