Rangers dud who lost the ball 30x could’ve just cost Clement his job

The league leaders had slipped up earlier in the day. The chance was there for Rangers to apply a semblance of pressure on their Old Firm rivals at the Premiership summit, closing the gap to ten points with 11 left to play. And yet…

And yet the gap remains at 13, with Celtic let off the hook following another dismal day at Ibrox for Philippe Clement’s men, with the Light Blues falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of sixth-placed St Mirren.

Second-half goals from Mikael Mandron and Toyosi Olusanya ultimately steered the Saints to a shock win on the road, with the hosts – who look set for fresh investment from 49ers enterprises – failing to create a single ‘big chance’, despite boasting 65% possession, as per Sofascore.

CEO Patrick Stewart only recently came out in support of that man Clement, but the knives will rightly be out once again for the under-fire Belgian, with the end looking nigh for the 50-year-old.

The former Club Brugge boss is rightly the main culprit amid the Gers’ woes in 2024/25, but he certainly wasn’t helped by his charges on Saturday afternoon, that’s for sure…

Clinton Nsiala’s game in numbers vs St Mirren

The obvious place to start is, of course, with young Clinton Nsiala, with the 21-year-old summer signing – who arrived from AC Milan back in June – having endured a wretched outing at Ibrox.

Recently eased into the side by Clement after sitting out the first few months of the season, the promising centre-back may well find himself out of the starting lineup in the games to come, having been all at sea up against Stephen Robinson’s side.

Indeed, for the away side’s opener, Nsiala fell to the ground far too easily under minimal contact from Mandron, with the latter man subsequently racing through before firing past Jack Butland from the angle.

Having failed to deal with a bouncing ball on that occasion, it was almost a repeat scenario for the visitors’ second, with the struggling defender only managing to nod the ball into the path of Olusanya, who duly converted.

Yes, Nsiala did receive contact on both occasions, but the expectation is for a centre-back to be far stronger, with those errors proving so costly for Clement and co.

The key Rangers underperformer vs St Mirren

While it was a rough ride for Nsiala, it would be cruel to put the blame solely at his door, with there having been far more senior members of the Rangers squad who failed to deliver at Ibrox.

Among those who weren’t at the required level was long-serving captain, James Tavernier, with the experienced full-back having simply not been at the races once again.

The 33-year-old – who does boast four goals and ten assists this season – proved far too erratic in possession, having lost the ball on 30 occasions from his 103 touches.

That may be viewed as the rampaging right-back seeking to create for his side, yet it makes for grim reading considering he only completed one of his ten attempted crosses, while failing to register a single key pass.

Off the ball too, the one-time Newcastle United man was also found wanting after winning just three out of eight duels, with it having overall been ‘an underwhelming performance’ from the skipper, as per the 4th Official.

An increasingly divisive figure among those of a Rangers persuasion, Tavernier is doing little to suggest he can lead this team out of such troubled waters, with Clement having now been repeatedly let down by such key figures.

As such, while the Gers boss looks increasingly more likely to be going the way of Michael Beale before him, there may be those wishing that Tavernier joins him in heading for the exit door this summer.

Clement too, if he does face the ace, may view his captain as among those chiefly responsible after such a wretched domestic campaign.