Out with barely a whimper, I just didn’t see coming.

But come it most certainly did and there is no time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves. Tonight's match against Dunfermline means that we simply have to find the answers and lift ourselves out of this slump quickly. Then comes the Europa League, which now becomes a financial necessity, sandwiched in between league games at Dingwall then at home to our biggest rivals.

Football has done what it’s always prone to, bringing you back down to earth with a shuddering bang. They say you are only as good as your last game and that’s true - even more at a club like our own - but quite how they have produced a week as baffling as the one we have just witnessed is a complete shock to the system.

I suppose the question really should be - is it that much of a shock?

Pre-season hasn’t been good and I have spoken previously that injuries, suspensions and international duty has dramatically affected our summer preparation. So it’s not a complete surprise really is it?

READ MORE: Rangers 1-2 Malmo: Tactical and data-driven match report

Well, it is because there is no way that all that combined suddenly stops you doing the basics of what made you so successful last season.

When Rangers have had down patches of form under Gerrard the play has been passive and always ‘safe’. Ball out wide, side to side with very little invention and the same players trying to take responsibility. When you look at the last week, the comparisons are startling and those bad habits are clearly visible.

That’s been clearly evident, the safe, passive play and no aggressive invention which brought rewards. Rangers found ways, they responded to setbacks and played the ball around with purpose when they won the title in invincible fashion. The Rangers team we are seeing lacks those attributes and looks like the same side that suffered catastrophic dips in form durning previous seasons.

That is my biggest concern. Even if they are trying to do the right things and failing because they are off form, then they would still be at least sticking to what made us successful. The fact that the last week they look like a side who has slipped into old bad habits is dangerous.

There is no time to sulk, hard work absolutely has to get us through this period and there can be no hiding place from it either.

We have put these players on a platform of God-like status after they delivered the title and that is the standard they have to hit right now. The big players - Tavernier, Barisic, Goldson (sign a new deal or move him on) and Kent - have to stand up and be counted. The form they have produced this last week is a massive drop off from what they have produced previously.

The manager also takes responsibility and the big selection decisions haven’t paid off. Of course, there is a thin line but when you praise Filip Helander as being superb in Sweden, then drop him for the return and that replacement ships two goals, then you are going to have to accept criticism because he has got it wrong.

Inevitably that brings accusations that he has no plan B when his rigid formation choice remains and accusations that the players can’t perform under pressure.

I’ve spoken before about complacency and Rangers being the only thing that can stop Rangers. When those accusations are now thrown at the team they have to re-write that narrative because results don’t do it for them. For that to happen they need to be brave on and off the ball - there is no magic wand.

READ MORE: The Malmo throw-in echo that bamboozled Rangers analysed

There also is no hiding place. They either stand up to it or destroy a legacy that has barely started. That’s life at Rangers.

‘55’ is consigned to history and any ‘good will’ they built up has been evaporated in the last week.

As bad as things have been, and it has been bad, it can swing just as quickly back. Hard work and application are now the order of the day.

Rangers are a very good side and we have proved it last season - now we have to do it again. The Champions League failure will have repercussions and that will be seen in the coming weeks which will play out most likely in the transfer market. We will wait and see with that.

For now, we pick ourselves up and dust ourselves down. The alternative isn’t worth contemplating.