IT was windy.

This is not only a meteorological observation of events at Ibrox at the weekend, but one that encompasses the forgivable bombast of a new signing, the apprehension of both the home side and their support and the realisation that the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title is being blown away by a succession of poor results. All this was played out to the increasingly loud whispers of the departure of Nikica Jelavic and of further turmoil this week at Rangers.

The only apparent confidence within the blue ranks came from Mervan Celik, the 21-year-old forward signed last week. "I will bring goals, play good and help the team to own matches," he said.

This breeziness from someone who didn't play in a dispiriting draw for the champions was in stark contrast to the rest on an afternoon that did more than chill the bones of Rangers fans. Their hopes of a fourth consecutive league title are drifting towards perdition.

Salim Kerkar, the 24-year-old Algerian, could only offer them words of comfort as Rangers fell four points behind Celtic. "The championship is not finished," he said. But pressed on how any salvage operation could be achieved by a side who have now participated in the wrong end of a 19-point turnaround, he was considerably less assured.

Much of this may be down to the player's unfamiliarity with English, but some of it could be attributed to being simply unable to explain how matters can be addressed, particularly when a player he described as essential is almost certain to leave.

Jelavic, of course, and the saga that surrounds him, is central to Rangers' fortunes. There is no mystery as to why the Ibrox side have leaked points of late. The downturn reprises the early struggles of the season, particularly in the qualifying rounds for Europe.

Rangers have three players who are above the norm: Jelavic, Steven Davis and Steven Naismith. They have another – Kyle Lafferty – routinely derided by many but who contributes goals at significant moments. Jelavic is distracted by thoughts of his future – with the striker's father reportedly saying that a move to Liverpool is on the cards – Davis is in the midst of a poor run of form, and Lafferty and Naismith are injured. This ensures that no match is a breeze for Rangers.

There is more than competence elsewhere. Allan McGregor, while not enjoying his best season, is an excellent goalkeeper, Carlos Bocanegra is an experienced and accomplished defender. But these are players who will stop Rangers losing matches. The ones who can cut open a defence have been blunted by loss of form and injury.

Sone Aluko was the champions' best hope of supplying the spark against his former side. He almost forced the ball into the net after one persistent run and supplied Jelavic with crosses that the Croat could not convert. Aluko was denied by a fine save from Jason Brown at the end of the match. But in creative terms, he operated almost in isolation.

Rangers only gained a momentum when Kari Arnason scored with an excellent shot after a driving run from Chris Clark. Their reply was restricted on the scoresheet to Maurice Edu's deflected shot that looped past Brown. The American should have scored later and Jelavic headed wide before Brown saved competently from the Croat following a corner. However, there was a lack of subtlety about Rangers that was not banished by the introduction of Gregg Wylde or Kerkar. David Healy had a poor afternoon and Lee Wallace's forays down the left were handled well.

Rangers' woe over points dropped will be exacerbated by the realisation that Aberdeen have such a poor record at Ibrox that it amounts to a contender for the Eurovision song contest. Their winless run in Govan now stretches to 40 matches, but their point at the weekend was both an honourable and considerable achievement.

Craig Brown, who revealed that Rob Milsom may miss the rest of the season after knee surgery, was also deprived of the talents of Isaac Osbourne, Peter Pawlett, Youl Mawene and Andrew Considine through injury.

The Aberdeen manager, whose players paid convincing testimony to his powers of organisation, was particularly well served by the competitive and technically adept Arnason, the resilient defensive pairing of Mark Reynolds and Rory McArdle and the interventions of his goalkeeper.

They were necessarily restricted in attack, but the rampaging Josh Magennis provoked some anxiety in the Rangers defence and was the victim of a foul by Bocanegra that could have caused the American to be sent off. His punishment was restricted to a caution, but there was an almost tangible sense of warning for Rangers in the performance and in the inability to prise three points from the fixture.

Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, has a full appreciation of the problems. His side need creativity and the services of a competent goalscorer. These are attributes that do not come cheap in transfer windows.

The cut-price options of Alejandro Bedoya, Juan Ortiz, Kerkar and Matt McKay have simply not worked. They may do so in time, but that is another commodity in short supply in football. Rangers face the imminent turbulence of the departure of Jelavic and the verdict of the tax case.

A storm awaits with on-field form offering no shelter.