Two weeks after some OTT singing and dancing, there was no buzz about the place, no great belief that we might be about to set off on a long winning run and no spark to make it happen.
This weekend's performance was as poor as anything I've witnessed in more than 40 years of following Rangers. Apart from a first half block of a Tommy Buffel shot, Caley Thistle keeper Mark Brown had an untroubled afternoon. If we were still playing now, I bet we'd still be struggling to get the equaliser.
So where do we go from here? When we were trailing seven points behind the Great Unwashed, it was always asking a lot to peg them back. Ten points is just about mission impossible. Sure, they'll drop points, maybe even more than ten, but can you really see the present Rangers team going through the rest of the season without any further slip-ups? Nope, me neither.
It really is a sorry state of affairs that we are out of contention for the SPL title before the clocks have gone back. And while I'm prepared to give PLG time to get it right, I think he has to do more than trot out the 'I'll do it my way' line. By dropping Allan McGregor for Lionel Letizi, he was setting himself up for a fall and the Frenchman's inability to hold a fairly inoccuous shot landed him in the shit.
Many are now beginning to ask questions of Le Gaffer and he really has to give us answers if he wants the fans to show some patience. I'm not asking him to explain each and every decision he makes but a hint about his plans for the future, the time-scale for a genuine revival and how he intends to bring it about will help to keep Bears onside.
For now, it looks like we're staring at an action replay of last season and, having been so positive about things during the summer, that is so hard to swallow. Injuries to Jeremy Clement and Burkey haven't helped but is our squad so threadbare that the absence of two players can mean our title challenge is over in October?
Perhaps Paul Le Guen inherited a bigger job than he expected. If that is the case, and it looks like it from where I'm standing, he should come out and say so...then nail down David Murray for the resources to put things right.
If we continue to plod on, PLG had better get used to the boos which rang out around the ground on Saturday afternoon. And he might also give a bit of thought to his own reputation if he doesn't come up with some sort of gameplan which can re-establish Rangers as a serious force in the mickey mouse environment of the SPL.
Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to Thursday's game in Livorno. It is a clear indication of how far we have fallen that a visit to a run-of-the-mill Italian side has us crapping ourselves. It is not acceptable and PLG must find a solution soon if he is not to be remembered as the Dr Jo Venglos of Rangers.
I'm still backing him to get it right. But my support is no longer blind. I want to see tangible evidence of an improvement and taking maximum points from our next four league games (against St.Mirren, Motherwell, Dundee United and Dunfermline) is hardly asking too much.
If it is, I'm unlikely to be the only Bear who will be looking at Paul Le Guen in a different light.
ERWIN G.