Rangers recruits told brutal reality of life at Ibrox as experienced star gives them 'uncomfortable' warning
Ragged Rangers were left in no doubt about the furious feelings of their fans as they trudged sheepishly over to the Chadwick Stand after another awful day on the Ayrshire astro.
The reaction to Sunday’s calamity at Killie was a first glimpse for some of Philippe Clement’s new recruits at just how hot tempers can run when things go wrong at Ibrox. Summer signings like Jefte, Robin Propper, Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny had been given a small snapshot after last month’s Old Firm defeat but then that involved just a couple of dozen seething supporters.
There were around 35000 at Hampden when they crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers by Dynamo Kyiv — but the ire that day was aimed at Italian ref Marco Guida after his controversial Jefte dismissal. But it was the players who took it in the neck at the weekend, with the thousands packing the away end telling their team where to go as the final whistle blew on a result which leaves Gers six points adrift of Premiership pacesetters Aberdeen and Celtic just EIGHT games into the season.
Those scenes of raw anger may have shocked some of Clement’s new faces. But old stager Leon Balogun insists it should not have come as any surprise given the nine players who joined up ahead of the new campaign were well warned what they were signing up for.
"For me personally, and I can only speak for myself, I've been in many situations, worse situations than that, a lot worse,” he said. "And you have to understand them. You have to understand what this club stands for, the history of the club. If you sign for this club, you have to know that there's a lot of expectation.
"And if you don't live up to that expectation, there might be really uncomfortable moments. You won't always