Rangers fans ‘to stay away from Ibrox’ in stark warning to Patrick Stewart
Rangers fans are still reeling from last weekend’s humiliating defeat to Queen’s Park and many may well stay away from Ibrox.
The Light Blues were eliminated from the Scottish Cup by the second-tier side in a loss that has left Philippe Clement’s Rangers job under serious pressure.
Clement remains at the Ibrox helm four days on, though, and it looks as though that will remain the case come Sunday’s Scottish Premiership clash with Hearts.
CEO Patrick Stewart recently gave the Belgian his public backing, but one former Rangers player believes the decision to stick by him could backfire further.
Rangers fans not happy
Indeed, in the view of now-pundit Derek Ferguson – speaking exclusively to Ibrox News – it may well be that fans vote with their feet by staying away from Ibrox.
The Gers have nothing left to play for domestically between now and the end of the campaign, as they are out of both cups and trail league leaders Celtic by 13 points.
“It’s going to be interesting between now and the end of the season in terms of the attendances,” Ferguson said. “The Union Bears made a statement recently and walked out, and that was just to bring attention.
“What we’ve been witnessing this season is not good enough. I think what we’re going to see now is extremely low attendances. The Rangers fans don’t want to do it, but when you’ve got nothing to play for, playing essentially friendlies now in the league, the only way around that is not turning up.
“I’m not even sure if Clement will play the youngsters. Look at Bailey Rice against Queen’s Park – hooked at half-time. He could have taken anyone off but chose to take off one of the younger ones.
“So it’ll be interesting to see the attendances now. The away support will always be there, but the fans are now disgruntled.
“The manager is settling for second best. The proof is in the pudding and he’s failing miserably to be honest with you. To be 13 points behind Celtic is clearly not good enough.”
Rangers attendances could be impacted at Ibrox
Rangers supporters are as loyal as they come, but there is only so much they can take.
The Union Bears protests at Ibrox did not go down universally well, but they had every right to make their feelings known.
Things have only got worse since then, meaning the possibility of further protests as the season goes on.
Ultimately, the biggest impact they can have is by staying away from Ibrox on matchdays. To see Ibrox only half-full for a league game would be truly embarrassing for Stewart.
And it may well be that the only way to avoid that is by sacking Clement before this mess gets any worse.