Clement urges unity as Rangers fans split over walk-out protest

Rangers supporters find it unacceptable to have a 15-point gap in January after their false start to defeat their city- and Scottish title rivals just over a week ago.

Hibernian and Dundee dropped points, destroying that good work. The title is undoubtedly gone, and the gap has grown wider in a matter of seconds.

This provided the perfect example for some Rangers supporters who demanded Philippe Clement leave and spend some time with him in the boardroom.

In Saturday’s media briefing, Stewart clearly indicated the club remained behind Clement, so long as their wretched away form was addressed.

Undeterred, fan group the Union Bears, alongside the Rangers Supporters Association, responded by urging fellow fans to leave Ibrox in the 55th minute “to send a statement to the board… that we will no longer tolerate their incompetence, excuses and disrespect”.

They carried out that threat, a minute or so after St Johnstone netted a second-half consolation. They were clearly in the minority, despite the fact that others were lining up nearby.

What was most striking was some fierce booing of those who intended to leave, despite a small amount of applause that appeared to support the move.

Post-match, Clement called for unity in the stands. Just as he did when fans watched Michael Beale’s final days through the cracks of his fingers upon his arrival at the club.

“I understand that fans are not happy with our away record”, the Belgian conceded. “I’m also not, totally not.

” A lot of fans stick to the team and support. Some fans wanted to show their disappointment.

“I want everybody to be united. Simple. The fact that there are still many people behind everything is a positive sign.

It’s up for debate whether those who berating the walk-out were actually behind everything. Few Rangers fans are currently content with their situation or have any sense of hope that Rangers will continue to lead the league.

Additionally, it seems that there isn’t a united fan base. Support the team, or try to force change, seems the conundrum.

That in itself may have been costly and not helped Clement’s cause.

Some of the players who have led the club over the past few years, it’s obvious, have sold out, in the opinion of some fans.

Alongside Stewart, Rangers have a new chairman in Fraser Thornton. Both men will have a significant impact on how the club functions, both personally and professionally.

However, they will need time and, in Glasgow, that is a limited commodity, especially when results are so inconsistent.

In response to a lack of chief executive, Clement stated, “I’ve been six or seven months feeling alone in the desert and addressing things to make better in the club.”

“That will help me, that will help the football department, but it will help everything inside the club. So I’m happy to have open and occasionally critical discussions about it.

” We want consistency, I want consistency, and fans want consistency to get better results. We have consistency at home and consistency abroad, but neither of us have consistency in our European competition. Therefore, those should be worked on.

There seems to be a lot to work on. Domestically, the title challenge has disintegrated. In the Europa League, Rangers are well placed, but that’s not going to satisfy some.

In this transfer window, Stewart predicted that Rangers would only be hiring one or two. With limited resource, it’ll be challenging to make that have significant impact.

Clement’s ability to make a change in fortune seems to depend on him to use up all of his available resources with little room for error.