Union Bears escalate Rangers board protests as ultras cry 'club's in the wrong hands'

There weren't many fans left at full-time as Rangers were booed off the park on Saturday.

But those who did stick around until Philippe Clement's flops headed down the tunnel would have heard the Union Bears' latest protest against the Ibrox board. The 1-1 draw at home to Dundee United saw Gers fall even further behind league leaders Celtic, who are now 11 points clear of their Old Firm rivals. It was a missed opportunity too, as the Dons suffered their first Premiership defeat of the season at St Mirren. It means Rangers are still cut adrift in third place, piling intense pressure on under-fire boss Clement.

As we enter the most hectic period in the fixture calendar, Clement's fate could be decided by the time new CEO Patrick Stewart takes the reigns on December 16. Should Rangers lose further ground on Celtic and Aberdeen, suffer heavy defeats to Nice and Spurs and fail to beat Celts in next month's Premier Sports Cup Final at Hampden, the Belgian's time in Govan could well be up.

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However, while ex-Manchester United supremo Stewart at least arrives in the boardroom with some pedigree, it appears the Union Bears won't rest until there's a complete clearout. The ultras group are at loggerheads with Gers decision-makers after years of failure which has resulted in a season where Celtic could surpass the club's proud trophy haul and equal their Scottish top-flight record of 55 titles.

The influential fan group have already unfurled banner blasts at the Parks and interim chairman John Gilligan and they made their feelings abundantly clear on Saturday as their crestfallen players conducted a customary lap of honour around Ibrox. In a video posted on social media, the Union Bears can be heard chanting: "You don’t care about football. You don’t care about fans. Rangers Football Club. Is in the wrong hands."

The damning chant comes on the week it was reported that Tory peer and parliamentarian Offord Malcolm Offord was poised to replace John Bennett as the club's new chairman.