Rangers reach new nadir amid banners, unrest and Thelwell-Stewart sniping in front of worried parent

“Make Rangers Great Again The 49ers….!!” one such sheet in the Sandy Jardine Stand almost pleaded next to pictures of Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart, sporting director and chief executive respectively, with their heads superimposed on sniper targets. It was clearly an organised display with the same menacing images on display in the Copland Stand as Rangers slipped to a record seventh successive European defeat.

The details of the game seem almost peripheral given the continued unrest. The banners were eventually pulled down but not before loud chanting from fans telling Thelwell and Stewart exactly what they thought of them, as if they didn’t already know.

Two first-half goals from Matias Soule and Lorenzo Pelegrini saw AS Roma expunge the memory of their last competitive match in Scotland, which was a 2-0 defeat to Dundee United in a European Cup semi-final first leg.

They turned it around in the second leg amid a frenzied atmosphere in Rome, where banners threatened manager Jim McLean and warned “Dundee” that wolves were still hungry. Almost knockabout stuff compared to some of the vitriol directed at members of their own club’s hierarchy by Ibrox fans as Rangers remain rooted to the bottom of the 36-team Europa League group.

Indeed, it was all over after 36 minutes, by which time the visitors were 2-0 ahead. The two goalscorers were taken off after 65 minutes, job done. There weren’t even any bookings in the entire game, which says it all.

Tough watch for Cavenagh

“The change in mentality throughout everyone in the squad in recent weeks has been evident…” claimed James Tavernier in his programme column. It’s a line he has written before. Several times in fact.

Whether Danny Rohl is the real deal and this latest change in mentality is going to result in tangible evidence in the form of consistent results remains to be seen. Opposition sitting near the top of Serie A are hardly the gauge. Not surprisingly, Roma proved too hot for Rangers to handle.

Like an anxious parent hanging around school while a child is struggling to settle, Andrew Cavenagh was present at another Rangers game. He is chairman of course. However, the United-States based businessman surely didn’t foresee having to attend as many games as he is at present. The Union Bears treated him to an impressive Gladiator-themed tifo which, to Cavenagh’s deep relief no doubt, can’t have offended too many sensibilities except those with an aversion to cultural cliché.

The Union Bears went slightly more political midway through the first half with a banner criticising what they perceive as the government’s efforts to introduce Big Brother manoeuvres: “No to digital ID. No to Police State Britain. Stop control.”

Ironically, additional security measures are exactly what Rangers needed, principally around Jack Butland’s goal, although Rohl sprang a surprise with what looked like a 3-4-3 formation at the start. The German, who spent time talking to the Union Bears before kick-off, took the do-or-die, Gladiator themed context of the pre-match supporter activities to the extreme.

Rangers settled into a more familiar defensive set-up before long but by then it was too late. It was breathtakingly easy for Roma to go ahead after 13 minutes. A corner from Pellegrini, a flick on from Bryan Cristante and then a tap-in for Soule at the far post. The lead was doubled nine minutes before the interval. Artem Dovbyk got the wrong side of John Souttar when gathering a cross far too easily before laying off for Pelegrini, who picked his spot and side-footed past Butland.

Soule curled a shot just past the post shortly before half time with Djeidi Gassama lying in a heap at the other end and Rangers fans screaming for a penalty. It didn’t improve their mood.

Not many had come to praise Youssef Chermiti, let’s face it, but the struggling No 9 put a shift in. He has become the symbol of Thelwell’s highly questionable recruitment drive. It was a huge surprise the striker was picked to start another big game having been the subject of criticism against Celtic on Sunday, when he missed two good chances.

He drove one shot past the post early on and looked determined to prove himself. Sadly, it just didn’t happen for him once again. He was replaced by Bojan Miovski after 72 minutes having just shot into the side-netting with Gassama screaming for the ball in the middle.

He left the pitch right in front of the Union Bears and was applauded as he made his way round to the dugout, which was good to hear. The 21-year-old is far from the only problem as Rangers reached a new nadir in their near 80-year European history.