Rangers endured another miserable pre-season performance as Birmingham City put Philippe Clement's men to the sword at St Andrew's.

The thousands of away supporters roundly booed a pitiful first-half display and you couldn't blame them. James Tavernier, a surprise starter given the noise surrounding his future, turned into his own net for the opener before Alfie May slotted past Liam Kelly eight minutes before the break.

Clement rang the changes at half-time with Connor Barron, Scott Wright, Leon King and Cyriel Dessers coming on and it was Wright who produced a moment of magic to spring Rangers into life with 20 minutes remaining but an equalising goal was to evade the Ibrox club.

Rangers round off their pre-season campaign with a trip to the German capital to face Union Berlin on Saturday but it is clear that this is a team in desperate need of quality additions and fast.

(Image: PA)

James Tavernier returns

Despite the skipper reportedly agreeing personal terms with Trabzonspor it was a surprise to see Tavernier back in the starting line-up at St Andrews. Unfortunately, he marked his return by putting through his own net 10 minutes in from a Koji Miyoshi corner and looked every inch like a player who hasn't featured for a while.

He was replaced at half time by Leon King who played the remaining 45 minutes at right-back and generally competed well.

No place for Connor Goldson

Despite travelling down with the team, Goldson was a notable omission from the playing squad and Philippe Clement confirmed the reason prior to kick-off when he told Rangers TV the club had accepted a bid for the central defender. "Connor was planned to start today so that was the idea but there was a complete offer for him so I allowed him to go and speak with this team," he said. That's why he left today and we will see in the next couple of days."

The 31-year-old is widely expected to join Cypriot side Aris Limassol ending a six-year stay at Ibrox. Clinton Nsiala made his debut in place of Goldson at centre-back alongside Leon Balogun.

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Signs of improvement?

The thousands of Rangers fans who travelled down to the Midlands would've wanted to see an improvement on the previous showing against Manchester United's second string but unfortunately, they're making their way home even more concerned about what the season has in store after a dismal performance.

It was an experimental starting 11 that Clement fielded and it very much looked like 11 strangers on the park. The lack of cohesion and fluidity was clear to see and Clement cut a frustrated figure at various points throughout the game. As it stands, there is no question, this is a weaker Rangers team than the one that finished last season.

Style of play questions

Concerns over what Clement is trying to do with this Rangers team won't go away after a disjointed display. There is a distinct lack of quality in the attacking areas with Rangers rarely troubling the Blues backline and on the rare occasion they did get sight of goal they fluffed their lines. Danilo started the match but looks a long way off from being at the level Rangers need him to be. On the plus side, it looks like an injection of quality is just around the corner with arrivals imminent. Rangers need them to hit the ground running.

Defensively, Rangers looked shaky every time Birmingham advanced into the final third before the break and the two goals conceded were given away cheaply. This is a team that looks all over the place and with just 10 days to go until the league opener at Tynecastle, fans have every right to be worried.

Any positives?

There weren't many bright sparks for fans who made the trip to Birmingham. Wright, on as a substitute at half-time, produced an exquisite piece of control and finish to halve the deficit in the 70th minute and he was Rangers' most creative outlet in the second half.  Interestingly he was deployed in the No.10 role.

Meanwhile, Nsiala, starting for the first time alongside Leon Balogun at the heart of the backline acquitted himself well at points. He is very much a raw defender learning the game but made a vital block a few minutes in and denied another shot at goal shortly after.

(Image: PA)

On the ball, Nsiala looked relatively comfortable and played a sublime pass forward to Cole McKinnon midway through the first half, which set up a Rabbo Matondo chance. That aside, there was very little for the Rangers fans to cheer but, as ever, they sang throughout creating a vibrant atmosphere.