Certain Rangers players need a Dutch Brown Brogue right up their backsides - Four Lads

Rangers have serious short term issues that need immediately rectified and he has witnessed them all first hand. We have gone from being a solid defensive unit to one that is leaking goals at an extraordinary and alarming rate, more of that to come in a minute. We have also gone from a team with a goalkeeper pulling off spectacular saves, to a team that have faced twelve shots in last five games and conceded nine of them, more of that to come also. Worryingly some players attitude is even more questionable and that is hugely problematic. Our previous manager used the word ‘ego’ in comments to press and when Connor Goldson said they need a ‘spark’ and it feels like some have lost their hunger, I now link it to what was said before, but also more about that to come.

Rangers rolled up to Hampden and were promptly unravelled in a 15-minute spell the kind of which has become all too regular this season - moments of absolute madness that give the team a mountain to climb such as giving Aberdeen a two-goal start just weeks ago. This team have been ‘treading water’ this season in games and it finally caught up with them.

READ MORE: 3 burning Rangers issues as lamentable defensive showing sends Hibs to final

The sixth game in a row we have conceded the first goal, the fourth goal in the last five games we have lost from a corner and the aforementioned nine goals conceded from 12 attempts on target. Rangers are soft-centred and easy to get at.

So what is going wrong? Well I don’t have the answers and this isn’t football manager but I can tell you how it looks to a normal fan.

It’s a mixture of loss of form and a really poor attitude from some of the players. Some of them need a rocket right up their backsides or a Dutch Brown Brogue. There are one or two in danger of seriously being asked if they really care because it looks like they don’t.

It starts with the goalkeeper position, this is now an immediate issue for Giovanni and he has a huge problem to solve. Allan McGregor has been a giant for Rangers but he is so far from last season's form and there is a very obvious disconnect from his defence. I am not going to tear apart a very real legend of the club but he was extremely poor for the first two on Sunday and his apparent refusal to leave his line is causing huge issues for a hugely fragile defence. The fact he isn’t making those big saves obviously means we’ll look at him but when he’s making errors it equally means even more scrutiny. The fact he won’t leave his line means we are vulnerable, Boyle had time to take a touch and riffle the first home, when he did he was three yards out and McGregor was already on the deck. The second went through him like he wasn’t there. When teams are scoring so freely from corners and the goalkeeper won’t leave his line then some of the responsibility is on him. He isn’t playing well and has suffered a loss of form.

The number one position is very much up for grabs and going forward I would be inclined to look at Jon McLaughlin to start with and Robby McCrorie as a very real option going forward. Unpopular as it may be, Allan McGregor isn’t in the form to be our current number one.

The centre-back position is the biggest problem with a struggling Leon Balogun, who I am convinced doesn’t look fit and a Connor Goldson who thinks he’s Franco Baresi after one solid season in three. Couple that with full-backs who have stopped performing consistently and you have real issues. Crosses are no longer being stopped and goals are no longer being created from open play as regularly. In fact, the freshness of Bassey and Patterson are very real and strong possibilities. Borna Barisic has regressed so much he is one who I strongly question attitude-wise. He was so strong and consistent that I wonder where his head is at? Did he want to move on or does he now want to go? He looks like Borna when he first came. But the full-back positions are up for grabs in my opinion.

READ MORE: Detailed Rangers player ratings as shambolic first half caps lifeless performance

Both Bassey and Patterson bring Rangers a freshness and a drive to a team that look stale. Defensively it’s an immediate conundrum that starts with the GK position but also includes underperforming full-backs and centre-backs who have lost form and confidence. Unfortunately for Giovanni, centrally he doesn’t have a lot of options. Jack Simpson has never looked up to standard and Fil Helander is still a month or so away from fitness.

Here’s where we get to another of the likely unpopular points of the article - the Connor Goldson situation. You may remember many articles before I spoke of his situation and was rather blunt - he either signs up or he leaves at the first immediate possibility, well this now becomes a priority for Van Bronckhorst. Goldson either signs the deal or he is finished and as vice-captain of Rangers. Comments like Sunday need to be drilled right out of him. Some things don’t get said in public. If anyone at Rangers doesn’t have the hunger or thinks at HT ‘we are 3-1 down and the game is done’ then they need to be shown the door. That situation is a priority.

The midfield needs to be fixed but at least is in a stronger position with options in it, but please dump the overly defensive selection. This team doesn’t need to play with three rigid midfielders as it ended up on Sunday. It’s Kamara and another midfielder with a more expansive one thereafter in a ten, that’s how Van Bronckhorst likes it anyway so there is room to fix that to be more attacking. At the moment there is far to many sideways passes and passive play that doesn’t benefit anyone. But part of that is because the attack is so stale and static. There is options in there and players like Aribo, Hagi and Bacuna need to be utilised properly.

Here’s where we get to the another unpopular point in the article and that is that this team is currently better with Alfredo Morelos not in it.

That Hampden performance by Morelos was an absolute shocker and looked like a striker who had chucked in the towel. He didn’t press the defence, he didn’t make runs behind or down the sides of the defenders and when he did drop deep his touch was poor or he played it out of the field. His all round lack of application was poor and it was incredible he lasted the ninety minutes but the less said about the somewhat crazy substitutions the better. If I can be blunt it looked like Alfredo couldn’t care less.

READ MORE: Connor Goldson’s Rangers blast in full as defender admits team have ‘lost hunger’

If Alfredo is one with ego problems or he has lost his hunger then it goes back to what I said in this column only days ago, it’s a conundrum the manager must sort because he either gets him sharp and the best out of him or his time at Rangers is UP. That’s the situation because Alfredo on Sunday is of zero use to this team.

The attack is unbalanced because there is no right hand side and Aribo is doing admirably there but is a central midfielder by trade. We have looked brighter because Sakala has added a raw freshness, pace and he actually presses. He offers a movement Alfredo hasn’t for eighteen months. It is no coincidence that Kent, Kamara and Aribo play better when they have movement and pace to find.

But Alfredo isn’t the only one and there is too many giving just about enough or not anywhere near good enough. I’m talking Barisic, Kamara and even Davis, we could name anyone really. The captain had a horror show on Sunday and just when I’m offering him an apology in the last article, he is throwing a stinker right back at me.

This squad needs to ask itself questions before they allow the new manager the opportunity to answer it for them. None of them are safe.

And this is where it starts to get tricky and people will say, 'we are top of the league don’t talk nonsense, you are overreacting' but this team is stale and has been patchy for too long. There are very serious immediate questions for Van Bronckhorst and he has had a small glimpse of them.

Giovanni has seen it all first hand and now he knows just some of what he has to sort. The bottom line is Sunday was so far away from being good enough and some individual performances were dreadful with a questionable attitude to match. This isn’t a one off or a reactionary article because we have discussed this all before. Europe is huge on Thursday and the league moves into a vital phase.

There is absolutely no room for these players to be phoning in performances or treading water or any other phrase the support may want to throw at them. I don’t have the answers, I am a normal fan in the stands and yes we are top of the league and yes we are in with a chance in Europe. But that could all unravel just as quickly as the 15 minutes that cost us at Hampden.

Gio has a lot to sort and very immediate problems to deal with but there is options and solutions within his squad, he just needs to find them. Goalkeeper, defence, contracts and a striker that needs sparked into life. It’s not a disaster yet, but it’s not all rosey. Those solutions won’t be long term but long enough that he can get his own solutions to the questions that need answered.

Whilst I may not know all the answers and the team problems may not be what I think, I certainly know one thing for certain - this is Rangers and if you have lost your hunger or your ego is out of control, then there is the door. One title doesn’t make you a legend of this club and it certainly doesn’t make you the finished article.

A message to this squad. You gave us 55 but the goodwill from that has gone, leave your ego at the door and get your heads down. The hard works starts now or your Rangers careers will be ended by a Dutchman who has seen it all first hand.