Philippe Clement cut a frustrated figure after Rangers squandered a golden opportunity to claw their way back into the title race.
With Celtic and Aberdeen playing out a 2-2 draw on Saturday, the door was wide open for Rangers to reduce the gap at the top of the Premiership to just three points.
However, instead of capitalising, Clement’s men stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock, leaving them six points adrift of the early pacesetters, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic and Jimmy Thelin’s unbeaten Aberdeen.
On a windy afternoon at Rugby Park, Marley Watkins made the decisive impact, latching onto a bouncing ball late on to seal a deserved win for Derek McInnes’ well-drilled Killie side.
Rangers were second-best in many key areas, and Clement admitted he had no excuses for his team’s performance.
“I don’t want excuses about pitches, wind, whatever,” Clement said.
“We need to focus on ourselves, on the team, on the players, on the new players coming in, to get them at their best level, and on the players who were here, to get to their best level also, and to play better than we did today.
“We got the game that you expect, and all respect to Kilmarnock in that way. That’s also why they’ve only been beaten by Celtic and us in almost the last year. But there’s no excuse—we knew the conditions we’d face here.”
Clement was particularly unhappy with his side’s first-half display.
“We didn’t create enough chances, and we gave away too many situations in the duels. We weren’t good enough on the long balls, whether it was the first or second ball. It was much better in the second half, but that makes it even more disappointing.
“When you take control of the game, which we did in the second half—we had 70 per cent possession, hit the crossbar, won several corners, and had shots blocked—you need to kill the game off. But then to concede like that is really frustrating.
“It was one blind ball behind the defence into no man’s land, and our defensive line wasn’t good in that moment. These are things we need to work on with the new players coming in.”
Kilmarnock’s winner came with just three minutes left on the clock. David Watson’s clever hooked pass found Watkins, who prodded the ball past Jack Butland to secure a late victory. Rangers had no time to muster a response, and their fans made their feelings clear at full-time.
The travelling support unveiled a banner reading: “The mismanagement of Rangers stops and stops now,” and there were further scenes of discontent as players approached the away end at the final whistle. Captain James Tavernier and his teammates were met with boos and frustration from supporters.
Clement addressed the supporters’ reaction, saying: “It’s normal that they’re unhappy. There’s not one person among the staff or players who was happy after this game.
“The players showed respect towards the fans, and the fans expressed what they felt about the result, which is normal. The solution is to get the results right on the pitch—then the fans will be behind us again.”
Despite the setback, Clement insisted the title race is far from over.
“We have 30 games to go. It’s disappointing to lose points, but we have to focus on winning games.
“Our frustration is that we couldn’t build on the progress the players made in the last couple of weeks—keeping clean sheets, creating chances, and being decisive. We need to look at ourselves and make improvements.”
With the title race heating up, Rangers will need to bounce back quickly if they are to stay in the fight.