Ally McCoist has questioned why Rangers have allowed their standards to drop over the past few seasons. 

Rangers were runner's up in the UEFA Europa League in May 2022, but fast forward two-and-a-bit years and the Light Blues look way off competing with the competitions best teams.

The 4-1 home defeat to Lyon on Thursday night showcased that sentiment as the Scottish Premiership powerhouse were second best for the most part. 

Rangers dropped into Europe's secondary competition after failing to progress through a two-legged Champions League play-off against Dynamo Kyiv in August.

"There's been a decline in the standards, definitely," McCoist, who received an OBE from the Royal Family on Wednesday, told TNT Sports during the second half.

"Three or four years ago, they could compete with these teams. So you have to ask what's gone wrong?"

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Reflecting more on why Rangers struggled to match Lyon at times, McCoist continued: "The difference for me on the entire pitch was in the forward area for Lyon.

“I thought particularly in wide areas with the quality of finishing. I mean Lacazette's second goal is out of this world; the finish is absolutely out of this world.

"You could argue that there might've been an offside in the build up but it didn't matter really. They had a lovely balance, something different. They had a bit of pace, direction and positivity with Fofana on the right-hand side, and Cherki, his feet and his vision, they had a lovely balance within their front three. That, for me, was the massive difference between the side's. Rangers could not handle it, simple as."

(Image: PA) Stephen Thompson on BBC Sportsound wondered whether the Rangers manager was more optimistic than he should be with recent domestic results perhaps masking underwhelming performances. 

Reacting to the 90 minutes, he said: "We saw what happened to Celtic midweek in the Champions League and Rangers were outclassed similarly this evening, albeit at home. 

"But Rangers, this is the worrying thing for them, are quite a distance behind Celtic in terms of the quality players that they've got, especially in forward areas.

"Rangers had built up a wee bit of momentum with the four clean sheets, but the performances, Malmo apart, haven't been great. 

"So maybe they've been masking with results instead of performances. The manager will try to get a rhetoric of 'it's looking good'. But is it? That's the question."

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Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes on TNT Sports punditry duty shared a similar sentiment to McCoist in terms of Rangers failing to be clinical on the big stage.  

"Rangers got off to a really good start," he commented. "Cerny missed a stick-on at the back post he'll be disappointed with. But once the front three had an influence, Rangers found it difficult.

"The fourth goal knocks any kind of encouragement out of the Rangers lads. Then it's just about seeing out the minutes. Clement made a few changes, maybe with Sunday in mind, because he knew it was beyond them. The quality was the real difference in the forward areas."

Finally ex-Rangers striker Kris Boyd turned the credit on to Heart of Midlothian for flying the flag for Scotland this week. 

The managerless Edinburgh club scored a last minute winner to beat Dimano Minsk in Azerbaijan. 

Discussing how Rangers got on and the overall performance of the Scottish contingent this week, Boyd told Sky Sports News: "Cerny had an opportunity before Lyon scored right at the start to put Rangers up but missed it from inside the six yard box, smashed it over the bar.

(Image: Sky Sports) “From that moment on it was all Lyon. The front three absolutely ripped Rangers apart this evening.

"To be honest, it was four, but it could have been a lot more. Lyon were outstanding.

"But this week? You have to give Hearts credit, the team from the capital the only Scottish team to go and get a victory in Europe. Fantastic performance.

"It's hard to believe Rangers have lost 4-1 tonight, and it's not even the worst result for a Scottish club in Europe this week."