Questions mount for Cavenagh and Martin after Rangers European defeat

Hyeongyu Oh, the former Celtic striker, missed a first half penalty before breaking the deadlock after the break. He saw another effort ruled out for offside in the build-up as the Belgians failed to capitalise on their superiority.

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Rangers had Mohamed Diomande sent off for a straight red card offence. That will be used as a mitigating factor by Martin. This was another result and performance that will pile the pressure on the head coach, however. The chants of 'Martin, Martin get to f***' were back at the final whistle.

One step forward, two steps back

Well, the feelgood factor lasted long, didn’t it? Another defeat, another damaging episode for Martin that raised another handful of questions about where Rangers are and where they are heading under his guidance.

Andrew Cavenagh watched on from the stands just hours after chairing a scheduled board meeting. He will return to America on Friday and have plenty of time on the journey to ponder. So far, he has not questioned Martin’s position. Right now, Rangers are hoping for better rather than showing signs that they are getting better.

The positives from the weekend win against Hibernian have been grasped, perhaps too tightly. With all respect to David Gray’s side, it was one game and one victory. Runs of form do, of course, have to start somewhere but the bar was so low for Rangers overall this term that even a performance as ordinary as that was seen as a bigger step forward than it actually was.

As Martin admitted himself, he needs to win games of football. His problem is that he could win five of them on the spin, but if he was to then lose the sixth all of the criticism and conjecture would come to the fore once again. His side have never looked capable of such an endeavour.

Martin couldn’t even get the follow up victory. Another must-win game has been lost. The next one arrives on Sunday when he takes his side to face Livingston sitting eleventh in the Premiership.

Rangers can have no complaints

The first chances for Martin’s side fell to Mikey Moore. The winger curled an effort from the edge of the area over. Inside the box, he didn’t get the connection he wanted and had to explain himself to Nico Raskin after taking the opportunity away from the Belgian.

Bryan Heyman somehow kept a John Souttar header out at the far post as Ibrox gave Rangers an encouraging round of applause. That was as close as the hosts would come before the break.

James Tavernier saw a penalty claim dismissed after a VAR check. The alleged handball was not as soft as the push on Joris Kayembe that the captain was deemed guilty of.

There was no need for the officials behind the screen to get involved four minutes from the break. Diomande got to his feet after a lunge on Zakaria El Ouahdi and was shown a straight red card. The challenge instantly became more difficult for Martin’s side. Moore was the one who made way in the reshuffle as Oliver Antman was introduced.

Thelo Aasgaard should have given Rangers the lead just after the restart but a scuffed finish saw him put his head in his hands. Clear chances were hard to come by as Rangers plodded their way through the second half. The defeat was almost inevitable from a long way out.

Oh dear to Oh no

The warning sign came within four minutes as El Ouahdi advanced down the right channel. The danger ultimately came to nothing, the right-back unable to get his shot away and Jayden Meghoma doing well to quell the potential danger after initially being exposed.

Genk are far from the most accomplished side that have been here on European duty over recent seasons. Indeed, they did not arrive in Glasgow with the class or cutting edge of their league counterparts and never looked like running riot in the manner that Club Brugge did.

Thorsten Fink’s side caused Rangers problems, however. Oh should have beat Jack Butland from six yards after meeting a cross from the right. Minutes later, Patrik Hrosovsky struck the woodwork as Butland was beaten to his left.

The keeper would have the defining say of the half. Genk were the beneficiaries of another VAR call after Tavernier tangled with Yaimar Medina. Oh went for power rather than precision and Butland saved superbly before Rangers cleared the danger.

Oh was the culprit for Genk once again as he failed to convert at the back post. By that time, Butland had already been called into action on a couple of occasions.

The law of averages suggested that even a striker who is, well, average would score eventually. Oh got his goal and beat Butland. The pass from Jarne Steuckers split a Rangers defence that had been carved open too often and too easily.

The former Celtic striker thought he had doubled his tally and made sure of the win when he knocked home from a couple of yards out. A VAR check and offside decision saved Rangers.

A tough shift for Chermiti

Martin put the decision to drop Bojan Miovski from the starting line-up down to tiredness and the load that has been placed on him since he arrived at Ibrox late in the transfer window. Youssef Chermiti, of course, followed the North Macedonian into the club. Having seen his peer get off and running against Hibernian on Saturday, this was the ideal opportunity for him to do likewise.

Chermiti could have opened his account late on in the 2-0 victory but failed to convert when one-on-one. With the weight of an £8million transfer fee to carry, this is exactly the sort of occasion that he needs to thrive in. It passed him by.

The first half elapsed without Chermiti making any real impact. There were signs of his endeavour at times and signs of his poor touch at others. In truth, he suffered from the same issue that everyone who has played that No.9 role has this term as Rangers struggled to provide the required service to the striker.

Chermiti’s evening came to an end with ten minutes remaining as Miovski was introduced. Connor Barron and Joe Rothwell were the other throws of the dice from Martin as Antman and Gassama operated either side of a back three.

It was not the European debut that Chermiti would have envisaged. It turned into a difficult, lonely shift at the head of an ineffective forward line. Chance creation, never mind chance conversion, remains a real problem for Martin. Until that changes, Miovski and Chermiti will continue to toil regardless of their own individual positives or negatives.

Ibrox impact is muted

These occasions have been so special and so memorable over the years. This one felt different, though. The Europa League anthem did not raise the hairs on the back of necks, the Ibrox roar would not have intimidated the visitors. This was a big game that didn’t really feel like a big game.

Two blocks of seats in the Broomloan Stand remained empty and separated the home support from those that had travelled from Belgium in their hundreds rather than the full allocation of more than 2,000. Around Ibrox, the remaining empty ones were scattered. Ibrox was not full, but there were more here than many would have perhaps expected given mood of the fans over recent weeks. The crowd was just under 38,000 and the board will have to factor that apathy into their calculations in the days and weeks ahead.

The boos at the break were not reserved for Martin and his players on this occasion. Instead, it was the officials who took the brunt of the abuse following the two penalty calls that went against Rangers and the dismissal of Diomande. On their return to the park, Rangers were encouraged rather than berated.

The optimism soon faded. There was no sense that the players or the punters believed the comeback was on as the clock ticked away. At the whistle, Martin was the target once again.