Rangers v St Johnstone first-half moment leaves Billy Dodds flabbergasted live on BBC
Billy Dodds couldn’t believe what he was seeing as Rangers run rampant in the first half against St Johnstone on Sunday.
Philippe Clement is under immense pressure at Ibrox after the draws against Hibernian and Dundee derailed the progress made after the 3-0 win against Celtic at Ibrox.
However, despite Clement running the risk of dropping Nedim Bajrami for the clash on 12 January, the Light Blues scored three goals in nine minutes in the first half, leaving Dodds flabbergasted live on BBC Sport Scotland (12 January, 3:22pm).
Speaking after Vaclav Cerny’s goal put the Gers two up, Dodds said: “He’s slipped through and he’s right through one-on-one – it’s that easy and then he just rolls it past [Andy] Fisher.
“Yes it’s brave football, but my word, when you lose the ball there, [they’re] wide open St Johnstone and Rangers capitalise.”
Rangers blow away St Johnstone at Ibrox
Clement has been through the wringer in Glasgow since the Old Firm victory on 2 February – he needed that opening 45 minutes.
While all the attention leading into the contest was surrounded around the Belgian’s immediate future at Ibrox, his players silenced the doubters, for the meantime, in outstanding fashion.
It is worth noting that Rangers are missing several key players due to injury, particularly John Souttar, and while the results do not match the supporters’ expectations they should cut Clement a bit of slack.
No matter who would potentially succeed Clement at the helm, the soon-to-be 15-point to Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership is insurmountable.
The first half at Ibrox shows how exciting the football under Clement can be – Hamza Igamane, Cerny and Mohammed Diomande were in full flow to give the hosts a three-goal lead heading into the break.
While this result will do little to ease the growing tension at the Gers, it is certainly a step in the right direction, but he will undoubtedly be under the microscope again next week when his side hosts Aberdeen (15 January).
In other Rangers news, Leon King’s Ibrox future is now set in stone amid new transfer update.
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