I don't identify with this Rangers team, they're not even doing the basics - 4 Lads

Rangers for me should always strive to be the very best, that’s what was installed in me from my early ages supporting this club. I’m the kind of guy that wins 5-0 but is annoyed at the chance we missed to make it six.

So when we get performances like those at Dundee it rings alarm bells. Saturday against Livingston was a shambles of a performance, it lacked so much and tactically it looked abject. Davie Martindale told us he predicted how the game would play out against Rangers and they could plan to force us wide then defend crosses. They did so easily, repelling 72 out of 73 in the end.

There is zero fluency or imagination in this side. They aren’t functioning and there is very obvious disconnect throughout. I don’t see a desire, I don’t see anyone trying to grab the game and force their influence onto it. It’s all very safe and passive. I can’t remember the last time someone steamed into a fifty-fifty and won it, giving the support something to get behind.

The fans aren’t happy. As soon as this support is gone then Ibrox can be a difficult place to turn around. The style of football and the performances have brought us to this point.

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But here is where I have obviously got issues because people are commenting and telling us that getting beat 3-0 in Napoli isn’t that bad and it could have been worse.

I can’t accept that way of thinking and I never will. I realise that it’s a hard enough task with a full team and we are hit by injuries, but the bare minimum standards you expect are missing. I don’t see the desire or effort, it looks half-paced and half-hearted. I watch this team and feel I am being short-changed.

Now, this isn’t just on Napoli away, it’s wider and bigger than that. As soon as the manager said we couldn’t compete after the thrashing in Amsterdam it has seemed to me that the players believed it. There is an acceptance inherent in our performances and no amount of apologies or promises of better showings is changing that.

Some will say we can’t compete at this level, when the financial gulf is so big. I accept there’s a gap but how can Livingston reverse the scenario on us whilst being so compact, organised and well set up?

We will lose games, I am not naive to think we have a divine right to win anything, but that effort level needs to be a lot higher than it is at the moment. When Ally McCoist is once again commenting on energy levels and pointing out the squad are running 4km less than their opponents it’s clear there are issues.

I feel like I have been writing this for so long. I think we all know how this ends and it’s unlikely to be a favourable situation for this management team because the rot is well set in. No one wanted this but the longer it goes the more change people will demand.

So this is where we are at currently, still talking about a miracle turnaround being needed and still hoping for a reaction from the team.

If my standards are misplaced, if I am over-exaggerating, if I am being unrealistic, then in a few month's time people will tell me and I will accept that gleefully because it means Rangers will once again be doing well.

That’s all I want, a team I can connect with.

At the moment there is a disconnect between the stands, the dugout and the players that is too big for our club. It is a disconnect that I can never, ever, accept for Rangers and it’s one that has to be fixed before this season fades away in front of our eyes.