There used to be a theory that Old Firm fans would forgive any number of poor results and performances as long as their side vanquished their city rivals when derby day rolled around. But Philippe Clement and his Rangers team have rather blown that myth apart over the past few weeks.
Clement's men are a conundrum alright. They stink the place out for 45 minutes in consecutive games at St Mirren and Motherwell, spilling five points along the way. They then go into the game against Celtic at Ibrox with a makeshift backline and completely outplay the runaway league leaders to win 3-0, a scoreline that flattered the champions.
One swallow, and all that, though. For Rangers followed up that impressive performance by blitzing into a two-goal lead at Easter Road, only to allow Hibs to claw them back not once, but twice, to leave another away fixture without the full complement of points.
Their away record is appalling. There is no other way to dress it up. They have won just three of their 10 matches away from Ibrox so far this season.
Ross County, who recently broke a streak of 15 months without an away victory, have now won the same number of games on the road this season. Only the bottom three sides at the time of writing – Kilmarnock, Hearts and St Johnstone – have won less, with two victories apiece.
How do you explain that? Or the contrast with the fine European form – Lyon defeat apart – that has made Rangers strong contenders to progress into the knockout stages of the Europa League?
There are a few contributory factors. But in the end, it can only boil down to their mentality.
That may be looked upon as some as a simplistic diagnosis of Rangers’ current ills. A throwback to the ‘dinosaur’ days of 4-4-f******-2 and getting right in about them from the first whistle.
And no doubt, the fact that domestic opponents other than Celtic will set up in a markedly different way to their European opposition means that this Rangers side are better suited to such assignments.
But if your main objective is to win the league, where is the logic in constructing a team that struggles to break down opponents that sit in a low or mid-block? Or that struggles against the physicality of Scottish teams? The signing of Robin Propper sums it up, a defender who looks like Franz Beckenbauer when up against Son Heung-min, and Frank Spencer when up against Toyosi Olusanya.
For one, Celtic had a run of favourable home fixtures, while Rangers were going to notoriously tricky away venues over those weeks. Had they been playing St Mirren, Motherwell and Hibs at Ibrox, Clement may well have got away with it. But they weren’t.
Secondly, either Clement criminally underestimated the difficulty of the task in facing these sides on their own patches, or he grossly overestimated the strength in depth of his squad. Leaving out his form midfielder in Nicolas Raskin in Paisley was a major misstep, as was starting with Kieran Dowell and Cyriel Dessers over the likes of Vaclav Cerny and Hamza Igamane at Fir Park.
When the teamlines dropped that day, Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday has admitted that it gave the home dressing room a massive pre-match boost. While the reaction of the Rangers fans told you that everyone but Clement, alarmingly, could foresee the disaster that was about to unfold.
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Even so, with the greatest of respect to St Mirren, Motherwell and even Hibs, when comparing the teamsheets and the wages of the players across those games, just about any Rangers side should have had enough about them to pick up maximum points. Particularly when they knew that any slip up at that stage meant the league was gone, regardless of what happened against Celtic.
The win over Brendan Rodgers’ side, and the utterly convincing manner of it, briefly raised hopes that they could at least disrupt Celtic’s procession to another league crown. But after the draw against Hibs, that Ibrox triumph has simply made their lacklustre displays elsewhere a source of even more heightened frustration for their fans, and made the fragility of this team all the harder to fathom.
The talent, one can only surmise from the evidence of the performances against Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur and Nice, is there. On their day, they are a match – or can even get the better of – such a level of opposition.
But when it comes to the bread and butter, the blood and thunder of facing ‘lesser’ sides, the evidence is just as convincing that they don’t have the required minerals to get the job done. Would you really bank on them taking care of business against Dundee at Dens Park tonight? They'll be nowhere near my coupon (though, that may actually aid their cause).
It’s all very well turning it on in the big occasion, but if you can’t do it week-in, week-out, then, well, you find yourselves where Rangers are. Thirteen points behind. The big occasion for Rangers used to be every single game they played.
It’s about standards, something that once could never be questioned inside a Rangers dressing room. You can argue over when that expectation within the building was allowed to slide, and when players on such exorbitant wages got comfortable with the idea that being second is anywhere close to good enough, but that is the current reality at Ibrox.
Unless Clement can restore that high bar quickly, and consistently - not just when the glamour games roll around - then he will remain on a sticky wicket. And Rangers will remain title also-rans.
