Rangers 3-1 St Johnstone

Mark Atkinson reports from Ibrox.

Transcript

00:00Good evening from Ibrox. Mark Atkinson here for the Scotsman where it has

00:04finished Rangers 3 St. Johnston 1. The action on the pitch completely

00:10overshadowed by the event off it. Of course this game was played amid a

00:14backdrop of fan protests and a planned walkout and to be honest didn't really know

00:20where to look for much of this match whether it was what was going on on the

00:23pitch or in the stands off it. The Union Bears who of course are one of the most

00:28prominent fan groups here at Ibrox had called for them and their support

00:33fellow supporters to walk out in the 55th minute in protest against the

00:37running of this club and the tenure of manager Philbeak Clamont and that did

00:42actually happen on 55 minutes. They left with a few others in the stadium

00:46but I would also add the majority stayed. There was actually quite a lot of booing

00:50of the Union Bears actions. By this point Rangers were 3-1 up. In fact

00:55Rangers were 3-0 up after 26 minutes. Ironically one of their best opening

01:00half hours of the season I would say. They completely tore St. Johnston to

01:03shreds and scored goals through Hamza Igemani, Vaclav Cerny and Mohamed Diamande.

01:09Amid all of this we had banners from the Union Bears saying that the hierarchy

01:15had essentially fallen asleep at the wheel saying that their loyalty was being

01:19taken for granted. We had a few arguments, a few rammies

01:22between supporters in the main stand, some who were applauding Union Bears'

01:27point of view, others who were saying look support the team and we had a chant

01:32of sack the board and Glasgow Rangers were in the wrong hands. So it really all

01:36kicked off. I think Rangers players looked a bit stung by it all. They actually

01:40rose to the occasion and showed that they can indeed play really good

01:45football. You must remember that Rangers despite being 15 points off Celtic in

01:48the league have had some fantastic results and performances this season.

01:51It's the inconsistency of this team that really causes consternation for

01:57Rangers fans and of course the fact that Celtic are so far ahead of them. Once the

02:02walkout had taken place the game really settled into a sophorific event. It was

02:07it was pure fear. Rangers of course have so many injuries and when they

02:10changed their starting XI there was no real validity whilst St. Johnston who

02:14are now nine points adrift at the bottom of the table played like a team that

02:18looks destined for the championship. Manager Simo Balacarri needs to bring in a lot of new

02:23players one would say if they're to have any chance of staying up. The storyline

02:26though really is all about Rangers. They've won here by three goals to one

02:30but it's not a happy place Ibrox. It's a fractured stadium, a fractured

02:33environment for these players to play in and they're all back here on Wednesday

02:37night when Aberdeen who of course were nine points ahead of Rangers at one point

02:41this season come to try and reignite their battle for second place. You'd say

02:46if Rangers win that game they'd have got ten points clear in that position and would all but secure

02:50that berth. They're in no man's land a little bit Rangers. What they can do now

02:55is try and keep three good performances together and finish here at Ibrox. Rangers 3 St. Johnston 1.