There wasn’t much of a warm welcome for Philippe Clement and his Rangers team as they headed back to Ibrox after Sunday’s Parkhead pasting. But Jack Butland hopes the prospect of returning to some home comforts will help lift his stunned squad from their Old Firm daze.
There were unpleasant scenes in the hours after Gers’ latest derby dismantling as a crowd of furious punters gathered at the Edmiston Drive doorstep to let rip at Clement and the beleaguered Belgian’s tormented team. The manager got it tight, skipper James Tavernier too. The fans have clearly had enough of the repeated lessons their side has suffered at the hands of Brendan Rodgers’ champions. But Ibrox No1 Butland wants the Ibrox faithful to know that the players feel the same pain.
Sunday’s defeat follows a grim summer in which the club struggled to raise funds for new recruits and were forced to decamp to Hampden after a construction cock-up on the Copland Road end. With the delayed steel shipment finally in place, the team are now heading back to their Govan base having penciled in their Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Dundee on September 21 for their Ibrox return. And Butland hopes that can provide a chink of light amid the bleak Ibrox gloom.
The keeper said: “It's not difficult to pick yourself up. Sunday’s result hurts. It's not what we want. It's not what we believe our club's about. But you have the beauty of being able to hopefully go back to Ibrox again soon, being back with the fans, and hopefully kicking on and putting this behind us.
“We’ve got some great fixtures, some great European sides to look forward to. The league is still our main focus, so we've got some work to do. While there were good signs on Sunday, we need to be
Sporting
Rangers
show
wellness
UPS
gatherings
Ball
Jack Butland