Cobblers! What is it with this bloody cup? I can't remember the last time we didn't get dumped out of this thing by a team vastly inferior to ourselves. Although Northampton beat us last night they were crap, only problem was that we were crapper when it counted.

For the majority of this dour game, we were in control. Having taken the lead in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, we didn't really look like we would relinquish it. A monster of a punt from Chris Day bounced in front of the Northampton defence causing them to back pedal. They assumed that all would be ok and that the ball would reach goalkeeper Sollitt. Unfortunately they didn't seem to be aware of the blistering pace of debutant Doudou Ebeli M'Bombo. As he was about to catch the ball Ian Evatt decided that he needed to get a touch. Luckily for us, he managed to head it straight past the onrushing Sollitt and into the net.

From this point, the game took a turn for the worse. Northampton were displaying all the skill and ability that had taken them to bottom of the league and Rangers were showing that if they wanted to they could join them there. No Andy Thomson or Karl Connolly in the line-up and it showed. The midfield seemed strangely subdued. Bignot was not his usual self and Bonnot had to work manfully to make up for this. Perry was solid if unspectacular on the right flank, the same cannot be said for his colleague on the left.

Christer Warren. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Let's make no bones about it, the bloke is a waste of DNA. He made Paul Bruce look like Roberto Carlos. You would think that given an opportunity to secure a place in the team he would try to take it. Sorry, what am I talking about? He can't be arsed, we all know that. He has shown in the past that he has pace but I think I have only seen him use it twice since we signed him. We would have been better off giving young Ben Walshe a trot, at least he would have made a bloody effort.

Rangers registered their first shot on target in the 80th minute. Doudou went on a mazy run and unleashed a fine curling effort that was headed for the top right-hand corner until Sollitt intervened. I think that says a lot about our creative capabilities on the night.

Just as the fourth official indicated we would be subjected to another six minutes of injury time The Cobblers equalised. Chris Day flew to his right to make a fine save from a Northampton forward only to see the ball fall to the highly impressive Jamie Forrester who fired expertly into the corner. Extra time, bollocks. I wasn't sure whether I could handle another 30 minutes of this rubbish. This view was also felt by a few Rangers fans who decided a quick exit was in order.

After 110 minutes, Northampton scored the winner. A good passing move saw Paul McGregor (ex-Nottingham Forest and now sporting a trailer park trash greasy mullet) fire home from fifteen yards and that was it. Rangers didn't look like they would get back into it. By this time Koejoe, second debutant Dave McEwan and Richard Pacquette were up front but failed to create any clear cut chances. Only a storming run from Aziz Ben-Askar created any uncertainty amongst the Northampton defence.

Rangers will have to play a damn sight better than this against Reading on Saturday and Wycombe Wanderers on Monday if we want to continue our good start. If we play like this, we will be hammered by both of them. Hopefully Thomson and Connolly will be available to return.

Just a quick note about the foresight of the Northampton Town officials. I overheard a woman who is a part time steward at Sixfields say that they expected 300 Rangers fans to make the journey. They had underestimated the numbers by some 1200. Brilliant! The fact that we took 800 to Bury last Saturday seemed to have no bearing. As the game kicked off there were still 500 Rangers fans outside. Would it have hurt to put kick-off back by 15 minutes? An announcement was made over they tannoy asking if the Northampton fans could squeeze up a bit so they could get a few more in. All ticket for the league match then.

All in all a very disappointing night and very lacklustre performance. Holloway was screaming at his charges from the touchline but it seemed to make no difference. The lack of ideas was on the pitch not in the dugout. Oh well, at least we can concentrate on the league.