Who’s going to sack Philippe Clement when Rangers have NO chief executive, NO permanent chairman and NO director of football? Asks JOHN McGARRY

It didn’t take the publication of the latest set of financial figures this week to realise there are many more problems facing Rangers than just the identity of the man in the dug-out.

The club still spend too much money on wages. They don’t wheel and deal effectively in the transfer market. They remain too dependent on the goodwill of investors.

But. while a balance sheet showing another alarming loss of £17.2million does illustrate the parameters Philippe Clement has been working under, it would be patently absurd to suggest the manager should be given a free pass as a result.

Whatever challenges the Belgian has faced as he tries to reduce a wage bill while putting a successful team on the park, a league table showing his side trailing both Celtic and Aberdeen by nine points at this stage of the season is entirely unacceptable.

Clement can plead for patience and point to a brighter future until the cows come home.

When the current situation is so bleak and so devoid of signs of positivity, though, that’s an extremely tough sell.

The Belgian pleads for answers from his team during the 2-1 loss

Clement has struggled this season while opposite number Thelin has soared at Aberdeen

For most Rangers supporters, he is not the man who will solve this deepening problem. In fact, he’s an integral part of why it’s happening.

The Ibrox hierarchy have talked about the need for loyalty and patience, and the futility of continually sacking managers. In a general sense, they have a point.

But is Clement still in the job because they genuinely believe in him or because they can’t afford to sack him? Increasingly the evidence points to the latter being the case.

Two years ago, fresh off taking the team to a European final and winning the Scottish Cup, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was shown the door for falling nine points off the pace.

This time last year, Michael Beale was invited to clear his desk after going seven points behind.

In both cases, the trigger was pulled because Celtic were in danger of slipping out of view.

For Clement to be sitting nine points adrift of the champions would be bad enough. The fact Aberdeen are also ahead of his side by that margin reflects horrendously on him.

He might actually be surviving right now partly because the club has become so dysfunctional. There remains no chief executive, no permanent chairman and no director of football operations.

If there is a sacking to be carried out, no-one is quite sure who would do the deed. It’s a bin fire.

Nothing sums up Rangers’ muddled thinking more than the club’s decision to give Clement an improved and extended contract through to 2028 at the outset of this season.

After a promising start to his tenure, he’d blown the league from a promising position and missed out on the Scottish Cup.

Rewarding failure when there was absolutely no need to do anything was a truly extraordinary step by then chairman John Bennett.

A home defeat to Motherwell in March ended an 11-game winning run and sparked a dismal end to the campaign which saw just six wins in 15 matches.

Notwithstanding significant personnel changes this summer, Clement has presided over just 10 wins from 17 games.

His team have gone out of the Champions League to Dynamo Kyiv, drawn with Hearts, and now lost to Celtic, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen. Clement has had five cracks at winning an Old Firm game and has yet to pull it off. If that’s progress, you’d hate to see his team going backwards.

‘There’s still been money spent (on the team),’ said former Ibrox striker Kris Boyd. ‘There is no way this can continue. Someone needs to get a grip. If there were signs of progress, you could cut him some slack.’

Clement’s recent struggles reached a crescendo against Aberdeen at Pittodrie

The Rangers manager has words with referee John Beaton and his team at full time

Clement and his players applauded visiting fans but got an angry reception

Wednesday at Pittodrie encapsulated where Clement’s team are at this moment. Second best throughout the first half, they could easily have been three goals down. After Nicky Devlin’s opener, Graeme Shinnie hit the inside of the post and Jamie McGrath missed a penalty.

The introduction of Dujon Sterling at the break made an appreciable difference to the visitors. Quite why the Englishman wasn’t on from the start was just one of many mysteries of the night.

Having equalised through Nedim Bajrami, Rangers briefly looked like they would get the job done. But this side are mentally weak.

They were reeling from the moment Ante Palaversa warmed Jack Butland’s gloves and were all at sea as Shayden Morris struck to condemn them to another defeat a few moments later.

Why are they repeatedly incapable of capitalising when they are on top in matches?.

‘That’s a really good question,’ said Cyriel Dessers after Wednesday’s loss.

‘We found control in the second half and, at that time, we had some small chances. At that point we missed a little bit in terms of creating the big chances to finish it off.

‘I haven’t seen their second goal yet, but it looks like we were a little bit unlucky there, and they were very sharp at the second post again.

‘It’s painful that we gave away the control there again, and then it was going to be tough in the last 15 minutes.’

A team can be unlucky in a certain moment or across one game, but no-one in their right mind would contend that Rangers are only lacking a kind bounce right now.

They have scored just twice in five away matches in the Premiership. Celtic have hit the net 16 times on the road.

At the other end of the park, a defence that looked to be evolving a couple of month ago is all over the place. It hasn’t kept a clean sheet in its past three domestic outings.

One year on, the pattern of play under Clement remains hard to define. His team only turn up for spells of matches. His insistence after almost every match that they deserved more for their efforts is becoming tiresome.

Clement still looked dejected as he sat on the Rangers team bus after the Dons defeat

Good teams win football matches when not playing particularly well. Clement’s side don’t win often enough because they don’t have the quality to ride their luck.

Sunday’s League Cup semi-final against Motherwell feels curious. In the eyes of so many supporters, the manager has long since gone past the point of no return.

Reaching a cup final and giving themselves a chance of successfully defending the trophy would certainly be an achievement, but you’d still question its significance for the embattled Belgian in the wider scheme of things.

‘It was already huge, I think,’ added Dessers. ‘A chance to go to a final, hopefully our third cup final in a row, that would be massive.

‘But, with the result against Aberdeen, obviously it will become even bigger to give our fans something back. But we fully realise that, and we will be ready.’