An unimaginably bad Rangers team emptied Ibrox and make a mockery of standards (2025)

For all the chat about changing mentality none of what was on display in Saturday’s latest Ibrox defeat

There been a lot of talk about standards at Rangers recently.

But for all the chat about changing mentality none of what was on display in Saturday’s latest Ibrox defeat should really have been a surprise.

Hibs winning again? Standard. They’ve not lost a league game in their last 16 outings now.

Rangers losing at home again? Standard. That’s five in a row.

Ibrox emptying long before full time? Standard.

And that final point might be the most worrying after 50,000 Bears voted with their feet long before the final whistle.

While Hibs fans partied Rangers supporters were up the road having hit the boos early. Five defeats on the spin at Ibrox? One is bad, two is clumsy, three is unacceptable. Four made history as the worst ever.

But five? That brings home just how bad this Rangers side is.

And it doesn’t matter who is in the dugout.

Connor Barron admits the sight of the home stands emptying was tough to take - but the midfielder insists the fans were absolutely right after being served up another horror show.

And in eerily similar circumstances to the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren six weeks earlier – a day that ultimately cost Philippe Clement his job – the Bears headed for the exit after seeing their wilting side fall two goals behind in the 70th minute.

The last 20 minutes plus seven minutes of added time were played out against a backdrop of empty stands – save for the small corner of green and white away supporters who mocked their hosts by loudly chanting Barry Ferguson’s name.

Home comforts just aren’t a thing for Rangers right now — and haven’t been for some time. Ibrox used to be a fortress, a place where opponents feared to tread.

Now it’s a ground where visitors turns up believing, and more often than not, leave with the points.

The atmosphere, once electric, has been replaced with frustration, resignation and, as seen again on Saturday, a mass exodus.

The fear factor has gone, the swagger disappeared.

And with Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao next up in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, it’s little wonder the punters are struggling to muster any real belief.

A big European night should have Ibrox buzzing – instead, the mood is flat. The fans are weary, and they’ve had enough false dawns to last a lifetime.

Connor Barron knows it too. The midfielder feels the pain of every fan dragged through the wringer and understands exactly why so many of them are turning their backs on this team.

And asked how it feels as a player to see the fans leave in their droves, he said: “You feel the frustration. It’s annoying. It’s not what you like - but it was deserved.

“Are they right to question our character? Absolutely. They come here, they pay the money, they support the club and we pay them back like that today and too many times this season.

“It’s unacceptable and we need more from us. We’ve all had our piece to say, the staff, the players. We know that we can’t step over that white line for this football club and perform like that. It needs to change. It can’t just be on a Thursday, it needs to be every single time. It needs to be any game we pull on that shirt, it needs to be 100 per cent.We didn’t get that.”

All this is in stark contrast to the wins over Fenerbahce and Celtic in the last month – but both of those came on the road.

But Gers’ unfathomable form has reached the stage that if these players produce another euphoric Euro night against Bilbao it’ll raise more questions about their hunger for the bread and butter.

That’s the problem with this team, they could go on to win the Europa League but deep down you’d still know they can’t be trusted on home soil.

Hibs were brilliant and coasted to victory. They took advantage of another Jack Butland blunder to get their noses in front after just eight minutes.

The Leith men were clinical up top and Martin Boyle’s pace was a real source of threat. They were organised, creative and full of running in midfield – and rock solid at the back.

Hibs looked like they were enjoying defending their box where Rocky Bushiri was getting his head on crosses and throwing his huge frame in front of shots.

Jordan Smith in goal could hardly have hoped for an easier afternoon in his first taste of Ibrox. Rangers? Where do you start?

A keeper in Butland who looks absolutely shot of confidence and is chucking in goals weekly. Even after his howler, where he allowed Dylan Levitt’s well struck 25 yard shot to squirm under his body, he looked a bag of jaggies.

In front of him he had a defence that simply gives up too many chances – and have now conceded 14 goals in Ferguson’s seven games in charge while having not kept a clean sheet in 10.

A midfield that fluctuates from being bang at it against Fenerbahce and Celtic to bang average against Hibs, Motherwell, Dundee.

And a striker who really does look like he needs 10 attempts at goal to score.

That’s what it took Cyriel Dessers before he finally netted the winner against Dundee a week earlier.

This time he missed three big chances before half time. The first was saved by the legs of Smith but the next two – after being put clean through by Hamza Igamana and Vaclav Cerny – were blasted wildly off target.

It’s nowhere near good enough for a Rangers No.9.

Hibs could have stretched their lead if Josh Campbell hadn’t fired wide midway through the second half. Gers sub Nedim Bajrami saw an effort cannon off the bar but when Boyle raced off a static Mohamed Diomande to slot a second past Butland it was game over.

Ferguson accused his side of being “miles off a Rangers team” and Barron said: “It’s not nice to hear but we’re the ones on the pitch and we’ve got to hold ourselves accountable.