Rangers overcame Hamburger SV today in a friendly which gave manager Michael Beale a LOT of food for thought as we prepare now for Olympiakos, and once again Ibrox Noise brings our ratings for you as a way of judging how the players are progressing amid preseason.

So without further ado, the scores:

Butland:

Hasn’t had a decent save yet to make as Rangers goalie, isn’t overly involved yet and hard to measure. He’s vocal, so that’s good, but was absolutely ruined for the late consolation. In fairness, Manuel Neuer himself would have struggled with it. 5

Tavernier:

If you take away the penalty he basically thieved in a friendly from Sima and Sakala, Tavernier had a shocker. Even his most ardent backers had no ‘defence’ for how poor he was. Extremely poor. 4

Balogun:

Looks so comfortable, but hasn’t been really tested yet. Did better with Davies than Souttar had last week, but the game is a stroll to this pro. 7

Davies:

In true Ibrox Noise fashion, we’re always honest, and Davies actually had a decent one. His sliding tubthumping tackle in the first half is the kind of stuff we never see from him in serious competition, but he did seem more robust. An improvement. 6

Ridvan:

Classy – determined to be involved and was heavily digging in, while also supporting the central midfield. Even got in a belter of a cross that Borna would be proud of. Hard to really fault him. Staked his biggest claim yet for the permanent jersey. 8

Raskin:

Actually a mixed bag. Was running around and cutting the ball out well, but was mostly giving the ball away too with slack passing. True, the other midfielders weren’t making his life any easier, but he was a bit careless in this one. 6

Dowell:

This was a LOT better than v Newcastle (albeit a lower level of opponent) and Dowell showed poise, strength, tenacity, pace, vision and grit – he looked like he really, really wanted to impress. And he succeeded. Some excellent through balls and his pressing led to the opening goal. 8

Hagi:

Very bright start but faded dramatically, his vision remains on point with great range passing but unfortunately he’s lost even more pace. Can’t beat pretty much anyone for pure speed now, and ran out of puff. Was removed once he’d faded. 6

Sakala:

If you take away the tenacity for his goal (itself a scruffy finish) and the penalty he won all the things about him which frustrate continue to do so. Blind alley running, greed, and a lack of awareness keep dogging this lad. Always will. But hey, he had the completely winning contribution so it’s hard to actually slaughter him. 7

Sima:

This boy has now struggled in both matches and is looking a major risk of a signing. Shows no cohesion with anyone else, only managing one good cross, missed an absolute sitter and was rightly withdrawn. 5

Matondo:

Diabolical. No bones about it, he was completely mince. His horrific touch from Sima’s cross summed his form up. It’s hard to believe he can turn this around. Looks like the wrong player at the wrong club. 4

Subs:

We’re just going to highlight some of these rather than actually score, because in friendlies, second halves get so disjointed with sub rafts that it’s hard to appraise.

Lammers was a bit less impressive here but still showed energy. A bit wasteful. Cantwell was also a little loose with the ball but he still looks a class above everyone else. Yfeko had another good outing at the back, and Souttar was his strong and composed self. Lawrence didn’t get much of the ball. Roofe already looks sharp and like a new signing.

Manager:

Michael Beale tried a pure 4-3-3 here, and it absolutely failed, despite the two goals. The front three didn’t work at all, looked like runners who weren’t in sync with each other at all and it was all very wasteful. The defence looked very vulnerable in the first 45 thanks to Tavernier’s cavalier attitude and lazy errors. Unlike in previous matches, Beale’s subs actually hurt the performance further, with no goals, and one conceded (dodgy free kick award, admittedly). Rangers are developing, and this is the time for Beale to experiment and try things. So we don’t condemn him for the attempt. He’ll hope his side are more cohesive in the next one. 6