The almighty high that Rangers fans felt at the end of last season, as they comfortably sailed to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade — their record-extending 55th victory in the top flight — has come crashing down around Ibrox already.
It may only be mid-August, but Steven Gerrard’s side’s hopes of playing Champions League football were ended by Swedish outfit Malmö, a team they were heavily expected to get the better of in the betting exchange across the course of the two legs, whilst a defeat away to Dundee United at Tannadice was wedged in between — ending the Gers’ lengthy run of 40 league games without defeat.
Three losses on the trot, against teams they really should be beating as well, is unprecedented for this Rangers team that has been built under the guidance of Gerrard. However, they are still accustomed to the odd shock defeat here and there, like their surprise exits from the Scottish FA Cup to St Johnstone and the League Cup to St Mirren last season.
Of course, it’s still very early days in the season. But the manner in which Rangers have gone about their business on the pitch in the last couple of weeks is frightening. Their star performers from last year, the likes of club captain James Tavernier, Connor Goldson and Borna Barišić, who were so influential in that invincible league campaign, have been sub-par, whilst Ryan Kent hasn’t been able to work his magic in the dazzling fashion that Rangers fans have become accustomed to over the last few years.
The task that former Liverpool captain Gerrard faces now is getting his side out of this rut. The manager has been able to bask in the glory of guiding Rangers back to being Scottish Premiership champions, and the Rangers fans will be thankful for that, especially as they stopped Celtic’s 10-in-a-row charge.
However, he now needs to work out a way to spin his side’s results on their head. Experience may not be on his side when it comes down to working out a formula to solve Rangers’ problems though, and with the ever-demanding Ibrox crowd returning to their seats in the iconic 50,000-seater stadium, the pressure will quickly mount on the shoulders of the gaffer and his players — who have already been booed off the pitch after the underwhelming 2-1 home defeat to 10-men Malmö.
“We have tried to keep the heat on after being 2-1 down,” the 41-year-old told Premier Sports, who had the television rights to the game, after the defeat. “You have to try different things, a bit of fear and a bit of panic sets in. We started playing hopeful balls into the box instead of trying to stay calm and play through.
“The reality is we have lost three games out of four and that is not good enough at Rangers. We are well aware of that. We now have to pick ourselves up and regroup.”
Hearing that fear and panic set in at home against a side like Malmö, who played the second 45 minutes with a man down, will not sit well with Rangers fans. There has been a lot of talk about the return of fans effecting the squad’s mentality, and when you’ve lost three games in row in front of a crowd, after dominating behind closed doors, it’s hard to squash those kinds of acquisitions.
But that is the task Gerrard is now faced with. If he wants to get this Rangers side back on track and moving toward becoming a force to reckoned with in Scotland again, he must prove to everybody that is just a rare, untimely blip in form, and that it has nothing to do with the added pressure of crowds, or whatever other rumours there are floating around in the media.
With Europa League qualification and Celtic still to come to Ibrox before the end of the month, the next few weeks are going to be absolutely massive for Gerrard and co. and there’s no better time to silence his doubters than the present.
