WHILE Rangers eventually huffed and puffed their way to a draw against Livingston on Saturday, it did little to stem the growing tides of discontent in Govan.
John Lundstram’s goal in stoppage time was enough to salvage a point, but in reality no one would have had any complaints had Joel Nouble’s first-half strike proved to be the winner.
The result leaves Rangers four points behind league leaders Celtic, and there’s now the small matter of Napoli - arguably Europe’s in-form side - to come on Wednesday. Things could get worse for Giovanni van Bronckhorst before they get better.
Here are five things we learned from Saturday.
STUCK ON REPEAT
THE drop in James Tavernier’s form is alarming for Rangers in and of itself, but the lack of anyone to step up during his struggles is the greater cause for concern. While we’d gotten used to his swashbuckling performances to the point where they were considered the norm, his inconsistency has left a black hole down the Light Blues’ right-hand side. At the present time, no one looks ready to fill it. The lack of a regular partner ahead of him has hardly helped - on Saturday, Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted for soon to be 34-year-old Scott Arfield - but the fact is Tavernier isn’t quite hitting the heights of before.
On a wider scale, this has left Rangers stuck on rinse and repeat. It usually goes a little like this; they find the right hand side locked down, so move the ball to the left. There Ryan Kent either beats a man and swings in a cross, or Borna Barisic does the same on the overlap. More often than not the ball finds its way back to Ben Davies, and the same dance begins.
Rabbi Matondo was introduced at the break and, at the very least, he showed some ambition to put on the afterburners and get beyond his man. But the very fact van Bronckhorst can’t seem to decide whether to stick or twist on that side - this season Fashion Sakala, Scott Wright, Malik Tillman and Arfield have all had a go, with varying levels of success - points to a wider problem of recruitment.
In fairness to Tavernier, he still has been involved in four goals in his last five appearances. But the eye test suggests things aren’t quite right.
VAN BRONCKHORST’S WOES
Dip your toe in the waters of Rangers social media to gauge the current temperature of the mood in Govan - best advised to avoid in all but the most extreme circumstances - and it’s hard to believe the man in the dugout was just a matter of months ago leading the Light Blues out for a European final.
Gone is the jubilation of that day in Spain or the one at Hampden that soon followed, instead it has been replaced by palpably, growing anger. It’s one thing when that is expressed online, but another when Ibrox - a place that never leaves you in any doubt of its emotions - is audibly losing patience.
The boos of the midweek struggle over Championship Dundee were again heard on David Munro's final whistle; only this time there was a little more bite to them. As the manager and his captain are keen to point out, on paper, Rangers are not having an especially bad season. But some of the performances may have had the more impatient of the Glasgow support longing for those days of Pedro Caixinha in a bush. At least then there was something to lighten up a dour 90 minutes.
NO SPARK
Speaking of dour, the Rangers midfield was, once again, just that. Given the three players at its heart have a combined age of 98, that’s hardly the kind of revelation that’ll have you preaching these words down Buchanan Street.
Arfield and Steven Davis are the two doing much to bring that figure up. Both have been - and still can be - terrific players. Few have Davis’ vision and even fewer can gallop into space the way Arfield can. But compare and contrast what they bring to the table compared to Celtic’s midfield - which is really the only comparison you can make - and the difference is chasmic. One is full of vigour and buzzes around like a swarm of bees high on a particularly cheap can of energy drink. The other looks like it’s coming down from that feeling.
Perhaps the thing that will worry Rangers fans the most is the fact that, for much of the game, it was Livingston’s midfield that looked closer to that of the league leaders than the main chasers ever did.
MARTINDALE ON A MISSION
Does anyone have an eye for a player on a shoestring budget quite like David Martindale? With all the skill of the miners of old, the Livi manager has once again plucked enough diamonds from the English non-league rough to build a team to compete at Scotland’s highest level. But they are so much more than that.
Be it Joel Nouble - a player of intoxicating traits - Cristian Montano, or Kurtis Guthrie, the assembled Lions can go toe-to-toe with anyone on their day. Saturday was a prime example of this. While Rangers eventually pinned them inside their own defending third, there were large swathes of the match - especially in the first half - where Livingston looked the far sharper, better coached team.
Had Jack Fitzwater - impressive alongside Ayo Obileye - put away a fine chance at 1-0 up, perhaps they could even have left with the three points they just about deserved.
TEETHING TROUBLES
The introduction of VAR into Scottish football was long overdue. Yet, its implementation has so far gone about as well as you’d expect. In fairness to the officials, it’s all new for them too, and a period of adjustment is only natural. But there are a few things that need to be ironed out sooner, rather than later.
For starters, better communication with fans would help. How can we be here - several years since it was first introduced - and it’s still hit and miss whether or not supporters in the stadium are told a check is going on? At one of the country’s smaller grounds, you could forgive it. At Ibrox, which is awash with digital tech, a simple message wouldn’t take much.
One did show when David Munro made his way over to the monitor, duly sending Morgan Boyes off for a foul on Alfredo Morelos in the second-half, in the day’s biggest VAR controversy. But too often the only indication such a check was underway was the official putting his hand to his ear, like he’d just been told to expect an attack on the president.
