It's been another underwhelming, unconvincing week for Rangers manager Philippe Clement. Another week of bad calls, perplexing comments and plain old excuses. Going down 4-1 at home to Lyon in the Europa League didn't help, of course, but it's not really the issue. Given the gap in terms of resources between the sides, defeat was always the expected outcome.
Mind you, the Belgian hammering on and on and on about the money the French have had to spend is boring. He might like to ditch that as the likes of Manchester United and Spurs appear over the horizon.
Everyone who knows anything about football is aware of the ever-widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots in what looks more and more, as the seasons pass, like a rigged game. Punters forking out for tickets to watch these matches don't want to hear about it, though.
They want encouragement to dream. And if that doesn't cut the mustard, they just want to see their team dig in and do their best to make a game of it rather than have a bucket of cold water poured all over their big night out before it's even kicked off.
Remember what happened to poor old Giovanni van Bronckhorst after he emerged following a 7-1 tonking at home from Liverpool and committed the ultimate 'faux pas' of telling supporters who had paid £180 for a three-game package that there was no way his side could even be expected to compete at that level.
Rangers fans are growing tired of manager Philippe Clement's excuses for poor results
Rangers suffered another poor result in Europe on Thursday night, going down 4-1 to Lyon
Had he not inherited a shambles from Michael Beale (pictured), some results last season could have meant the end for him at the club
Bearing that in mind, Clement ought to be careful about obsessing over meetings between clubs with budgets 'in a different world', as he puts it, lest the Ibrox fanbase snap out of their self-protective apathy and start reflecting on how losing to Motherwell and Ross County and drawing at Dundee sent last term's hopes of winning the title down the plughole.
Were it not for the fact Clement inherited a shambles from the best-forgotten Michael Beale, those results last term would have been a sacking offence.
His lasting problem from those dreadful performances, though, is that they also blew a hole in the perception he was a safe pair of hands at the wheel - calm, sensible, possessing a clear vision of where Rangers had to go. It is a spell from which he has never recovered.
Of all the paper-thin excuses trotted out back then, the daftest was arguably Clement's assertion that his side could have beaten Motherwell 6-1 on the afternoon it all started to unravel.
For starters, the Fir Park side actually scored twice – two *real*, actual goals - in winning 2-1 at Ibrox. Those of us at the game will also recall Theo Bair being clean through and lashing the ball into the side netting.
Clement's view of proceedings just felt detached from reality and, unfortunately, appearing detached from reality has become a running theme since.
It reached a head after the last Old Firm game, a predictable three-goal towsing at Parkhead. Rangers were awful. Yet, Clement chose to focus on nonsense about shots at goal and passing up two early chances – both of which looked offside.
He's reached the stage where a percentage of fans have simply stopped listening – and the events of the past week are hardly going to win them back round. Look at the carry-on last Sunday after a too-close-for-comfort 1-0 home win over Hibs.
A percentage of fans have stopped listening and Clement faces a challenge to win them back
Captain James Tavernier was substituted after an hour of the Europa League defeat by Lyon
The big man's up there in the Press Room looking like John Cleese performing Monty Python's 'Ministry of Silly Walks' sketch, telling the world that the visitors should never have had a penalty.
What on earth was he on about? It was a stonewaller. You can't lift your arm the way John Souttar did to block Mykola Kukharevych's shot and get away with it.
On top of that, the midweek U-turn over Ianis Hagi is just the latest in a long list of confusing episodes. It is unfathomable that a bloke who made four appearances for Romania in the Euros - and that the club were looking to sell - was left to rot in the B-squad because another first-team outing would have triggered a wage rise.
Asked before that Old Firm pasting whether there was any way back for Hagi, though, Clement was clear. Contractual issues weren't mentioned. Hagi had been told months earlier he couldn't play as a No 10 with the arrival of Nedim Bajrami only reinforcing that position.
You can't say that and then react to him renegotiating his terms by bringing him into first-team training and insisting he is 'like a new signing'. Yes, a new signing you have already stated is not good enough. And who is now just three months away from being able to agree a pre-contract to walk away for zilch – something that was supposed to stop under your watch.
The thing is, it is not even the mixed messaging and wild appraisals of certain matches that is going to do for Clement first. It is his team selections and loyalty to certain players. Unless he starts seeing what his supporters have been aware of for months.
Captain James Tavernier's time at the club is over. He should have left in summer.
He gets ripped apart almost every time he faces Daizen Maeda and Celtic now. His second-half removal from the Lyon game for Neraysho Kasanwirjo was long overdue and that moment has to be a tipping point for a guy weeks away from turning 33.
Tavernier's time at the club is over - there has to be a tipping point and he should have left in the summer
Kasanwirjo, of course, is a ready-made replacement, but what of Dujon Sterling? He was signed as a right back. On handing him a new long-term deal, Clement spoke of how he would benefit from a more regular run in the team.
Well, here's your chance with a 24-year-old, now on increased wages, that you are trying to develop into a sellable asset.
Vaclav Cerny is a problem too. Missing that early sitter against Lyon might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for the Czech winger. However, it is not the main issue.
He made a fatal error when telling supporters where to go during the Hibs game and has been a huge disappointment since arriving from Wolfsburg on a year-long agreement. His pea-hearted display in the loss at Celtic Park rang early alarm bells and the very idea of him snapping at punters suggests he doesn't have a handle on what he's in amongst here.
Being referred to, in some quarters, as this year's Fabio Silva isn't a good sign. It is a sign, in fact, that it might be better to jettison him in January and free up cash for someone who might make a difference in the final third. Like a striker. To replace Cyriel Dessers.
That Clement used his budget last January to bring in Silva – a forward who stated he didn't stress much over goals – was crazy when he needed a poacher.
Sure, Dessers scores goals. Largely against those teams with lesser budgets. But he's been a flop against Celtic and does not inspire trust. It is madness that, thanks to Danilo's continued injury problems, Dessers remains the focal point of the attack with Hamza Igamane, a £1.5million signing with no pedigree, his sole competition.
There are still months to go until the window opens, but Clement must try to source a proper, dependable option at No 9 for the second half of the season.
In the meantime, the 50-year-old must show he is willing to change things up. Sunday's visit of a chaotic St Johnstone is an easy environment in which to bed people in and try out something new.
Otherwise, a support short on patience will be looking for something new in the dugout. And as Cerny and Tavernier will surely discover, when the fans have made their minds up about you in this old business, it's curtains.
Winger Vaclav Cerny has failed to impress at Rangers after joining on loan from Wolfsburg
Celtic's Dortmund: Why is Rodgers back here?
Brendan Rodgers insists his European campaign will not be judged until the end of January and he is right, to a degree.
No matter the fall-out from that 7-1 hammering in Dortmund – the latest humiliation in a most impressive recent collection of full-scale implosions – Celtic still have a solid chance of making it through this 36-team group stage of the Champions League.
We have heard plenty about the influence of money and resources this week, so beating Dinamo Zagreb and Young Boys of Bern should be straightforward enough. Home games against Club Brugge and RB Leipzig also offer opportunities for points.
Don't be mistaken, seeing Rodgers under the cosh this week has been instructive and amusing – particularly a week after poking fun at his own critics in the aftermath of a six-goal cruise at St Johnstone.
He's made it clear he's going to go down doing things his own way. He isn't going to change his style. He isn't buying into the 'pragmatism' he says he keeps hearing about – even though, in the same breath, he says he doesn't pay any attention to the opinions of those who think that losing seven goals at a time in Europe on a regular basis might suggest it's time for a more perspicacious approach.
However, questions remain over what is going to happen if Brodge carries on going toe-to-toe with anyone and everyone should Celtic make the top 24 and qualify for the play-offs next February.
Yes, it will be an achievement, but, on all available evidence and the Brodge's refusal to change tack, they'll suffer another absolute thrashing and that will be that.
Is that acceptable for major shareholder Dermot Desmond and his board? Was all that stuff about Rodgers being back to make an impression in Europe just hot air?
Questions, questions. There have been loads of them this week.
Yet, watching Rodgers, a coach of English Premier League pedigree, effectively accept that he can only take Celtic so far raises perhaps the biggest question of all, the one hanging heavily in the air since the moment he signed on at Parkhead for a second time.
Why exactly did he come back here?
Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile insists he is not going to change Celtic's style of play
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke plans to stay on until 2026 despite an poor recent run
Clarke's Scotland stuck on the road to nowhere
God save us. Another international break, another bout of listening to Steve Clarke as he counts down the days until his contract ends in 2026 and, most probably, another couple of losses to comb over.
The Scotland boss says he deserves another year-and-a-half of steady dough and the SFA seem to feel that way too, so that's that. In the meantime, we all have to tread water with him amid a run of one win in 14 with two games against Croatia and Portugal to come.
There's just no buzz about Scotland now. Even if we did make it to the next World Cup, we'd be going with a coach who has failed miserably in two past tournaments and has offered nothing to convince you any future tournament would be any different. The prospect of aiming for a major event to be hosted in Canada, America and Mexico should be exciting, but it just feels like we're stuck on a road to nowhere.