Rangers must reboot the stalled engine

The predicted “bump in the road” forecast by Rangers manager Philippe Clement has given him and the team quite a jolt these past few days. Clement was keen a while back to stress that long undefeated runs, or stretches of successive victories, don’t last all season. He’s been proven correct. Not that the weekend humbling in the Highlands should be filed away under ‘one-offs’. The trend behind the latest disappointing result points to a more worrying dip in form at just the wrong time.

Recent results tell a worrying tale for Rangers’ title prospects. Coming to the crunch of the Premiership campaign, the Ibrox side seem to have run out of steam. In their last four Premiership matches, they’ve picked up just one win. Five precious points spilled at home to Motherwell and Celtic, a further three left behind in Dingwall to an inspired Ross County. Four points from their last available dozen simply won’t cut it at this, or any, stage of the season. Broadening things out a little doesn’t make for much better reading either. Rangers have won just twice in their last seven outings across all competitions.

Has the effort to reel in the seven-point Premiership deficit Clement inherited taken its toll, given the added burden of a successful League Cup campaign and a run to the Europa League last 16? Luckily for Clement and Co, Celtic’s form these past four months has been patchy. In 17 league matches since early December, Celtic have dropped 15 points. However, were it not for Rabbi Matondo’s fabulous stoppage-time equaliser at Ibrox, the champions would have had a perfect record in their last four outings.

The pendulum has swung back in Celtic’s favour but Rangers are still the masters of their own destiny. That only continues to be the case, of course, if no further points are spilled on the notorious Dens Park pitch. So much has been said about this fixture and that patch of grass already. If Rangers can’t find a way to win on it, their title tilt falls flat on its face in the mud. That bump in the road could very quickly turn into a car crash unless Clement can steer his side back to winning ways.