Ex Rangers hero Ronald do Boer insists his old club are struggling “big time” but Ally McCoist hopes new chief executive Patrick Stewart can bring much-needed stability at the top of the club.
The Light Blues fell eleven points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership table after a dire draw at home to Dundee United. That has cranked up the heat on Philippe Clement, who takes his side to southern France for their Europa League clash with Nice on Thursday.
Dutch legend De Boer – who won four major honours during four years in Govan – insists the Belgian and his payers must find a way to turn it around or accept the consequences. He told Sky Sports: “If it doesn’t go well he will have a lot of criticism. That’s the way it is with Rangers. Losing a lot of games, not playing particularly well, it’s frustrating and that’s why you’re under pressure as a manager and you have to accept that and turn it around.
“Hopefully he can do it but they have to find a way again. They did well in the beginning of the season but now they’re struggling big time and that is something you have to deal with. The pressure is high and they have to see a way to turn that around but it’s going to be difficult.”
Meanwhile, McCoist said on talkSPORT that ex Manchester United chief Stewart’s appointment as vital. He said: “You’ve got to have stability at the top. Any club has to have stability at the top.
“They’ve obviously appointed the new chief executive who has good experience at Manchester United. I don’t know an awful lot about him but it’s a step in the right direction. The first thing they have to do is get stability at the op and they seem to be doing that.
“You never say never but the league looks miles away. But bizarrely enough their better performances have been in Europe so far this season.
“Great performance in Malmo, beat Steaua Bucharest 4-0 and a very good performance in Greece where they should have won the game.
“That’s been their better performances. They’ve got a League Cup final coming up against Celtic which is going to be a big ask because their record hasn’t been good. Can they win it? Of course they can, it’s a Rangers-Celtic game and anything can happen but they’ll certainly start the game as second favourites.
“But I’ve said all along performances and results haven’t been good enough but the players have got to be scrutinised and criticised for the lack of consistent performances, as does the manager.”