Kieran Dowell knows Rangers stars can’t win fight with the fans as he urges Cerny and Co to follow Phil’s philosophy

Either they didn’t quite understand the memo or something was lost in translation.

But if someone has ordered Philippe Clement’s players to start doing their talking on the pitch then the chances are, they almost certainly didn’t mean it literally. On Sunday, during an increasingly restless second half against Hibs, new boy Vaclav Cerny was the latest to become embroiled in trading verbals with a techy home support after playing the ball backwards when they wanted him to go the other way.

Moments later the Czech was hooked by Clement and given some choice words from the boss before he made it on to the bench. But he’s not the only one to have nibbled on the bait during what has been a tumultuous – and often bad tempered – few months on Glasgow’s south side. Cyriel Dessers has been in danger of making a habit of biting back, skipper James Tavernier was targeted by an angry mob following a shellacking from Celtic and even as far back as last season the preposterous Fabio Silva flew off the handle when he ought to have been keeping his head down.

All of which points to a strained relationship between a group of pampered players who stand accused of consistently underachieving and a set of supporters whose patience is bubbling away at round about breaking point. In fact, if Clement’s men are serious about winning over hearts and minds then it’s probably better they stop running off at the mouth and start going for a few jugulars instead.

That’s certainly the lesson Kieran Dowell took away from Ibrox at the weekend as Rangers huffed and puffed their way to a fourth consecutive win, amidst a considerable amount of moaning and groaning from the stands.

Who knows? Cerny may have been speaking for the entire dressing room when he