In the build-up to this Europa League qualifier against Jagiellonia Bialystok, Rangers manager Derek McInnes had spoken of how the club were ‘playing with fire’.
His words were in reference to the lack of bodies in key positions. Down to the bare bones at left-back, it was a hurry-up aimed at the club’s board and recruitment department.
Yet, on a night when McInnes was chasing his first win as manager, the unfancied Poles turned up at Ibrox, doused the place in petrol and lit a match.
Make no mistake, McInnes is in serious danger of being engulfed by the flames even this early in his tenure. The vitriolic reaction from fans at full-time made that abundantly clear.
His team are nothing short of a shambles. He can moan about a lack of cover in certain positions all he wants. The reality is that he is not getting the best out of those players under his command.
The blame for this Europa League exit lies squarely at his door. No one else’s.
Cammy Devlin, Findlay Curtis and Lawrence Shankland react to a bitterly disappointing result
Rangers will now drop down into the Europa Conference League qualifiers, where they will face Jablonec of Czechia.
Given the way the atmosphere turned toxic towards the end, this had echoes of Russell Martin against Club Brugge last season.
At least Martin had the excuse that Brugge were actually a very decent Champions League side. Jagiellonia are second-rate opposition – and Rangers still couldn’t beat them.
At the end, many of the Rangers players slumped to their knees, before awkwardly circling around the pitch to applaud the supporters.
There was no gratitude to be found from those who stayed. Instead, torrents of abuse and boos rained down from a fanbase already at their wits end even this early in the campaign.
A long, long season lies in store on the evidence Rangers have produced over their first four matches, none of which have yielded a win.
Nico Raskin was posted missing again last night and was hooked shortly after the Poles had equalised midway through the second half.
Other players such as Manny Fernandez and Ryan Naderi are miles – absolutely miles – off the required standard to succeed at a club like Rangers.
Nik Prelec heads home the goal that silenced Ibrox and ended Rangers’ Europa League hopes
It may still be early in the season but this was a horribly damaging night for McInnes on the back of the home defeat to Hibs last weekend.
The injury to Tuur Rommens, along with the absence of any other competent left-sided defender, forced McInnes into another reshuffle and change of system. He opted for a back three of Fernandez, Dujon Sterling and Olwethu Makhanya, with Djeidi Gassama and Daisuke Yokota deployed as the wing-backs.
The chopping and changing between systems and personnel has been a prominent feature of these early weeks of the McInnes era, albeit this one was forced upon him.
After only coming off the bench for the final five minutes of last week’s first leg in Poland, Lawrence Shankland was restored to the starting XI.
This felt like a big night for the newly appointed captain, both in terms of proving he can cut it at a higher level than the SPFL Premiership and also his ability to lead by example.
Jagiellonia were having a fair amount of joy down the flanks in the early stages. Particularly down their right flank, with Gassama guilty of switching off far too often.
Rangers were fortunate not to fall behind on 14 minutes when a slick move from the Poles cut the home side wide open straight through the middle.
Jesus Imaz latched on to a neat through ball and only had Ivor Pandur to beat, but his shot came back off the post and the ball was eventually scrambled clear.
Rangers players were left to contemplate a season in the Conference League… at best
That was the cue for a section of the Ibrox crowd to erupt in anger, clearly less than enamoured at what they were watching and with Europa League qualification in serious danger of slipping away.
There was no question the stadium was growing tense and nervy even so early in the contest. It was a timely boost, then, when Rangers took the lead on 18 minutes.
Operating from the right wing, Yokota was comfortably Rangers’ brightest player in attack and he was instrumental in the move which eventually led to the award of a penalty.
A handball against former Celtic defender Yuki Kobayashi was spotted by the VAR and the referee was called over to the monitor. Shankland stepped up and calmly clipped the ball straight down the middle as Ibrox breathed a much-needed sigh of relief.
Dan Neil was having a decent game in midfield, with his energy and ability to read the play leading to Rangers winning the ball high up the pitch on a number of occasions.
Neil has been one of nine new summer signings thus far. For all that McInnes may bemoan the lack of options in certain positions, the reality is that he has still been well backed by the board.
With the tie now poised at 2-2 on aggregate, Rangers still had plenty of work to do and Thelo Aasgaard flashed a low shot just wide of the target on 35 minutes as they chased a second goal.
However, at the back, Rangers still looked far from convincing. There was a huge let-off seven minutes before half-time when Jagiellonia forward Nik Prelec skewed a shot wide after a good cross from Rodrigo Conceicao.
Even though his side had the lead on the night, McInnes clearly was not overly impressed with what he had seen in the opening 45 minutes. Aasgaard was hooked at half-time and Ross McCrorie was brought on at left-back as the manager reverted to a back four.
Decked out in their red-and-yellow kit, and backed by a decent travelling support, Jagiellonia sensed this was there for them.
Daichi Yokota was Rangers’ most creative player but in truth they were very poor on the night
It had been noted by a pundit on radio that ‘they kind of look like Partick Thistle a little bit’, in reference to the colour of jerseys worn by the Poles. Sadly for Rangers, the same reference could be made about them in terms of their performance levels. Plainly, this was a very tough watch.
Dull, nervy and laboured throughout, it was no surprise when Rangers finally caved and conceded an equaliser on 65 minutes.
Jagiellonia switched the play a couple of times to stretch the home defence, before Andrea Klynge swung over a good cross to the back post. Having fluffed his lines in the first half, Prelec made no mistake on this occasion as he bulleted a header past Pandur and into the net.
With the Poles now leading 3-2 on aggregate, this was utterly desperate from Rangers. No substance, no backbone, no leadership, no quality, no style of play – and absolutely no idea about what they were being asked to do.
On as a substitute, Bojan Miovski glanced a header just wide of the target with only a couple of minutes left to play.
The truth is that Rangers didn’t deserve to go through. They have regressed from last season. A League Cup tie with St Mirren on Sunday is a match McInnes dare not lose.
