Ragged Rangers were left in no doubt about the furious feelings of their fans as they trudged sheepishly over to the Chadwick Stand after another awful day on the Ayrshire astro.
The reaction to Sunday’s calamity at Killie was a first glimpse for some of Philippe Clement’s new recruits at just how hot tempers can run when things go wrong at Ibrox. Summer signings like Jefte, Robin Propper, Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny had been given a small snapshot after last month’s Old Firm defeat but then that involved just a couple of dozen seething supporters.
There were around 35000 at Hampden when they crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers by Dynamo Kyiv — but the ire that day was aimed at Italian ref Marco Guida after his controversial Jefte dismissal. But it was the players who took it in the neck at the weekend, with the thousands packing the away end telling their team where to go as the final whistle blew on a result which leaves Gers six points adrift of Premiership pacesetters Aberdeen and Celtic just EIGHT games into the season.
Those scenes of raw anger may have shocked some of Clement’s new faces. But old stager Leon Balogun insists it should not have come as any surprise given the nine players who joined up ahead of the new campaign were well warned what they were signing up for.
“For me personally, and I can only speak for myself, I’ve been in many situations, worse situations than that, a lot worse,” he said. “And you have to understand them. You have to understand what this club stands for, the history of the club. If you sign for this club, you have to know that there’s a lot of expectation.
“And if you don’t live up to that expectation, there might be really uncomfortable moments. You won’t always think it’s reasonable, but you have to understand it. And you just have to get on with it, that’s what I’m trying to say.”
Balogun will try to do his bit to lift spirits as well as standards in the changing room and on the training pitch. Having played a key role in the Light Blues 2021 Premiership triumph and the march to Seville a year later, the Nigerian international has seen for himself the levels required to seriously compete for prizes. The demands required haven’t changed – and neither has what the fans’ expect from their team.
The 36-year-old centre-back said: ”You try to [be a leader] every game, every training session. And obviously, there’s new players this year, yes. Again, that’s not an excuse. One might take a bit more time than the other. It also has to do with game time because you need to get used to certain things. But at the same time, you step into an environment that is not giving you a lot of time.
“So you have to adapt fast and know what’s coming. It’s not always easy to handle, I know that and I understand. But that’s just what this place is like and you have to live up to their expectations. And then, like I said, I think the supporters are entitled to their frustration.”
A common accusation pointed at this Light Blues line up is that it lacks leaders, the type of gritty characters who litter the history books at Ibrox. Balogun is adamant those figures exist within his squad – but admits he’s not got much evidence to back that statement up after Rangers latest slip up on the Rugby Park plastic. Gers have now stepped out on to Killie’s synthetic surface 15 times since it was laid down a decade ago – and won just six times.
Too often they’ve found the uncomfortable conditions too difficult to handle and that was the case yet again on Sunday. Asked if the Govan outfit had men with the strength of will to recover from yet another set back, he said: “Definitely, definitely. I think we’ve shown that in this season already as well, but obviously there’s not much ammunition I have right now after a game like Sunday.”
Rangers could certainly do with a show of unity right now but that looks unlikely with the fans close to breaking point not only with Clement’s team, but also the men in charge at the top of the Marble Staircase.
Balogun hopes the punters stick by him and his colleagues, but he conceded now is not the time to be making demands of those giving up their hard-earned cash to watch a failing outfit.
“It’s the fans’ right to question things,” he said. “Like I said, they are the heartbeat of the club, and I think it’s only right that they are there to question, but at the same time, if you do see the leaders on the pitch and in the team, and if you do see change, then be there. But I don’t think I have to tell them anything, because they know that and they know what to do as well.”
The only way to get the supporters back onside is by winning games. “We were doing that until Lyon in the Europa League,” added Balogun. “We had a sequence, if you want to call it that. Won three out of four, clean sheets as well, and after Lyon we beat St Johnstone. So it’s not that we don’t know how to play football or play games anymore. But like I said, in a game like Sunday that maybe is a bit special, you have to make sure that you’re there, and we were not there enough, and that’s why in the end we got punished.”