Rangers 4 Aberdeen 0 

At the end of a week where provocative banners, club statements and fan unrest had been the talk of the steamie around Ibrox, the Rangers players did their talking on the pitch.

A comprehensive victory over Aberdeen gave Barry Ferguson his first home win as manager, a small token of consolation in an otherwise dreadful season.

This was the first time the team had won on home soil since February 2, and their first victory of any kind since late March.

At a sparsely populated Ibrox, Ferguson finally had something to shout about in front of the club’s own supporters.

Housed in the Copland Stand, the Union Bears once again held up a couple of banners aimed at the board. More on ‘tifo-gate’ later.

Cyriel Dessers celebrates after scoring the second goal for Rangers against Aberdeen

Vaclav Cerny reacts after his shot was deflected off Jefte for the fourth and final goal

Hamza Igamane scored the goal of the game with a magnificent effort that put Rangers 3-0 up

With all four goals scored in the second half, this was a much-needed boost for Rangers while also serving as a major reality check for Aberdeen.

In just under a fortnight, Jimmy Thelin’s men are due at Hampden for a Scottish Cup final against Celtic.

On the basis of what they showed here, nobody would be of a mind to give them much of a chance against a team chasing another Treble.

Thelin’s side were competent in the first half, but capitulated after the break. Damningly for the manager, that came after he made a double substitution at half-time and changed the shape of the team.

In Nico Raskin, Rangers had the outstanding player on the pitch, the little Belgian midfielder laying on both of the first two goals for Vaclav Cerny and Cyriel Dessers.

On as a substitute at half-time, Hamza Igamane rifled in a third from the edge of the box, before Jefte deflected a Cerny shot into the Aberdeen net for 4-0.

The official attendance was given as 50,343, but that was only an attempt to save face. Truthfully, you could knock a good 15,000 off that.

After Hibernian and Dundee United both lost on Saturday, Aberdeen knew this would be a chance to make up some vital ground in the race for third place.

Banners were still the order of the day as fans reacted to the club’s response to tifo controversy

The infamous tifo depicting Graeme Souness was also represented in smaller form

Fans give their response to the controversy that has now been labelled ‘tifogate’

Thelin’s men arrived in Glasgow knowing that victory would have seen them pull level on points with Hibs, albeit with an inferior goal difference. They also knew they would need a major improvement from last week’s 1-0 loss at St Mirren.

Thelin made four changes to the team, the most notable of which saw top scorer Kevin Nisbet drop to the bench.

Rangers, meanwhile, were unchanged from their 1-1 draw against Celtic last weekend.

When the action got under way, it was striking just how many empty seats there were around the stadium.

Reflective of apathy among Rangers supporters, combined with the fact the game was live on TV, it was a strange spectacle for such a high-profile fixture.

Given how tame and slack some of the play was from both teams, it almost had the feel of a pre-season friendly.

Indeed, the most notable thing to happen in the first 20 minutes or so was Ferguson having a blast at Nedim Bajrami for half-heartedly pulling out of a 50-50.

Ferguson has spoken on numerous occasions about standards at Rangers and how they have fallen this season, and how he wants to raise those standards. The fact he continues to pick Bajrami in the team undermines all of that.

Vaclav Cerny gives the thumbs up after Czech winger opened the scoring for Rangers

Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie howls with anguish on a miserable day for the Dons

Striker Igamane celebrates scoring the third goal on a day the visitors were swept aside

He may well be an international with Albania, but his attitude and application since arriving at Rangers for £3.5million last summer has routinely been dreadful.

Dessers had a good chance to open the scoring on 27 minutes when James Tavernier sent over a decent cross from the right.

The ball dropped on to the head of the unmarked striker at the back post, but he failed to make any kind of meaningful contact.

Given that clear-cut chances were at a premium, it was a big miss from a player who has now netted 26 goals this season despite being much-maligned.

A striker who still scores a decent amount of goals while being criticised by fans, Dessers is something of an oxymoron.

The same word could be used to describe the supporter who threw a Buckfast bottle at Celtic keeper Viljami Sinisalo last week, only without the ‘oxy’.

All eyes were on the Copland Stand and the Union Bears following the very public spat with the Ibrox board this week following ‘tifo-gate’.

There had already been a blue banner held up in support of Graeme Souness when, midway through the first half, they were at it again.

The banners on display will have made uncomfortable viewing for Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart

Jefte takes a bow after his deflected effort condemned Aberdeen to a 4-0 defeat at Ibrox

Defender Jefte was clearly delighted to get on the scoresheet for Barry Ferguson’s side

This time, on a white background with black writing, a banner read: ‘Jumped the gun and lost the fans. No apology – no surrender’.

Up in the directors’ box, chief executive Patrick Stewart must have moved a little uncomfortably in his seat when he saw it.

Stewart and the club were right to call out the tifo and the missile-throwers last week, but it’s clearly been a sore point for some fans.

Back to matters on the pitch, Rangers goalkeeper Liam Kelly made a decent save from Topi Keskinen after a Jamie McGrath pass had cut the home side open.

Dessers then had a goal ruled out for offside, before Dons striker Obday Dabbagh suffered a similar fate from a free-kick.

It was no surprise that Bajrami was hooked at half-time, replaced by Igamane.

Thelin also looked towards his bench at the break, introducing Nisbet and Pape Gueye to try to find more of a spark in the final third.

It was Rangers who eventually found the breakthrough, thanks to the first moment of genuine quality on 55 minutes.

Man of the match Nico Raskin applauds the fans as he leaves the pitch on Sunday

Cyriel Dessers missed one glaring chance but made amends with his team’s second goal

Former Rangers manager and Dons legend Alex McLeish was an interested spectator at Ibrox

Raskin split the Aberdeen defence wide open with a piercing through ball for Cerny.

The Czech winger made no mistake as he poked a first-time finish past Dimitar Mitov for his 19th goal of the season.

Goalkeeper Kelly’s distribution was poor and he put Rangers under pressure. Another slack pass led to him giving the ball away and having to make a double save from Gueye and Keskinen.

Rangers stretched their lead on the hour and, once again, Raskin was the architect. The Belgian midfielder drove to the bye-line and cut the ball back for Dessers to convert from close range.

Igamane chipped the ball up for himself and rifled a dipping effort in off the post on 70 minutes for the best goal of the game.

Cerny almost had a second right on full-time, but his shot was deflected by Jefte and flew past Dimitar Mitov for 4-0.

Aberdeen were well-beaten by that point. Against a bang-average Rangers team, they ended up being thrashed.

Quite a sobering thought less than two weeks before they return to Glasgow to face Celtic at Hampden.