& we can’t fill it
SAYS ANDY HALLIDAY
Yet even Halliday admits he has rarely seen the Ibrox dressing room as low.
As a dyed-in-the-wool Rangers supporter, he knows what is needed at the club. He knows the demands, the expectations and the incessant requirement to deliver.
At the same time, he also knows those same stresses and pressures that come with playing for Rangers place a weighty burden onto the individuals who step into the scrutiny and spotlight.
And, at this moment in time, he has confessed that some are struggling to deal with it.
Halliday said: “It’s a special club and a heavy jersey. Right now we’re not filling it. For six months the players were doing well and any task flung their way they dealt with but just now we look shot of confidence.
“The dressing room post Hamilton was one of the lowest since I’ve been here and I’ve had my fair share of low moments at the club.
“The performances since the winter break have been absolutely miles off it and we can’t put our finger on it. For six months we looked so dangerous and we’re still in European competition and performing really well there but domestically it’s a completely different Rangers.”
Crucially, the patience within some of the Gers faithful has snapped.
Having gone through the pain of the Scottish Cup exit at Tynecastle and the subsequent discussions over the future of their manager, there was a fresh sign of togetherness at the beginning of the Accies match.
In the eighth minute, there was an arranged show of support for the manager but as the game slipped away against the bottom-of-the-table side, howls of anger and derision filled the Govan air.
Serious questions are being asked by those who follow them home and abroad and Halliday admits there is simply not enough being offered in the way of answers.
Lack of composure, lack of belief and lack of discipline hit the group as the Accies game slipped away.
Halliday said: “Hamilton deserved to take something but once they went 1-0 up I feared for us because our confidence looked shot and I didn’t see it turning quickly.
“A couple of chances didn’t fall our way but, regardless of that, we didn’t deserve to win the game. We looked too desperate to get the goal.
“I lost count of the amount of times we put a ball into Hamilton’s box and, when they cleared it, a Hamilton player won it.
“We lost our shape and discipline and too many boys were flooding the box. Sometimes you need to be a bit more patient and you can sustain more attacks.”
Having charged into the winter break on full power following a win over Celtic, Rangers have staggered out the other side – in 12 domestic matches they’ve failed to win half.
Alfredo Morelos, right, hit 28 goals in the first half of the season but has since managed just one goal in nine appearances. Andfromsitting two points behind the champions with a precious game in hand, Gers are now 13 points off the pace. That could turn to 16 by the time Rangers next take the field at Dingwall on Sunday. Halliday said: “We put ourselves in a good position going into the winter break and for it to fall apart so quickly is bitterly disappointing. “I thought Braga would be the turning point but we followed that up with two extremely disappointing performances. “I can’t put my finger on what has gone wrong. All I can do is, on behalf of all the players, offer our complete and sincere apologies.”