Rangers

Did you take in Rangers' win against St Johnstone or were you following from home?

Have your say on the match, external

Image source, SNS

Rangers manager Philippe Clement: "I wanted more in the second half than we gave. There is a lot of potential to make things better. We lost some fluidity in our attacking part.

"In the first half there were a lot of good actions, good goals. There are a lot of positives in the group getting better and better, it's getting consistency in the away games.

"It's always about the next game. I will guide them towards the next game to win against Aberdeen - never a guarantee.

"I understand that fans are not happy with our away record. I'm also not, totally not. A lot of fans stick to the team and support. Some fans wanted to show their disappointment.

"I cannot say anything about [signings]. We will see in the next two weeks."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter at Ibrox

Wins are all that matter for Rangers now. Further slip-ups are unlikely to be accepted by the frustrated fanbase and this fixture was in many respects the perfect one given St Johnstone's own struggles.

It proved exactly that. There was a lot of pressure on the Ibrox players and their manager given their calamitous away form.

At home, Rangers have been strong and that continued.

They could and perhaps should have made it far more comfortable, though, given the chances they had and will be a little frustrated not to have surged out of sight.

The outcome lifts a little of the gloom, but what the Ibrox side need is a sustained run of victories to see if they can eat into Celtic's 15-point lead.

That may buy a little time while an independent review of operations is conducted. That said, it is clear some fans will take plenty of convincing the club are on the right track.

Image source, SNS

Vaclav Cerny scored Rangers' second - his ninth of the season - and was lively throughout.

Image source, SNS

Rangers are among the clubs interested in Burnley's Sweden defender Hjalmar Ekdal, 26. (Expressen, external - in Swedish)

Read Sunday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

Hamza Igamane is the man of the moment for Rangers - and has played a major role in keeping manager Philippe Clement in a job.

Having been viewed as a long-term project when signed from AS FAR in his native Morocco last summer, the 22-year-old striker has in recent months become the go-to man up front.

If it was not for his 11 goals - seven in the Premiership - with a double in the 2-2 draw with Motherwell and hat-trick in the 3-3 thriller with Hibernian, the Ibrox side could have slipped even further than their current 18 points behind leaders Celtic.

Igamane's emergence has been crucial for Clement along with Ianis Hagi's four league assists since the classy Romania midfielder returned to the fold after a contractual issue.

No wonder that, when Patrick Stewart took a special media conference on Saturday to stress the board's continued backing for Clement, the new chief executive vowed that Rangers have no intention of selling Igamane in the January transfer window.

Read Scottish Premiership Picks in full.

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Amid mounting pressure on manager Philippe Clement, new Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart has spoken to the the media for the first time.

Stewart, who took on the role at Ibrox last month, revealed the board are backing Clement and outlined his vision for the club.

So, what did we learn from Stewart's briefing?

Faith in Clement but no 'cast-iron guarantees'

Stewart was bullish on the board's reasoning for backing Clement. He says he has seen improvements in performances and in some players and that has convinced him to keep faith with the Belgian.

He also perhaps leaned on his Manchester United experience with comments such as "a constant change in manager is not effective".

Although Rangers are sticking with Clement, Stewart acknowledged supporter anger and admitted he can't give "cast-iron guarantees" if results don't improve.

He insists the board are not trying "avoid a tough decision" and says it's quite the opposite: "If anything, changing a manager would be the easy decision, because a lot of supporters are calling for that."

'Healthy tension' with manager

There is little doubt the new CEO is his own man. He says he's ready to face tough challenges and make calls that may not go down well with supporters.

He's also willing to go toe to toe with Clement on transfers, calling it "healthy tension".

Stewart expects the manager to be fully involved in transfers, but insists he won't have the final say. Stewart says he won't bow down to Clement, he'll challenge him and expects to be challenged back.

Determined to fix 'deeper issues'

Stewart has only been in the job a matter of weeks, but seems to have quickly identified past mistakes, as a source of "deeper issues" within the club, and is determined to address them, hence the review of "the entire football department".

The review is important to him - "this is something that I'm very focused on making a meaningful difference" - and will start on Monday, using an independent company, and take between six and 12 weeks.

No Igamane sale or 'panic buying'

Stewart was adamant Rangers have no intention of selling striker Hamza Igamane - or any other player who is "contributing on the pitch" in the January window. But he revealed efforts are being made to try to move fringe players on.

He has told the fans not to expects lots of incomings this month, explaining there might be one or two new signings, and "panic buying" will be avoided.

Image source, SNS

Vaclav Cerny has urged Rangers to get back to winning ways after they slipped further behind league leaders Celtic.

The 1-1 draw at Dundee during the week made it three wins in 11 away games for Philippe Clement's side.

Rangers welcome bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone on Sunday when they'll look to make a dent in the 18-point lead Celtic now hold following their win at Ross County.

"It's all up to us," winger Cerny said.

"We are the ones who are dropping points. We are the ones who are not consistent and we need to get it right because the potential, the will, the ambition is there.

"It's just about winning more and especially in those away games. It doesn't matter how, just win those games.

"It's tough for all of us. But we showed already that we can come back to win games and we're in that position again.

"We're not losing them, but we're not winning them. So, again, it's tough but we've got to stick together. The motivation should be to try to win every single game, which is possible."

Image source, SNS

• Rangers have won their past eight meetings with St Johnstone across all competitions (all without conceding), their longest winning run over the Saints since winning 10 in a row from April 1991 to December 1992.

• St Johnstone are winless in their past 11 visits to Rangers in all competitions (D2 L9) since a 3-1 victory in December 2017. The Perth men have scored just two goals in those 11 away trips.

• Rangers have won 11 of their past 12 home league games (including nine of 10 this season – D1), winning their last three in a row without conceding. The Ibrox side last won four in a row while keeping a clean sheet each time at home in the Scottish Premiership in February 2022 under Giovanni van Bronckhorst (run of 7).

• St Johnstone have lost four of their past five away league outings (D1), and could lose three in a row on the road for the first time since January 2023 – the third defeat of which was at Rangers (0-2).

• Since the start of November, St Johnstone have earned fewer points in the Scottish Premiership (5) than any other side. Prior to that, they had picked up more points than three sides in the division, but now find themselves eight points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Image source, SNS

Nico Raskin returns to the Rangers squad after missing the game against Dundee through suspension.

Dujon Sterling, James Tavernier, John Souttar (groin), Neraysho Kasanwirjo (knee), Jack Butland (leg), Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence remain out.

St Johnstone could hand a debut to on-loan Swansea goalkeeper Andy Fisher, while Makenzie Kirk is back in contention following a minor niggle.

Barry Douglas (calf) and Cammy MacPherson (hip) are both back in full training and could be involved, but Uche Ikpeazu (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) remain sidelined and Jason Holt is still suspended.

Chris McLaughlin
BBC Scotland sports news correspondent

Image source, SNS

The Rangers Supporters Association (RSA) is calling on the club's board to sack manager Phillipe Clement following the draw with Dundee.

Rangers' fourth consecutive away game without victory leaves Clement's side 15 points adrift of leaders Celtic in the Premiership.

The fans' group has called for "decisive action" by the board, saying keeping the manager in place will "further damage" the club.

The group's statement said: "The RSA calls on the club to take decisive action and relieve the current manager of his duties.

"We understand the implications of making this change, doing nothing is not an option and will only further damage the club in the longer term.

"This is a time for real leadership from our new chairman and chief executive.

"Perhaps some of our more long standing-board members/investors also reflect on their role in relation to the club's current position on and off the park."

The RSA says it has 7000 members and represents over 120 supporters clubs.

Image source, SNS

Stand-in skipper Robin Propper insists Rangers remain confident of improving their wretched away form and are "much better" than they showed in the 1-1 draw at Dundee.

Vaclav Cerny cancelled out Oluwaseun Adewumi's opener but Rangers rarely looked like finding a winner and the away support turned their anger on manager Philippe Clement and the players at the end.

Dutch defender Propper, who served as skipper amid an injury crisis, said: "We want to take three points, we want to be happy and cheering with the fans, of course. They are there for us again in many ways. It's hard to take, I don't know, it's difficult to say what's happening.

"Of course, I'm frustrated as well. Everybody is frustrated because we want to win. And we are much better than this, I know that for sure.

"We need to find a solution. From everybody. Everybody wants it, everybody is talking to each other, doing the best they can.

"We are a team, we are together in this. We are confident that we can get out of this situation, that we can win these away games. We are confident to react on this.

"We are doing our best and everybody is in this. We try to do everything to win this kind of game, the gaffer as well."

Rangers have followed their morale-boosting Old Firm win with draws at Hibs and Dundee, but Propper denied they have gone backwords.

"No, of course not," he said. "It was a big game, it's a different game than the games we played since. They're away games with different opponents.

"I think you need to play a different kind of football. We need to find a solution for this one."

Image source, SNS

The pressure has once again ramped up on Rangers manager Philippe Clement.

With just three wins in 11 away league games this season, and a 15-point deficit on leaders Celtic, can the Belgian survive?

Former striker Rory Loy believes that if the club are to change manager, they will have to think carefully about the timing in order to give any new boss time to assess and rebuild.

"It's now 10 January, so if you decide Clement is the man for the job, and you're going to let him sign three, four, five players on permanent contracts, then you're running the risk of going 20, 25 points behind, and then the pressure becomes too much, you've got a new manager coming in and the process starts again," Loy said.

"So I think given the time of year that it is, there's a big decision to be made. If they were to bring somebody else in now, they do have a little bit of free rein to assess the squad, look and move forward from there.

"There are signs that Clement can turn it around, but it's not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, it's just a glimmer."

Listen to more Rangers analysis on the BBC's Scottish football podcast

Image source, SNS

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has claimed the board are "200%" behind him despite the club languishing 15 points adrift of Premiership leaders Celtic after another away setback.

Rangers fans at Dens Park reacted with fury at full-time on Thursday night after the 1-1 draw with Dundee, Rangers' fourth away game in a row without victory.

Asked if he was confident that the board, which has a new chief executive in Patrick Stewart, are still behind him 100%, Clement said: "Yes, 200%.

"We have talks every day about everything, about January, about next season, about everything.

"Yes, of course the fans are unhappy. We are also unhappy, all of us are unhappy, to lose these three points.

"Supporters are always behind us when we are good, when we play good games. So today it was not a good game.

"So I understand that they are unhappy about that. I know these supporters, that they don't give up the moment we show quality.

"It's about us showing the quality on the pitch and then they are directly behind the team, always.

"So it's our task to do that as fast as possible. That starts on Sunday, to show quality again and on both sides of the game. Not only offensively, also defensively."

Image source, SNS

• Rangers had an xG (expected goals) of 0.73 - their lowest in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Dundee attempted 12 shots in this match, higher than their season average of 10.7 in the Premiership.

• Vaclav Cerny has created 48 chances this season, more than any other player in the Premiership.

• Josh Mulligan has assisted four goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), no Dundee player has more.

• Cerny has scored eight goals in the Premiership this season (1 in this game), more than any other Rangers player.

• Dundee have lost 15 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season, only Hibernian (16) have lost more.

Rangers are interested in CSKA Moscow's Serbia midfielder Sasa Zdjelar, 29. (Mail), external

Tony Docherty believes his Dundee team should have had a penalty in the build-up to Rangers equaliser in Thursday's 1-1 draw. (Record), external

Read Friday's Scottish gossip

Rangers' away woes in the Scottish Premiership continued as they were held by Dundee to extend their winless run on the road to four matches.

The hosts took an early lead when Oluwaseun Adewumi smartly turned in Josh Mulligan's cross after Rangers were left scrambling at the back.

Vaclav Cerny levelled after a quick counter as the visitors managed to respond before the break.

But the Rangers onslaught which might have been expected never materialised.

Let us know your thoughts on Rangers' performance.