Rangers' 4/10 dud was "unspeakably bad" vs Motherwell

Glasgow Rangers may have shown their fighting spirit during their comeback victory in midweek, but this was severely lacking at Ibrox this afternoon.

Barry Ferguson had led the Gers to league titles and a plethora of domestic honours on the pitch at Ibrox, deserving of an excellent reception ahead of the clash against Motherwell.

However, it was a different atmosphere at full-time, as the club suffered a dismal 2-1 defeat to the Steelmen. The away side scored twice in the opening 30 minutes courtesy of Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow, and they were deserving of their lead at the break.

Cyriel Dessers scored within 10 minutes of the restart and they had a goal disallowed late on. The defeat was the club’s sixth of the Scottish Premiership campaign – hardly the best preparation ahead of the Europa League clash against Fenerbahçe on Thursday.

Rangers’ best and worst performers vs Motherwell

In truth, Mohamed Diomande was arguably the only player who looked up for the task. The midfielder made three key passes during his time on the pitch, while succeeding with 100% of his dribbles and taking three shots in total.

Diomande also won 100% of his total duels contested in what was a solid display despite the final score.

Elsewhere, there wasn’t much to shout about. Dessers may have scored yet again, but he only managed to complete 15 passes and take 34 touches throughout the 90 minutes.

At the back, James Tavernier and Robin Propper failed to prevent Motherwell from scoring and lost possession 18 times between them in what was a poor showing from the duo.

Ferguson made three subs at half-time, bringing off Hamza Igamane, Propper and Ianis Hagi. It was the Romanian who failed to showcase his true talents, which could have turned the game.

Ianis Hagi’s game in numbers v Motherwell

Hagi was deployed on the left of a four-man midfield as Ferguson opted to use a 4-4-2 system at Ibrox this afternoon, but this tactical tweak failed to have the desired effect.

Hagi took 44 touches during the first half, yet lost possession 15 times in total, failing to make anything positive happen. He even completed fewer accurate passes than Jack Butland (19 v 21) during his spell on the pitch.

He had one shot off target, delivered just two accurate crosses from 10 attempts and succeeded with only 50% of his dribble attempts during the first half.

There is no doubt that the attacking midfielder has shown glimpses of his talents since returning to the fold in October, but this will be a match he will look to forget.

Having been awarded a match rating of 4/10 by Ibrox News, Hagi was also criticised by journalist Michael McEwan on X, who said:

“I’ve been critical of him recently but Mo Diomande is the only Rangers player who looks worthy of the jersey today. The rest have been 3/10 at best. Jefte, Cerny, Ridvan and Hagi have been unspeakably bad.”

Ferguson will have to get back to the drawing board, especially as a trip to Turkey awaits in a few days.

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