Craig Moore reckons Bailey Rice was ‘hung out to dry’ in Rangers’ shock Scottish Cup exit to Queen’s Park.
Philippe Clement put the youngster in from the off for his first start for the Light Blues in the fifth round clash at Ibrox but with the score level at the break, the Belgian made a double change with the midfielder hooked alongside Nedim Barjami in place of Cyriel Dessers and Nico Raskin. The Spiders went on to send major shockwaves across the game as they grabbed a winner with their only shot to cause wild scenes in the away end and unleash anger throughout the home support within the ground.
At full-time the Belgian boss and his players felt the full wrath of the supporters with the pressure increasingly rapidly on Clement with Rangers now out of the Scottish Cup, 13 points behind Celtic in the Premiership and also losing out in the League Cup Final to Brendan Rodgers’ men – who remain on course to win another domestic Treble.
Rangers hero Moore is in no doubt Clement is under ‘real pressure’ with CEO Patrick Stewart and the Ibrox board remaining quiet since the weekend defeat. Stories have emerged that a package of £1.2milliion would be required to pay-off the Gers boss – who now has a fight on his hands to win over the fanbase if he is to survive, starting with a tough test away to Hearts this weekend.
Speaking on Go Radio, the former Rangers defender explained: “I felt that Bailey Rice was hung out to dry. He hadn’t done anything wrong in the game. I am sure he done exactly as expected in terms of his role. Screening the back four, getting on the ball when he could, playing the ball forward and keeping the ball within the team. There was a lack of energy throughout the whole team. For a young kid, it was an easy option to bring him off. “
He added: “There’s been a complete meltdown really in terms of the response from the match. Was it a shock? Yeah, it was a big shock. Queen’s Park are a Championship team so it is not so much the gap in terms of the divisions but it is a game that Rangers are at home and they should be doing more in the match to win the game and progress in a competition that was realistically a chance of winning silverware. For the team to go out in the way they did. It was really the last 5-10 minutes before they started to threaten and that urgency.
“The manager is under real, real pressure. There is no doubt about that. That is such a big loss. I was expecting – I guess in terms of 24-48 hours after to get some kind of information or news – but has been very, very quiet within. And it never stops either. Hearts away at the weekend is another huge match.”