From top to bottom there is a lack of accountability at Rangers

Rangers have been terrible this season, absolutely terrible. It was capped off by the humiliating defeat at the weekend, which handed Celtic the league title and ultimately led to Graeme Murty’s sacking, which frankly was about two months too late.

He said before the tanking at Parkhead: “I am just a guy who stands at the side of the park.” He probably should have been sacked for that comment alone. However, it’s that kind of attitude that has been running through our club for far too long. It’s been all too easy for the board, players and managers to pass the buck to each other in our two years back in the top flight. Until there is some accountability and people willing to accept things have gone wrong at all levels of the club, we will continue to go round and round this spiral of failure.

READ MORE: Gerrard says to resume Rangers manager talks this week

READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: HUGE Mohamed Salah swap, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid

In addition to those pre-match comments, I felt the no-show in front of the media was unbecoming of a Ranger. I felt someone had to come out after the match and explain what went wrong instead of shirking the responsibility and trying to forget that it happened. That’s an attitude that is completely spineless. Unfortunately, that was Murty’s attitude all over. It was one of a spineless, leaderless nature which would filter down to the players on the park; whether they like it or not it reflects on those in the boardroom as well. They should be demanding that someone from the club fronts up and speaks up, instead of hiding away. It’s unacceptable on every level.

However, the lack of responsibility taken for poor performance and results has been a long-term problem. In terms of the football department, the players have gotten away with it since Mark Warburton was in charge. His “we will learn from it and move on” statement was just that – a statement. His team, like the current one, shirked responsibility and lived in their own bubble.

READ MORE: Steven Gerrard to Rangers: Gordon Smith issues big Celtic warning to Liverpool coach

READ MORE: Exclusive: How Chelsea must pay Antonio Conte a staggering fee to remove him this summer

The same happened with Caixinha. It was a stupid appointment by the board; no one knows what they were thinking. The players underperformed; he got sacked. Neither side took any kind of blame. The board just washed their hands of it and the players seemed universally delighted he was gone.

It’s no surprise we are where we are right now. Primarily, it’s down to the board failing to land a proper manager and panicking which lead them to give the job to someone who was worse than Caixinha. The players looked to have chucked it under Murty, just like they did under Warburton and Caixinha, and now we are onto Jimmy Nicholl and JJ. They will take the last three games as we hope to nick second spot.

READ MORE: Champions League final not me versus Ronaldo, claims Salah

READ MORE: Lampard says he’s ready for management

If we are to move forward as a football club and get back to being relevant where trophies are concerned, the board need to be accountable for their past mistakes regarding the hiring of managers; the players need to either pick up a winning mentality under the new manager or leave. It’s as simple as that.

We have sleepwalked from one disaster to another with the board, with regards to their football decisions. They have to man up and accept when they have got things wrong. If they did that, fans would not be so angry. Hiding away for two days after a defeat like Sunday’s helped no one. The collective attempt and hide and forget has been embarrassing.

I just hope when the new manager comes in, the mentality of the club changes. It has to or we will be left trailing further behind. From to bottom, we lack leadership at Ibrox – from the boardroom to the pitch – and it’s time someone had the gonads to stand up and attempt to change the way this club is heading. At this point in time, the performance of the whole club should be a lot better than what we are witnessing.

The board now have to hope that this managerial appointment comes off; if it does they will win back the hearts of a lot of the disillusioned fan base. If it doesn’t they will finally have to admit defeat.