Philippe Clement found himself in the firing line of furious Rangers fans as he and his squad returned to Ibrox following their chastening derby defeat to Celtic.
Despite a promising start to the match, Rangers were once again easily brushed aside by their old rivals, who seem to be pulling away in the title race, even though the season is only four games in.
The summer rebuild overseen by Clement appears far from complete, and with his side now trailing Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic by five points, the pressure is mounting.
Clement’s failure to secure a victory against Celtic continues to frustrate the Rangers faithful, who were demanding answers as the team bus arrived at the still-under-repair Ibrox.
Leon Balogun had already stepped off the bus to confront the irate supporters, listening to their concerns and complaints. But when Clement emerged, the anger only intensified.
Facing boos and questions shouted from the gathered crowd, Clement tried to offer some context in his post-match remarks, pointing to the small difference in age between the two starting XIs and highlighting Celtic’s greater spending power. However, this did little to placate the enraged fans.
One particularly aggrieved supporter shouted, “Three million on a building and there’s [inaudible] to buy f players!” The outburst was followed by a chorus of boos from the crowd, reflecting the widespread discontent.
Attempting to diffuse the situation, Clement cited some statistics from the game, saying: “We had four shots on target, they had four shots on target.”
But this effort to rationalise the defeat was drowned out by more angry shouting, with some fans even turning on each other, further escalating the tension.
As the situation became increasingly volatile, Clement, accompanied by club security, made his way inside, leaving the fans outside to vent their frustration.