Rangers situation is worse than when they were liquidated as they are cursed by emotional bankruptcy – Hugh Keevins

If Philippe Clement loses to Celtic on September 1, the question to be answered is whether he will still be Rangers’ manager come his first anniversary in the job on October 15. And not whether he sees out the lifetime of his recently-signed contract extension.

No manager remains in place in defiance of the fans wishes. And no club like Rangers flourishes at the same time as ignoring thousands of unoccupied seats at a game left empty by supporters as evidence of their alienation. Rangers’ situation is now, to my way of thinking, worse than it was when the club went into administration, then liquidation, in 2012.

This time they are cursed by emotional bankruptcy and not the financial kind. There was a revivalist air, and not the defeatist variety, when Rangers went bust 12 years ago. Club icons like John Brown stood outside Ibrox and uttered the immortal line “Youse buy the pies” – by way of a call to arms to supporters to stand by an organisation that had lost their way. And the battle for hearts and minds was exemplified by the foot soldier who looked into the TV camera, pointed to the building behind him and said: “The big hoose must stay open.”

Clement asked the fans to take the roof off their admittedly unwanted rented accomodation at Hampden when Rangers played Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League third-round qualifier last week. And the response the Belgian got from thousands of them was deliberate absenteeism. They refused to fulfil the stadium’s capacity because they have lost belief in those who govern the club. And the man who picks the team.

Michael Beale’s managerial time was up at Ibrox when his players attempted a misguided walk around the pitch following a home defeat to Aberdeen. They had to quicken their