Alex Rae reckons the Rangers contract uncertainty surrounding Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent could be affecting the Ibrox side's form.
The pair's current deals expire in the summer and are able to speak to potential suitors in January. Kent has struggled to replicate the form shown under former boss Steven Gerrard while Morelos is playing second fiddle to Antonio Colak in the striker pecking order.
And former Light Blues midfielder Rae took aim as he insisted Gio van Bronckhorst's men need to take more responsibility from their performances amid a string of below-par displays which has led to speculation over the Dutchman's future. "The players have to take more responsibility for their performances," Rae told Grosvenor Sport. "It’s an interesting one with Ryan Kent because he's been performing at a very good level for a couple of years now and along with Alfredo Morelos, they’ve not really got them to where they want them to be.
"Kent is lacking confidence and Morelos hasn’t gotten up to speed with things yet and I’m not sure if their contract situations have had a bearing on that - we’ve definitely seen it before with players like Ryan Christie and Odsonne Édouard not performing at the tail end of their contracts which had an effect on Celtic."
Rae also believes producing solid home form is the benchmark for success. However it's been night and day from what was produced when Rangers won the Scottish Premiership in 2020-21.
"The one thing you can’t be doing is dropping points against, with the greatest of respect, teams like Livingston - especially at Ibrox," said Rae.
"When they [Rangers] won the league title a couple of years ago they were very strong at home so this will be a concern for everyone at the club. When you play for a club like Rangers, pressure is very much part of the game and the players have to stand up to the pressure because that’s part and parcel of playing for the club as that’s the demands of the supporters.'
And Rae wasn't done there as he insisted the Light Blues ‘can’t afford’ another heavy defeat against Napoli after their Liverpool horror show, where they were thrashed 7-1 at home to Jurgen Klopp's side last time out in the Champions League.
He added: "They’ll be feeling a sigh of relief after negotiating through the win against Dundee in the cup because they weren’t great on the night. Everyone at Rangers wants a bit more pace in their play because at the moment it’s very ponderous.
"Their performances have been flat lately and that will be a concern for Giovanni van Bronckhorst as they’ve got a tough run of fixtures coming up. They’ve got Napoli on Wednesday and they need to really perform well to get a result against them - they can’t afford another heavy defeat after that performance against Liverpool."
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