Rangers careers are on the line after Union debacle - Stevie Clifford

A performance arguably as bad, for an overall ninety minutes, that we have had under Gio and just like Parkhead back in early February it is one I hope he learns from as quickly as possible.

The stark reality is we were lucky to get out of there with just a two-goal deficit because, with two one-on-one chances and a header off the line, this could have been amongst the heaviest defeats in Rangers' European history. No away goals mean we are still in the tie but precedence tells us just how difficult it is going to be.

Ibrox will need another almighty effort to help the team and we have seen just how powerful we can be, indeed it was only just a few short months ago that we had the Braga manager tell us how it terrified his young team.

So how did this happen? The truth is hindsight is a wonderful thing but the manager got it wrong. Not only did he get it wrong but he left it far too long to change it. He is entitled to point to the previous European run and say his ideas worked, but Rangers were bland and without any real tempo to our game. The team selection proved to be wrong and I am becoming considerably troubled by the manager’s insistence on playing Glen Kamara in an advanced midfield role.

I don’t believe it works and I don’t believe there are the numbers to support that it works either. He has the ability to seem completely on the fringes of games in that position and was easily bypassed on Tuesday. With Malik Tillman being our most promising player in the league opener, pushing him wide left to accommodate Kamara left me even more frustrated.

But there were bad nights for Ryan Jack and Borna Barisic, their hesitant and weak defending played a huge part in our opening concession. Barisic looks like a man very much playing on his nerves, his mentality has always been in question and it should be a matter of time before Ridvan Yilmaz begins to start in place of him. The left side of the defence is a definite weakness that we hope Yilmaz and a fit Ben Davies can rectify it quickly. Both must be in contention to start immediately.

But Rangers have to play to our strengths and we need to sort it out quickly. We have to start games quickly and we must get up to speed immediately, these slow starts in games has to stop.

We have a lot of players out which does not help. Arguably you could say at least five would come into that team from the other night and you wouldn’t be wrong. Ryan Kent is a huge miss and once again, just like last season against Malmo, we have to hope Alfredo Morelos is ready for a Roy of the Rovers type return.

But the manager must learn. The midfield is not right and that chemistry must be found quickly, dare I also say it, he has to take the handbrake off also. Dropping John Lundstram into centre-back when he is our best midfielder is something that’s no longer productive. I believe we should be looking at the return of Steven Davis next to Lundstram and behind a promising-looking Malik Tillman. For me, Ryan Jack has looked sluggish and alongside Glen Kamara, both have played their way out of this side, for now at least.

Davis remains the one capable of dictating play and setting a progressive tempo. He’s not a long-term answer but perhaps that’s an area that we must improve with a signing before the window closes. For me, he would be an immediate improvement to this midfield and a catalyst to return to better form.

We have a lot more to offer from what we have shown but positively we now have three home games to try and find our groove. The manager must learn from this and the players have to be aware of how much they have let everyone down.

Rangers can still repair the damage done or the repercussions will be damaging for more than one. Some players have played their way out of the first team for the imminent future and they must surely now be looking over their shoulders for their first team spot indefinitely.

The manager can’t continue with his selection and tempo which seems to be evident now, further to that if he doesn’t want that then he has change it and stop picking those that aren’t performing. Far be it for me to question a man that has done so much in football but he has to sort out the key selections quickly.

We have a lot of new signings, patience and time are required. But we don’t have that do we? Rangers are in a hole they created by themselves, it’s imperative we dig ourselves out of it.

The players and manager owe the fans a huge turnaround and they better be ready, failure at this stage and against modest opposition is completely unacceptable.

The summer holidays are over, maybe the players need reminding of that.