Anger and frustration poured from the away end at Rugby Park on Sunday.
And contrary to what some believe, Tom Lawrence insists the stream of disappointment flowed all the way into the away dressing room. There’s a notion amongst the Rangers support that the team they follow near and far are out of kilter with their desire for success, that they lack the leaders, the characters to deliver what they crave most.
Some even reckon this Light Blues squad don’t really care whether they put an end to Celtic’s era of domestic domination. They’re entitled to their opinion of course, and there’s certainly enough subscribing to that view after Sunday’s Killie calamity saw Philippe Clement’s side slip six points adrift of unbeaten league leaders Celtic and Aberdeen.
But playmaker Lawrence respectfully disagrees. And if the fans could only peek an eye behind closed doors, the Welshman reckons they’d see a squad every bit as determined to get back on track as the fans seething in the stands.
“We care, we care a lot,” insisted the playmaker ahead of the Europa League clash with Steaua Bucharest. “The reaction from the fans after the game on Sunday, that hurts a lot because we don’t want that. Fans don’t want it. No-one at the club wants it. That’s why we need to put on a performance (on Thursday).
“It’s important that you actually feel [criticism from the fans] because the way you come back from that, you need to earn the right to have the fans backing you even more.
“And hopefully we do on Thursday, because we’ll need them. In the changing room, you have to get around the new players. Some of them are young, but you have to learn from times like that.
“I’d be lying if I said it’s been a happy place, especially after the game. We were all disappointed. We were all frustrated with the way we played. But we’ve had a few days to work in training now. The main thing is we stick together. Tough times come, but we need to stick together.
“I’m looking forward to the game and Especially putting on a performance. I hope [that a big European win can galvanise the squad]. We know how special these European nights are, especially at Ibrox. I hope the fans are right behind us. Because they deserve that after Sunday.”
With another title challenge on the verge of collapse, there aren’t many free from blame at Ibrox. The board got it when the Union Bears unveiled a banner demanding an end to the “mismanagement” of the club. And it’s been boss Clement’s turn, with a growing section deciding they’ve had enough of the big Belgian. But Lawrence insists if there is flak flying, it should be aimed at those who let the fans down on the Ayrshire astro.
“It shouldn’t just be our manager, it’s us as players – we need to step up,” he insisted. “We can’t be putting on a performance like we did on Sunday. We need to do everything we can on Thursday to put it right.”
Boring, lacklustre, shambolic – all of those adjectives have been used by fans to sum up Sunday’s defeat to Derek McInnes’ men. And Lawrence concedes it’s a fair cop.
He said: “From my point of view, on Sunday we weren’t creative enough. We were too static. It was unlike us in many ways. We need to adjust to those games. Be more dominant, play quicker. We were very lacklustre, I felt. That can’t happen. When you play at Rangers, that can’t happen. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“I think [the criticism] was fair for the game on Sunday. I don’t think it’s fair for the previous games. I think we’ve created enough chances in previous games. I don’t know why we performed like that, but we need to make sure we don’t perform like that ever again at this club while we’re here. Me being a creative player, I have to create chances, score goals. We just need to be a lot quicker. We were too lacklustre on Sunday. I’m sure we’ll do a lot better Thursday night.”
Lawrence signed the summer after the club made the 2022 Europa League final and lifted the Scottish Cup under Gio van Bronckhorst. The former Derby skipper expected there would be more of those occasions to come but apart from last year’s League Cup triumph, it’s been a bleak existence for the Ibrox outfit.
“Winning trophies is the aim every season but you have to earn that,” said the 31-year-old. “Before a season starts, we want to win every trophy we play in. That’s what you’ve got to do at Rangers. We’re going through a difficult period at this moment in time. We have to get through it.
“As a team, as a club, we need to come out the right way. We know how football’s gone in this day and age. There’s not much patience in the game.
“But like I said, we can’t go from the fact that we didn’t perform on Sunday. We know we can do better than that. We know we have been doing better than that. So we need to prove that again Thursday night.”
Gers got their Europa League campaign off to a flyer when they swatted Malmo aside in Sweden. They were brought crashing back down after being leathered 4-1 by Lyon. Now they face another tricky test against a Romanian side who have won both their two games so far against Latvians FC Riga and Greeks POAK Salonika.
“We showed against Malmo away [that we can compete in Europe],” added Lawro. “Lyon, they’re a very good team. We just fell short, I thought if we put some of our chances away earlier on in the game, it would have been a different game. So we look forward to this next game. Bucharest are pretty random in the way they play. We need to adjust and, like I said, simplify our game and take it to them.”