According to McCulloch, one Rangers player had “massive problems” during the game against the Hearts

Maintaining a clean sheet away from home against one of the better teams in the division usually indicates that your defence is playing well.

But as their Premiership title challenge began with a whimper rather than a roar, Rangers’ 0-0 draw away to Heart of Midlothian on Saturday afternoon was unconvincing, as viewers will see. This was very much a one-man show to shut out Steven Naismith’s dangerous frontline.

As he did all season long, reigning player of the year Jack Butland saved the Rangers on multiple occasions.

He nearly single-handedly prevented midweek transfer rumours of Lawrence Shankland returning to Ibrox from reaching the scoreboard.

The disorganised rearguard in front of Butland did not assist him in the slightest. John Souttar struggled as the jeers rained down on his former Tynecastle home, James Tavernier almost scored a late own goal, and Ridvan Yilmaz’s performance will have inspired new signing Jefte Vital.

Ben Davies, on the other hand, can probably expect to be plagued by Hearts forward Kenneth Vargas’s brutal presence in his dreams tonight.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Ben Davies finds it difficult as Hearts holds Rangers.

Vargas’s signature mix of strength and speed caused constant headaches for the former misfit from Liverpool.

And when Robin Propper entered the game—the former FC Twente captain was signed for what Philippe Clement believes to be a bare £1.5 million—this was hardly the kind of performance expected of a player looking to secure a starting position for some time to come.

During their live coverage, former Rangers captain Lee McCulloch told BBC Sport that Vargas’ pace was giving Ben Davies a lot of trouble.

“I believe that both the Hearts and the Rangers felt they deserved to win three points given the opportunities they had.

“It was great to watch the neutral team’s game. We simply didn’t achieve our desired results.

With only one matchday remaining, Rangers may already be playing catch up after dropping two points on the road. The late kickoff on Sunday features Kilmarnock visiting Premiership leaders Celtic at Parkhead.

Philippe Clement is descended from Vaclav Cerny and Connor Barron.

But Clement, the manager of the Gers, wasn’t entirely frustrated.

The Belgian was impressed by Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny, two recent additions. For 83 minutes, the former dazzled with his purpose and composure, while the latter showed a few flashes of elegance after coming on in the second half.

According to Clement, Connor did not perform as well as he did during the preseason. This is stated on the official Rangers YouTube channel. However, it’s also his first Rangers competitive match.

“He’s going to be very useful in the future. the immediate future, but unquestionably the long-term future as well.

When Vaclav entered the game, his calm demeanour and ability to make sound decisions were immediately apparent. Clement continues, “He’s a skilled player with a lot of experience,” referring to the Czech international.

Therefore, we need to add a few more of those kinds, as that will aid in the development of our younger players.