There's no way of sugar coating it.
Three consecutive defeats constitutes a major problem at Rangers and anyone in there who thinks otherwise is wearing the wrong shirt.
When I was growing up as a boy I had it drummed into me every day. At Ibrox, only one thing is acceptable and that’s winning.
Losing a match is a disaster so to suffer three in the space of seven or eight days is nowhere near good enough.
If there are players in that dressing room who think they deserve to be cut some slack because of what they achieved together last season then I’ve got news for them.
It doesn’t work that way in this part of the world and if you want to start curling up into a ball and feeling sorry for yourself now that the criticism is flying in your direction then you’d be as well emptying out your locker.
Trust me, I’ve been in this kind of situation plenty of times down the years and I learned there is only one way out of it.
As horrible as it is right now – and believe me, I know exactly how these boys will be feeling after being turned over twice by Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers – there is no hiding place at this club.
Criticism stings – and even if you think it’s way over the top, you have to be a big enough man to suck it up and use it as a motivation to bounce back stronger.
Look, I actually have some sympathy for the players. I do actually agree a lot of what’s been aimed at them over the last few days has been an overreaction. But this is Glasgow. Overreacting is our speciality.
You either learn to deal with it, or you crumble and allow it to completely overwhelm you.
I witnessed all sorts of examples during my own time inside that dressing room – and even before I finally made it in there myself.
As a kid I remember sitting in the bootroom next door at half-time and listening through the wall as the likes of Richard Gough and Ally McCoist were tearing lumps out of one another.
I’d be thinking to myself, “what the f*** is going on in there?”. They may have been drawing against Dundee United but you’d have thought these guys were five goals down judging by some of the language flying around.
I must admit. I loved it.
I’d tell myself, “If this is what it takes to be a Rangers player then I can’t get enough of it”.
It opened my eyes to the standards that were expected of anyone who made it into that home dressing room and it was a lesson I carried with me all through my career.
A few years later, I saw the other side of the coin. I’d watch big-money signings come into that same environment and struggle to get their heads around what was going on. They couldn’t understand why they were getting booed by the fans when it was still 0-0 at half time.
I’ll spare any blushes by not naming names. But, to be honest, even in the good times under Dick Advocaat some of the Dutch boys came in and looked around the place as if they landed on a different planet.
So, yes, it can take some getting used to. But right now this current Rangers team don’t have time to be confused.
They need to hear some home truths.
I’m sure Steven Gerrard has heard it all before and it wouldn’t surprise me if the manager decides to close the door behind him for an hour or so and let these players sort things out with a good chinwag. If it all gets a bit louder than usual then good.
Sometimes it’s healthy to get things off your chest. The players can’t let the manager be the only one left carrying the can.
So get together and get everything out there in the open.
That’s the sort of full and frank discussions that I’ve been involved in down the years because, at Rangers, you can’t just accept allowing levels to drop. You have to find a way of turning it around.
And that’s what I expect will be going on in there just now with leaders like Steve Davis, Allan McGregor, James Tavernier and Connor Goldson standing up to be counted and asking some tough questions of themselves and team-mates.
The kind of questions that sometimes have to be asked and that can’t be shirked.
Listen, and I may be accused of wearing blue tinted specs here, but this is not a moment for all-out panic. This is just a very bad start to the season. Nothing more, nothing less.
If, in five weeks from now, the results and performances have not improved significantly then, yes, it will be time to call out these players and question whether or not they belong to be there.
But I’ve seen more than enough from this team to believe they can dig a way out of this slump sooner rather than later.
I know if I was in there I’d be bursting for tomorrow’s
kick-off against Dunfermline to come around so I could start making amends.
No, a place in the next round of the Premier Sports Cup is not going to undo the damage that’s been done over the last week or so. But it’s a chance to draw a line under a bad run of results. And after a spectacular wobble, that’s probably as good a first step as any.
