HOMELESS SPINELESS CLUELESS

Phils taking Gers n he wrong direction

- KEITH JACKSON

JAMES TAVERNIER will be "disappointed". Isn't he always? Philippe Clement will point to a job half done in terms of a long-term rebuild which will have to be carried out in instalments.

And maybe both of them will cling to the delusion there was only three goals of a difference between their own team and that of the champions from across town yesterday.

But they'd be kidding themselves from the truth of the matter. And Rangers have been guilty of doing that for so long now that these derby days are causing their own supporters all manner of distress, anxiety and seemingly endless embarrassment.

No, the truth-as unpalatable as it may be for them to swallow - is that these fans are now on the point of throwing in the towel, in the same way that captain Tavernier did yesterday while his team was being taken apart by the neighbours.

Celtic's 3-0 win could easily have been doubled. It could have been four or five before the half-time whistle let Clement's players escape from the beating being inflicted on them.

And that's precisely why serious questions have to be asked about the direction Clement is taking this team before any more trust can be afforded to the Belgian.

From the outside looking in.

Rangers appear to be regressing at quite a staggering rate and the gulf between his side and that of Brendan Rodgers looks set to widen into a chasm over the coming months.

There may be only five points separating the two of them at the top of the table after four league games. And yes, the season is only one month old.

But only the most optimistic Rangers fan will not concede already that yet another league title is already disappearing out of sight. And optimism is thin on the ground these days.

It was bad enough that they found themselves locked out of their own ground before the campaign had even begun.