IT may be getting on for three months now since Mark Warburton, amid an unedifying outbreak of mud-slinging and name-calling that was highly regrettable for everyone involved, departed Rangers.

Yet, the erstwhile manager, now battling to keep Nottingham Forest up in the Sky Bet Championship down in England, has still found himself the subject of some scathing criticism as his former club has suffered successive defeats to Celtic in recent days.

Warburton has, despite being hundreds of miles away, shouldered his fair share of the blame for both the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final loss at Hampden last month and the Ladbrokes Premiership defeat at Ibrox at the weekend.

The men who donned the light blue jersey in both the 2-0 cup defeat and the record 5-1 loss are, it has been suggested by many, not of a sufficient standard to represent the Glasgow club.

The coach who brought them in, it has been pointed out in no uncertain terms by a raft of observers, has to accept full responsibility for the failure by Rangers to compete in the two derbies.

Chris Sutton, in his inimitable fashion, held chairman and major shareholder Dave King, former head of recruitment Frank McParland and Warburton accountable after as one-sided an Old Firm match as has ever been witnessed on Saturday.

But hold on just a minute. Isn’t this the same group of Rangers players that travelled across the city and performed superbly during a richly-deserved 1-1 draw with Celtic in a league match at Parkhead back in March?

There were certainly a few differences between the team that prevented Brendan Rodgers’s side from winning a domestic fixture at home for the first time six weeks ago and the one which conceded five goals at home for the first time ever three days back.

Lee Wallace, the captain and left back, was a big miss once again at the weekend. Myles Beerman, at just 18 and with only four games of senior football under his belt, has potential, but he was hardly a like-for-like replacement.

Lee Hodson, too, would maybe have coped better with the threat posed by Kieran Tierney and Scott Sinclair down the left flank than Tavernier did. That was certainly the case at Celtic Park.

But Wes Foderingham, Clint Hill, Jason Holt, Emerson Hyndman, Kenny Miller, James Tavernier, Danny Wilson and Martyn Waghorn - no fewer than eight members of the side – all started in both of those games.

The personnel were almost identical. So it is wrong to say the embarrassing defeat which Rangers slumped to against Celtic on Saturday is solely down to the quality of the individuals who took to the field and it is harsh to chastise the man who signed them.

If Graeme Murty, a youth coach who was filling in on a temporary basis while a permanent replacement for Warburton was being identified, can secure a result with this group at Parkhead then Pedro Caixinha should be able to do the same at Ibrox.

Remember, the Scottish champions were arguably even stronger back in March as they had their top scorer Moussa Dembele playing up front. The striker is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The back-to-back reverses have, with good reason, raised serious questions over Caixinha’s ability to make a success of a job it was a major shock he was given in the first place.

The Portuguese coach got his team selection, formation and tactics badly wrong in both outings. Will he get his summer signings right? There will be precious few among the support just now who will hold out much hope of him doing so.

The club directors, who were subjected to a barrage of abuse from irate fans during the game at the weekend, will be keeping their fingers and toes crossed that he does.

But to suggest, as a fair few have, that everything will be fine again down Govan way once the new manager has had the opportunity to clear out the players who are surplus to requirements and bring in his own targets is just wishful thinking.

Even if Caixinha - who has, it must be said, conducted himself with the utmost professionalism since he arrived in this country, not least in the wake of the two Celtic defeats – does sign well and go on to justify his appointment it is inconceivable his side will be able to challenge for major honours next term.

The problems at Rangers run far deeper than that. They continue to operate at a loss and require soft loans from wealthy supporters, King, George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor, in order to stay afloat.

But the situation that King, who faces being “cold shouldered” for refusing to comply with a Takeover Appeal Board ruling and offer 20p for every remaining share in the holding company, now finds himself in is hardly healthy.

Listing the club on the stock exchange and raising funds through a future share issue would be impossible if companies or individuals regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority are prevented from associating with the South Africa-based businessman.

Caixinha will have funds available. But he will still have to rebuild with free transfers and bargain basement signings. Rodgers, meanwhile, is threatening to break the Celtic transfer record and bring in the sort of quality which will allow his side to progress to the Champions League knockout stages. The 2017/18 title race promises to just as much of a mismatch as this one has been.

Will the 46-year-old even be able to get rid of the dead wood in the dressing room, many of whom are on good money and tied in to long-term contracts, in the coming weeks and free up money for wages? He will be doing very well to do so.

It is reasonable to ask that Rangers acquit themselves better than they did against Celtic on Saturday, but it is unfair to expect them to bridge the gap on their city rivals any time soon.