Alarm bells ring at Rangers as Philippe Clement resorts to flimsy logic and stars turn in shoddy work – Keith Jackson

The memory of the late great Walter Smith will be respectfully honoured on Saturday morning outside Ibrox.

Later the same day the Rangers board will have to cross their fingers and hope it is not besmirched across the city at Hampden. The unveiling of a bronze statue will immortalise a true giant of a man. In his 10 full seasons in charge Smith collected nine titles, five Scottish Cups and six League Cups – an enormous haul and one which is likely to mark him down for the rest of time as the club’s greatest ever manager. By contrast, in the 13 years since he stepped down from the position Rangers have won just one of each.

The disparity in those numbers speaks volumes both for the genius of Smith’s work but also for the gross mismanagement which has followed in the subsequent years of almost unrelenting ineptitude. So while it’s a magnificent and fitting gesture for the current hierarchy to pay such a permanent tribute to the club’s single most significant servant, there is also an element of high risk in the timing of the big reveal.

Because the truth of the matter is Smith’s patience with these current day players would have been exhausted a long time ago. He most certainly would have had no wish to be associated with their pitiful record of failure and not so near misses. On the contrary, Smith was the embodiment of a champion and perhaps it might be a good idea for Philippe Clement to gather his players around the great man’s sculpture just to familiarise them with what a winner is supposed to look like.

And maybe even to remind them of their own responsibilities ahead of an end of season showpiece and a consolation crack at Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final. Of course, even a win at the national stadium will not make