Jeff Stelling blasts ‘Totally Unacceptable’ Rangers after what happened at Ibrox
Jeff Stelling launched an on-air rant as he offered his reaction to Rangers losing against Queen’s Park in a shock Scottish Cup exit at Ibrox.
Rangers saw their last hope of domestic success go up in flames in front of a shocked Ibrox on Sunday (9 February) after Seb Drozd stunned the heavily rotated side with his 69th-minute match-winner.
Calum Ferrie delivered the final nail in the coffin to the hosts after Cyriel Dessers was brought down for a contentious penalty in the dying embers of the match, and the goalkeeper dramatically saved James Tavernier’s spot-kick.
Nevertheless, the writing is on the wall for Philippe Clement at Ibrox following the shock defeat, and talkSPORT host Stelling shared his verdict live on air [10 February, 7:22am] in the aftermath of the Scottish Cup exit.
Jeff Stelling tears into Rangers live on air
Clement has survived countless scares at Rangers to remain at the helm this term, but losing to a Scottish Championship outfit at home, in what is likely their final chance at silverware, could be a step too far for the boss.
Indeed, the Belgian received his flowers for the “huge” achievement of a top-eight Europa League finish, although he has spent the entire campaign playing second fiddle to Celtic.
“Thirteen points adrift of Celtic is totally unacceptable. Losing at home to Queen’s Park, even in the sort of circumstances that it happened, is totally unacceptable,” Stelling said.
Patrick Stewart publicly backed Clement, leading the supporters to stage a series of planned protests directed at the boss and the Gers board.
However, this time, the noise around Glasgow will be too loud for the Light Blues to ignore.
Philippe Clement must be sacked
Football is a results business, and when Clement is concerned, the results speak for themselves.
While the European campaign offers the supporters a glimmer of hope for the remainder of the campaign, it is highly unlikely that the Gers will progress into the latter stages of the competition.
Furthermore, when the side is producing performances such as the one against Queen’s Park, what chance do they stand against the likes of Lazio, Athletic Bilbao and Eintracht Frankfurt?
Even if Tavernier had converted his last-gasp penalty, the abject nature of Rangers’ display leaves a lot to be desired moving forward and is a damning recognition of how far the Ibrox outfit have fallen under Clement’s leadership.
Domestically, there is nothing left to play for. There is no game on the remaining fixture list that Rangers can look to as a must-win fixture to salvage what remains of the season.
Every match from here on until May is a must-win, and even then, Celtic will continue winning on the other side of Glasgow.
There are no more excuses, no more avenues to pursue to justify Clement’s retention of his position at Ibrox – enough is enough.
History suggests otherwise, but Stewart must take control of the situation at Rangers before it spirals out of control and give a new manager the chance to implement his ideas until the end of the season before the real work begins in the summer.
What are we waiting for?