Frustrated Steven Gerrard demanded his Rangers stars "wake up now" and warned there's no more room for passengers.
The Ibrox side were forced to grind out a first-leg Europa League play-off win over Alashkert on Thursday night following John Lundstram's red card in the opening period.
Alfredo Morelos rode to the rescue after the break but the Premiership champions - even pre-sending off - were again below the scintillating standards set last season.
And their manager is adamant that needs to change imminently with a second leg in Armenia next week and a first derby of the season against in-form Celtic in just nine days.
The Rangers boss said: "I've got confidence and belief we can get going and restart and show we can get back to the form we need - but we need to wake up now.
"We're in competitions and we're at a club where you can't afford to be where we are right now.
"We need to find our level and we need to wake up right now.
"We should have made this game so much more comfortable than we have. We've only got ourselves to blame.
"It was way beyond tactics in the first half. Before you kick a ball or worry about tactics, you've got to show fight, desire and heart.
"You've got to be committed. You've got to run through walls. You've got to show these fans here that you're prepared to be all in.
"The first half performance was so far away from where I wanted it to be".
