Pundits pile on Rangers as 'pub team' defending in joke first half leaves Champions League dreams in tatters

Daily Record

4 hours ago

A disastrous start has left Rangers with it all to do and Russell Martin is lucky they weren't completely put out of their misery
It started badly, then got worse before becoming a full blown disaster.
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Then it got a little better, but the bottom line is that Rangers haven't so much shot themselves in the foot when it comes to their chances of getting through the Champions League playoff round, but blown it clean off.
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After 20 minutes, they were 3-0 down at home to Club Brugge. Nasser Djiga got the incompetence party started and Russell Martin's side were at sixes and sevens for the rest of the half and the scoreline looked to be heading that way as a number of fans headed home very early.
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The second half was better, although it couldn't have really gotten much worse. Danilo pulled one back shortly after the break but Brugge then simply went into screensaver mode, ensuring their lead wasn't further eaten into.
It looked like it was when Djeidi Gassama stabbed home on the line after some goal line persistence, but VAR said Simon Mignolet had two hands on the ball and it stayed 3-1.
While that goal offers a sliver of hope for Belgium next week, the performance tells a more realistic story and it will take an improvement, never mind a comeback of epic proportions to turn this one around.
Here's how the pundits saw it and it doesn't make for pretty Rangers reading.
Allan McGregor
More positive, yeah [in the second half], but my point is, and even the three month spell when I was in there coaching - why does it take to go down to then, there be an enthusiasm, a spring in their step to go forward, why not just do that from the start?
It seems like at the start that everybody is a bit fearful. This might be totally wrong but fearful of making a mistake. See when you're 2-0 or 3-0 down? That fear goes out the window because you need to go and win the game. But at Rangers, you need to win the game anyway and start of the front foot. Make this place a fortress.
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Scott Arfield
There's no player that can say they've affected the game with any way. But you can affect the game in different ways. You don't need to be fancy on the eye. You can tackle, you can run, you can make a difference. You can hear the moans and the boos, that's reciprocated right through the stadium. I don't think anyone can say they've done anything positive from a Rangers point of view.
I don't think the tie is over, I don't. It's absolutely an uphill battle against a top quality side when they go over to Belgium next week. BUt I don't think it's done and dusted now. The Brugge players are celebrating as if the tie is done and you have to say quite rightly so. They'll feel very optimistic about that.
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Rangers just come up with new ways how to lose goals. It's embarrassing. The first one was bad enough and the second is just as bad. Someone standing alone inside the 18-yard box and he just side foots down into the ground. 2-0 after seven minutes. Champions League football? Rangers can forget it. Rangers and Russell Martin might point to the fact that there's a lot of new players and ti takes time to settle in. But you don't get time at Rangers. To be 3-0 down, they've played like individuals. The goals they've lost collectively haven't been good enough as well.
It's always going to be difficult at this level. The step up from both Plzen and Panathinaikos was always going to be difficult for Rangers. They showed in the second half that they can compete with Club Brugge at least. The first half they were absolutely terrible. terrible. To find yourself 2-0 down inside seven minutes and 3-0 down inside 20 minutes, I know you can say mistakes but it's been happening far too often this season. For me, Rangers' European dreams are in tatters tonight, that's for sure.
Steven Thompson
The tie is already over. The performance has been really really poor. Rangers have been coughing up opportunities to sides since the season started. Brugge probably could have scored more in the first half. Rangers have not got to grips with the game at all, the quality of play has been high but they should be able to deal with that and sort the situation out better.
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They've given themselves a mountain to climb and they definitely need to score one to go over there with the slimmest of hopes. Having watched the two previous games, you would say that this team isn't ready for the Champions League. Rangers have shown they can hurt teams, but unless they sort the defending, this will keep happening.
Tom English
Rangers look like a pub team at the back. Nasser Djiga just gives up for the first goal. It's hard to remember defending as bad as this. This is a joke of a performance. I don't know if some of them think they're better than they are. It's a disorganised rabble, maybe it's all down to Martin's coaching. They got lucky against Panathinaikos, they got lucky against Plzen, now they're getting punished. They're lucky it's 0-3, it could be 0-5.
Jon Champion
They've partially repaired some of the damage but now they face a daunting night in Brugge. Many of their problems were self inflicted. Overall, a painful night where Rangers shortcomings were brutally laid bare. Russell Martin spoke of how his family are concerned with the amount of stick he's taking and he has to ring his mother just to reassure them that all is well. He might be on the phone to her tonight again. It's been an awkward, painful and at times rather dour evening. The mood in the stadium turned sour pretty early and never really fully cheered up again.