Rangers slammed as 'Woeful' after what happened v St Mirren

Rangers were "woeful" in the first half of their Scottish Premiership defeat against St Mirren on Boxing Day, Nick McPheat has said.

The Gers were beaten 2-1 by the Saints at Paisley and were a shadow of the side that they've shown in recent weeks, with McPheat noting they did not manage a shot on target until the 42nd minute.

Philippe Clement's men remain second in the table but now the gap between themselves and first-placed Celtic has increased to 12 points.

Writing for the BBC Sport website (26 December, 20:16pm), BBC journalist McPheat shared his thoughts on the Gers' already slim title chances after their loss.

"After appearing to take forward strides in recent weeks, this defeat sends Rangers backwards," he wrote.

"The faintest of hopes of a title challenge after reducing Celtic's lead to nine points last weekend will disappear quickly.

"The fact their first shot on target did not come until the 42nd minute, an effort on the spin from Hamza Igamane, tells the story of their woeful first half".

Rangers need some reinforcement in the January transfer window

Although the last few weeks have seen an upturn in form at Rangers, it's still fairly evident that some new faces are needed in Philippe Clement's camp.

At the moment, the Gers find themselves in something of a defensive injury crisis with John Souttar, Neraysho Kasanwirjo and now Leon Balogun all sidelined.

This has left Robin Propper to lead the defensive line and with the performances he's put in this season, it feels like bringing in a centre-back is now a necessity for Rangers.

After their defeat against the Saints, their title chances are now even slimmer than what they were previously and it feels like it's now more or less out of reach for Clement and his men as 12 points is an awfully large number to try and hack away at.

If reinforcement isn't brought in during the upcoming January transfer window, things will only go from bad to worse for the Ibrox outfit and they'll no doubt be left in the dust by their arch-rivals.

In other Rangers news, Chris Jack has issued a “critical” update after the loss to the Saints.

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