The results will tell you that we opened with a couple of convincing 4-1 wins, sandwiching a battling performance at Tynecastle that earned us a maximum 9 points from 9. The results don't tell you how we performed in those games. For much of the opening game Falkirk were a match for Rangers – their passing was crisp, their movement was fluid and the scoreline was perhaps a little unfair on Eddie May's men. The Hearts game saw us lose Kevin Thomson to a soft red-card but only a half-time bollocking from Walter Smith saw us stand up and be counted to earn all 3 points. Hamilton at home? We put four goals past one of the worst professional football teams I've ever witnessed (and I've seen Dumbarton play this season) and yet we gift the Lanarkshire men an easy goal when we were under absolutely no pressure. And then came the games against Motherwell and Killie...
The Motherwell game should have held no fears. Jim Gannon was given a massive rebuilding job to do on a Primark shoestring budget and yet his side passed us off the park for much of the 90 minutes. They created the best chances. They made the most of their possession. Had it not been for an Allan McGregor save - and perhaps the substitution of regular penalty taker Ross Forbes - we'd have dropped all three points rather than escaping with one. There was more to come the following weekend, and whilst a hangover from our European adventure was perhaps to be expected, the way we simply ran out of ideas and, at times, found our commitment lacking was unacceptable for even the most loyal of fan.
We haven't had our problems to seek. The major talking points so far include our discipline. We've had 3 dismissals in 5 games and that's the kind of form that attracts fines from the governing body. We can dispute the Thomson red: it was early in the game, he was returning from a lengthy absence with little pre-season and there was no real danger of injury in the tackle. It was clumsy from Thomson and certainly deserved a booking but a red? It was harsh. Similarly Mendes can feel genuinely upset by his first yellow at Rugby Park but with the ref having set the standard it could be argued that he was silly allowing himself to pick up the 2nd yellow. Bougherra on the other hand was justified. He spent the whole of the first half in Edinburgh mouthing off towards the match officials and appeared to escape punishment. That he didn't learn to control his tongue would ultimately cost him. The penalty decision was soft – the ball was going away from Jutkiewicz and he posed very little immediate danger – but the tackle was clumsy and the ref made his decision. What followed was petulance. No ref has ever changed his decision because a player has shouted at him and Bougherra should know better than to remonstrate with officials. He's no inexperienced kid and his indiscipline could have cost Rangers.
In recent days we've seen both French import Jerome Rothen and cult favourite Nacho Novo complain that Rangers have been given a raw deal with some important decisions. Smith attempts to maintain a dignified and humble stance but he too would be forgiven for feeling more than a little angry. The problem we have however is that our general indiscipline is rooted in something far more worrying than poor refereeing: Shocking inconsistency. For 45 minutes against Hearts, Rangers looked good. We fought for everything and we earned our just rewards. For 30 minutes against Stuttgart we looked like we belonged in the esteemed company of Europe's elite and could perhaps have justified all 3 points. Our problem is that for the other 5 hours and 15 minutes we've played this season, Rangers have been so far off the pace that you'd be forgiven for thinking that we were the ones who'd undergone a summer of turmoil and had been forced to chase manager after manager, ultimately relying on kids and free signings.
Our passing has been inaccurate, our movement often slow and predictable and at times we've been stretched by players who are lucky to be playing club football at all. Gannon's Motherwell was a particularly painful lesson given the mess Motherwell were in at the end of last season and a team consisting of kids and journeymen taught us a footballing lesson. The Queen of the South game was always going to be a hiding to nothing: struggle and our confidence takes a further dive whilst a resounding victory against a lower league side would be greeted with nothing more than expectation. An early goal secured, Rangers were content to sit back and in the 2nd half we were almost punished. Weatherston lacked the composure to punish us but not the chances and two good saves by Alexander kept us in the game.
We've played five games of a gruelling league campaign that stretches out in front of us. We're a mere 2 points behind the league leaders and enjoy a two point advantage over 3rd and 4th – there's everything to play for and a hard-fought point in Germany stands us in good stead for our Champions League group. That has to be balanced however against some terrible individual and team performances. Nobody has really stood up to be counted so far and a half game here and there is no substitute to consistency. There's a real danger that we'll allow ourselves to use refereeing grievances as a convenient excuse for sub-standard performances. Our trademark over recent years has been our discipline – we were tough to break down, we were organised and we were controlled but those skills seem to have gone. Mendes has yet to stamp his class on a game and Davis' energy has so far been missing. Miller spends too much time chasing lost causes and despite scoring in our opening game, he's looked every bit the reluctant striker we feared. Whittaker's defensive frailty has been apparent so far and at the heart of our defence we've seen indiscipline from Bougherra and the prospect that age has finally caught up with 39-year-old Davie Weir. In Jerome Rothen we have a player who can deliver crosses with pinpoint accuracy but so far we've seen him perform for 30 minutes against Stuttgart and precious little else. A French international should be stamping his class on games – not being given a torrid time by a Charlton cast-off.
Its easy to accuse the panic merchants of being over-dramatic. Its early in the season and we still have ample time to get our act together. The first stage of addressing any problem is admitting that it's there and so far even the most loyal of supporters would admit that Rangers have some very obvious problems. We lost Bougherra to suspension and then Weir to injury – Smith must be keeping every finger and toe crossed that the two don't miss more games and the nightmare scenario would be that both are missing from the Gers first team together. We have a side who've played together, Rothen apart, for a full season and yet at times we look like we've just met up that day and the big fella has told us who's on our team and which way we're shooting. I'd also criticise the squad we took to Dumfries – with 3 difficult games in 8 days, surely we should be looking at what Fleck, Wilson, Ness, Stirling, Wylde and Little can offer. Little is 20 years old and has featured in the full Northern Ireland squad yet Smith still appears reluctant to rotate his squad and protect our players for the games ahead. Fatigue cant be an excuse but the threat of injury undoubtedly was an issue against Queen of the South and we're lucky that we escaped the game unscathed.
So what does this season hold for us? It holds the prospect of an impressive Algerian defender who can only grow in stature combining with a combative midfield duo, a classy Champions League winning midfielder and a young striker showing that he's put his injury hell behind him to fire us to domestic success and European respectability. Make no mistake, Rangers have the strongest first team in the SPL and on our day we need fear nobody. The problem we face is largely of our own creating – that so far we've underperformed to some extent in every game this season. We have a chance to improve with the visit of our northern enemy, our esteemed Spanish opponents and our great city rivals and the next 8 days could go some way to showing us exactly what the current Rangers team is made of.
Its time for the real Rangers to stand up and be counted.