Clement can save himself from the sack by unleashing Rangers’ very own Kuhn

Just when Rangers supporters thought this season could not get any more miserable, it did.

On Sunday, Philippe Clement’s Gers side were astonishingly dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Championship side Queen’s Park, a result that Adam Binnie of BBC Sport described as “one of the biggest upsets” in the competition’s 152-year history.

The Spiders’ scored with their only shot of the afternoon before Rangers were awarded a very soft penalty in the dying seconds of stoppage time, but James Tavernier’s spot-kick was saved by Calum Ferrie, sparking outraged and mutinous boos all around Ibrox from those who remained to vent their frustrations.

This is Queen’s Park’s first Scottish Cup victory over Rangers since ’82, 1882 that is, is also the Gers’ first Scottish Cup defeat against lower league opposition since being dumped out by Berwick Rangers in 1967 while, remarkably, it’s the first time in history they have been defeated by a side from a lower division in this tournament.

Following such an ignominious cup exit, Clement is fighting to keep his job, making Sunday’s trip to Tynecastle so crucial.

Rangers’ continued struggles this season

As noted by Ewan Murray of the Guardian, Clement “was already under pressure” prior to Sunday’s result, but he asserts that defeat to Queen’s Park “is likely to prove fatal in terms of his reputation with ­supporters”.

This season’s Scottish Premiership title race was over before it ever began, with Rangers 13 points adrift run-away league-leaders Celtic, staring down the barrel of a sixth trophyless season out of the last nine, having also been beaten by their fiercest rivals on penalties in December’s League Cup Final.

This gap is due to the Light Blues’ horrendous away form, winning only four of 12 Premiership away games so far, scoring just 16 goals in these matches, the same number as Dundee United and one fewer than Hearts, yielding fewer points than the Tangerines on their travels.