If 49ers chief Paraag Marathe tuned in to Ibrox in the hope of seeing a big hitting performance then he wouldn’t have been disappointed.
Unfortunately for the NFL boss who is front and centre of a pack hoping to take control of Rangers in the coming months the power play was dressed in black and white. The stars were in stripes. The side Marathe hopes to buy along with his US consortium was brushed aside with ease by a St Mirren outfit who were stronger, hungrier and across the board better.
They like to talk about sacks in American Football. It’s a form of tackle apparently. It was also the word on every Gers fan’s lips last night as Philippe Clement finally paid the price for a calamitous season 24 hours after his side were bullied in their own back yard by the Buddies.
From the moment the excellent Killian Phillips crunched into Ianis Hagi right in front of the home dug out midway through the first half the script was clear. Saints defender Marcus Fraser’s zealous applause of the tackle right in the Gers winger’s face epitomised a St Mirren side that were pumped up to do maximum damage to Clement’s team. And for the second time in under two months after they suffered a Boxing Day battering in Paisley.
This was Saints’ first win at Ibrox in 34 years. Not one of Stephen Robinson’s players were even born when that last occurred in November 1991. It’s the first time they have won back-to-back games against Rangers in 45 years.
And nobody would deny they thoroughly deserved their historic moment. Nothing summed up the mood among the Rangers fans better than the sound of them booing fourth official Duncan Williams when he held up the board to show a whopping nine minutes were to be added on to the 90.
Normally that would have been met with a resounding roar from punters willing to g their side on to snatch a late result But the Ibrox faithful have long lost any belief in this side being able to fight back. Especially against a side as determined as Robinson’s. They were rock solid at the back and won the midfield battle where the physicality of Phillips and Mark O’Hara was too much for Nico Raskin and Mohamed Diomande.
Up front the powerful double act of Mikael Mandron and Jonah Ayunga led Saints’ line brilliantly and rag dolled the home defence all afternoon Poor Clinton Nsiala will have nightmares about his part in both goals. After being sat down on his backside all too easily by Mandron for the first goal after 51 minutes the summer signing from AC Milan was then bumped off the ball by Toyosi Olusanya as the Buddies doubled their lead after 70 minutes.
And that was that for the beleaguered home fans as thousands streamed for the exit with 20 minutes plus the extended injury time still to run. Those who stayed behind did so simply to vent on Clement and his players. Again. Yet two hours earlier there had been a whiff of positivity in the air around Govan. A week where Record Sport broke the news that Marathe and his consortium are well down the road with a takeover bid had energised supporters.
To further fuel their excitement Celtic for once delivered a beacon of hope by losing the afternoon kick off at Hibs. The door was open to cutting the gap at the top to 10 points Yet just eight minutes in it was clear Rangers were not in the mood to grab any opportunity.
A woeful clearance from Jack Butland landed right at the feet of Ayunga 18 yards out and the keeper had to dig himself out of the hole with a smart save to deny the Kenya international. That set the tone for a first half where Saints constantly pounced on Rangers’ sloppiness.
The home side could have been ahead at the break but Vaclav Cerny, Robin Propper and Cyriel Dessers were all off target or denied by Zach Hemming. Rangers supporters, still reeling from their Scottish Cup humiliation against Queen’s Park on their last outing at Ibrox, grew anxious as they sensed another kick in the guts.
The nerves fed into Clement’s players too. It looked to have got a whole lot worse just a couple of minutes from the break when Hamza Igamane was shown a straight red for a rash lunge on Mark O’Hara. VAR was on their side though as Grant Irvine had a word in Kevin Clancy’s ear and the ref downgraded his decision to a yellow. It was a let off. But not for long as they fell behind on 51 minutes.
Mandron outmuscled Nsiala on the edge of the Gers’ box before rifling a shot low past Butland. Again VAR got involved after Clancy initially disallowed the goal. But the video only confirmed that the Gers youngster had tripped himself. Suddenly the all too familiar toxicity in the Ibrox stands was back.
And it cranked up another level as Saints doubled their lead on 70 minutes. Sub Olusanya gave Nsiala a nudge as they chased down a bouncing ball on the edge of the box and, with the defender floundering, Olusanya powered into the box and produced a clinical finish for his 12th goal of the season.
It was a gift that summed up Rangers’ afternoon as Clement stormed down the tunnel with the boos of those fans who had stayed to the end ringing in his ears for one final time.