The reaction to Rangers’ victory over Hibs on Sunday was surprising to say the least. Well, the online reaction was, and maybe that isn’t so surprising after all.

In the stadium, fans were with the players until the end and awarded an important win with a good reception come the final whistle. The online sphere was as vigorous as usual. Following the highs of Malmo, Rangers were back to being garbage again. At the moment opinions are chalk and cheese amongst the support - negativity is never far away.

The biggest gripe? We were boring and used the ball poorly, creating little of note. I understood that view because Sunday’s performance wasn’t great overall. I put Rangers’ use of the ball to Philippe Clement at a midweek press conference because, on Sunday, the balance between retention and risk wasn’t there. The shape and structure weren't good enough.

The fact is that Hibs got too much of the ball in areas where better teams will and have hurt us. Rangers are just way too open, as their next match would prove.

Clement said: "It’s an important balance, you can play every ball with purpose to make it decisive but then you are going to lose a lot of balls. Sometimes the moment is not there and you need to move an opponent before playing that ball. In that way I think our best performance was in Malmo, you need to move the ball and not every ball was a direct kick to the attacking players or striker.

(Image: Image: Andrew Milligan) “But to get them out of position to then make decisive passes. We are working hard on those things, to have purpose but it can also be your purpose to move an opponent to get the space after. Purpose is not only to go as fast as possible towards goal, then you will lose the ball too much and you get a basketball game”

That was interesting. I suggested the fans may need to demonstrate a bit of patience, especially in home games when Rangers will dominate the ball and, as Clement references, that balance is required.

Did the support have a point in complaining about the performance against Hibs? Yes, absolutely. However, given it arrived a few days after a big win in Malmo, the energy that the trip took out of the group is also important to consider.

You can’t play every game and expect to be on top form every time. There needs to be some level of realism. It was very much three points, a clean sheet and up the road.

(Image: Image: Andrew Milligan) Which leads us to last night’s 4-1 loss against Lyon. That’s the reason this week’s column is nosed off of the topic of the meeting with Hibs and how Rangers use the ball. More importantly, the issue of Clement's tactical approach.

Rangers were the architects of their own downfall last night and they were played through oh so easily. Clement’s tactics were exposed.

That’s why I’m worried about how open this team is. Rangers’ structure is very easily exposed against teams with quality.

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Yes, we create chances, but too often they’re not taken. Even in Malmo, it took so many attempts before finding the back of the net for a second time. Against Lyon, Kyiv and Celtic, teams with quality have exposed the gaps in our side off the ball.

The biggest question is this - a year into his tenure, is Clement’s tactical set-up getting the most out of this squad?

While he may argue this point isn’t raised following clean sheets, it’s in Europe that true quality threatens to expose our weaknesses. Whether that be a lack of creativity on the ball or leaving too many gaps off it.

Last night against Lyon showed Rangers, and Clement, need to adapt and evolve too fast. They’re too easy to play through and that’s not changing.