For the first time since September, Jack Butland walked out of Ibrox with a clean sheet, after the 0-0 draw with Falkirk. That was perhaps the only positive on what was another insipid and frustrating afternoon to add to the ever-growing collection from Rangers this season, as they missed the chance to close the gap to those at the top of the table.
There was a mixture of indifference and anger as the team trudged off at the full-time whistle. Some made their feelings abundantly clear with boos and jeers. While others, perhaps more damningly, had already left or not taken their seat in the first place, safe in the knowledge that their team could’ve kept playing well into the night and not have burst the Falkirk net.
Once again, big-name signings flattered to deceive. Oliver Antman, Thelo Aasgaard and Bojan Miovski, all charged with providing the creative outlet for this side, were rendered passengers and ineffectual in a team playing without any pace, fluidity or confidence. From the opposite end of the park, Butland had a unique view of the lethargic display in front of him and was clear in his assessment of another two points dropped.
“Performance-wise, it wasn’t good enough,” Butland admitted. “We didn't create enough good chances and then didn't look like taking them.
“As a Rangers team at home to Falkirk, regardless of how well organised and well coached they are, we have to be better than what we were today. We have to be more desperate from the get-go to get a goal and to dent their confidence and to make it difficult for them.
“It's on us as a team to make sure that we're trying to get the forward players in the right positions, giving them support from behind, overlapping runs, putting them in good areas to go and be successful. We have to give them the confidence to go and express themselves and try and be the players that, as a club, we obviously think they can be. It's unfair to label them at the moment.
“I think today there weren't any well-worked tap-ins. We didn't get anyone in a real position to go and find that confidence. That's something that we really need to focus on, but that's on all of us.
“We need to take a few more risks and be braver because, ultimately, what happens if you don't? It just becomes the same. We need to help each other more in the final third.”
To say that there has been a lack of stability at Ibrox this season would be an understatement. Between the first ball being kicked in pre-season and the turn of the year, there will have been three different men in the Rangers' dugout leading the side.
Add to that a massive, and so far largely unsuccessful, summer recruitment drive has left this side looking devoid of any relationships forming on the park and any mean performance level for players to fall back into when times get tough. Contrast this, however, with the same individuals on international duty with their countries, where they have performed valiantly in some cases, and fans are left bewildered at the lacklustre fare served up domestically.
“It's about everybody helping each other a little bit more, letting the shackles off and just playing with a little bit more freedom, helping to get these players in the positions where we know that they can be difference-makers,” Butland continued.
“They might be going away on internationals where things are a lot more settled. Things haven't been very settled here. But with this manager, I believe that we're on our way to doing that.
“And I hope it will click, and I believe that there's the ability there. You've mentioned a few [Aasgaard, Miovski] who we know have got the ability. We've seen it, but we need to see it more often. But that's on all of us. That's on all of us helping each other out at both ends of the park and making our lives a lot easier than perhaps what we're doing at times.”
There were positive words to be said about the centre back of Emmanuel Fernandez and Nasser Djiga, who left with their own goal intact, despite the odd nervy moment. The pair, thrust together in the face of an injury crisis at the back, have been heavily scrutinised in recent weeks, but Butland insists that there are signs of progress.
He added: “We're adapting and we're changing. It's difficult because a lot of teams tend to have a really settled back four and we've been forced into changes.
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“I thought Manny (Fernandez) was brilliant. I thought Nasser [Djiga] had a difficult game midweek. And this is a difficult place to have to respond to difficult moments.
“I need them, they need me and we need to be together and we need to push forward and they need to do that. I believe in them. It's a tough scenario to come into when there's a huge demand for results and for those guys to come in and try and have their performances at the right level.
“I think they're getting there, they're adapting and we need to back them because we've got some injuries in that department and we need to keep pushing. I believe in them and we keep going.”
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