With the loss of two very valuable points on Saturday, Rangers also squandered a considerable sense of momentum in terms of the title campaign.
Despite the lacklustre victory over Motherwell, the three points secured were imperative leaving five further Premiership games to be negotiated prior to the break for the World Cup in Qatar. Hope endured, with a case of maximum points providing optimism for the restart.
That has now been shattered with any momentum broken as a result of the loss of points against Livingston. The draw was bad enough but the extent of the poor performance was stark. It was terrible, following the pattern set in the Dundee and Motherwell games, previously.
Confidence, intensity, inspiration, incision, quality – all of those qualities are sorely lacking from Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Rangers with little in the way in terms of belief that change is coming.
The manager is sticking to his task, but he is far from stupid with an understanding of how serious the current malaise is:
“But I think we can still turn it around. I have to believe that we can still play the way that we can play. But we have to put energy into it and for me all the energy goes into my team, into making sure they are ready for the next opponent.”
The four remaining league games – Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Hearts, St Mirren – are broken up by the final two Champions League group games of what has been a dismal campaign. A very slim hope of third place in Group A remains but that requires securing a result in Napoli against all odds.
What matters most is clearly the four Premiership dates with Rangers unable to squander any more points. Will the performances improve? Will Gio survive through to the break? Will the situation get worse before it gets better?
Those questions remain to be answered, with a collective mood of despondence and apathy abound.