Rangers on the brink as Killie becomes must-win | OneFootball

So it’s official – any failure to win (a draw or less) at Ibrox today and Celtic can win the title next week at Parkhead.

To go from only a few weeks ago and having turned round a 7-point deficit to gain a 2-point lead and now within a choke and a collapse having gone right back to 7-points behind (albeit with game in hand) is honestly among the dumbest chokes we’ve ever seen from Rangers.

Funny thing is (is any of this really funny?) we’re seeing a much less pro-Clement vibe than it was only a month ago, with a fair whack of fans holding him and his horrendous decision-making to account.

And that’s exactly what’s cost us – you can argue your stuff about the players not delivering lacking heart being rubbish yadda yadda and you’re entitled to that view, but when you try to plug square pegs in round holes or use pegs that aren’t even interested any more you’re only making it worse for yourself.

Dujon Sterling and Borna Barisic did not select themselves at LB, Goldson didn’t select himself at CB and Lunny doesn’t keep on picking himself in midfield. Until recently, Silva sure wasn’t selecting himself at LW – it was Clement picking all these players in these slots. Players who either aren’t suited, aren’t good enough, or just don’t want to be here.

So it’s not shocking the team machine has been spluttering totally. Clement 100% accountable there.

Next up is the ‘he has to work with what he has’ argument.

Really?

So Tav, Balogun, Souttar and Davies, Sterling and Diomande, Roofe, Cantwell, Dessers and McCausland is a mince selection is it?

Sure, it only has one winger, and not a great one, but the spine in there is better and Davies is a naturally left-footed defender who has played LB before. Frees up Sterling to do damage in midfield while having a low-gravity attacking quadrant with pace and workrate.

But no, Clement keeps picking stupid XIs and many fans still make the ‘he’s got to work with what he has’ argument.

That said, we’re not naïve – we know the players’ bottoms fell out as well – we’re absolutely not solely blaming Clement for the collapse.

The workrate has notably gone down, the cohesion and communication went flat, and the grit and hunger is visible absent. The football itself is horrible, and the defence look like an absolute mess.

There’s very little positive on the pitch from the players themselves, who evidently aren’t playing for their manager any more.

But this is the way every season, isn’t it? Gio cleaned up Stevie’s mess, got it all going, then a year later the players just weren’t doing it for him. Then Beale took over, same pattern. Clement takes over, same pattern.

A repeating cycle every season and that has the fans blaming the players. But the issue there is only Goldson, Barisic, Tavernier and Lunny still exist of the Stevie era, just four players and now one of them is out, while none of Gio’s players are currently in the starting XI. Beale? Dessers, Cantwell, Balogun and Butland, of course.

Which is not to say a changing of the old guard isn’t needed, but we can’t say it’s the ‘same tired old players’ causing this – half of this team/squad was signed in the last 18 months!

So where is the issue?

Beats us, that’s one for the board to fix, not us.