“Sloppy in possession” – Rangers player ratings v Killie

After yet another false dawn for Rangers has been made clear by a dismal night in Kilmarnock, Ibrox Noise takes you through our match ratings for the evening’s ‘fare’ at Rugby Park:

Allan McGregor:

Not great from him tonight, possibly one of his worst since returning. Should never have been beaten by Jones and looked shaky for the second time (Motherwell) in his second spell. 5

James Tavernier:

Not the worst from Tav, defended quite well and positioned himself more wisely than he used to. Didn’t get forward as much as he can but it was a disciplined display from the captain. 7

Gareth McAuley:

Not his most shining performance in the jersey – seemed to be strolling till the opening goal then it rather went downhill and he struggled to organise the defence or his own positioning. Laboured. 5

Joe Worrall:

After his heroics against Celtic, this was a nightmare. Comfortable enough till Brophy got to him then complacency was his killer – had a real shocker after that and wasn’t till deep into the second half that he got something of a grip of himself. 4

Andy Halliday:

Wasn’t able to affect too much going forward but did get a helping hand in the goal, and was defensively decent without being marvellous. 6

Ryan Jack:

Not the most robust display from Jack – sloppy in possession and lost his way for the bulk of the game, not getting a bit of a foothold till deep into the second. 5

Steven Davis:

We can’t understand why he was removed – the best midfielder Rangers put out, worked hard, as good off possession as he was on it, a fine league return for our ex-captain. 7

Scott Arfield:

A quiet and frankly ineffective display from Arfield, a far cry from his stellar display on the 29th. Didn’t have much impact on the match and was borderline demure by his standards. 5

Ryan Kent:

Showed glimpses of what he can do but nowhere near the class of his Celtic display, mainly because, like the friendly v HJK, he was played in the unfamiliar 10 role which he is completely ill-suited for. Went out wide later on and started looking much more threatening. 6

Alfredo Morelos:

A frustrating night for Alf in which he thought he had the Hand of God. This is the kind of display that hurts his value and makes some fans wonder what the fuss over him is about. 5

Jermaine Defoe:

If his two ‘performances’ are anything to go by so far, this might not be quite the epic signing we’d hoped for. His goal was poacher’s instinct, true, but for the rest of the performance he was literally invisible. Just like v HJK. 5

Subs:

Daniel Candeias:

Worked hard to create and the change in system on his introduction improved things but not enough. 4

Kyle Lafferty:

Extremely wasteful – looks extremely off form, and borderline disinterested now. 3

Steven Gerrard:

This was Stevie’s big chance to show the Old Firm steps he took were not a flash in the pan, and even we at Ibrox Noise bought into the idea everything had changed. But the only thing that changed is the formation, to one that’s playing three, maybe four players out of position to accommodate one striker. The system didn’t work, at all – Kent was left impotent, Defoe was invisible, Morelos frustrated and Rangers just didn’t click at all. It was a bad night for pretty much everyone involved and that certainly includes the manager. 4