There’s never a good thing about losing two games 4-0 back-to-back, however, if there is one, it’s that a manager and group of players can look at themselves and see everything that they are doing wrong in ultra-high definition.
For Rangers, it’s about the basics.
It’s not like we started the season poorly and that these results have been coming. The Union Saint Gilloise performance away from home was a poor display but this was more than balanced with an emphatic one at Ibrox, we were also unlucky to drop points at Easter Road. Poor officiating, stupidity and a miss-hit volley deep into injury time cost us all three points.
We’ve scored eight goals in our last two home league games and 13 in our last four at home, a run that also had the away win in Eindhoven and ruined only by the last 30 minutes against Hibs.
The two games against PSV Eindhoven looked as though they would provide a decent marker for how we were playing, two games against a good and free-scoring outfit and yet we managed to keep a clean sheet away from home – we have clearly been doing some things right.
There is no need to hit the panic button, sack the manager or start again but what we do need to do is make sure that we are getting the basics right. No individual errors – we’ve lost three goals in three games from Rangers players playing in opposition attackers – up the tempo, both in and out of possession and we should get back on track.
With a side who beat Liverpool 4-1 next on the fixture list, expectations shouldn’t be high, however, at Rangers, putting yourself second to the club is the only time you should accept being second.