As is normally the case on the Sunday after Rangers enter the FA Cup, the only balls in a bag Ian Holloway need concern himself with are the ones tucked away safely in his Y-fronts. The performance against Nottingham Forest was nothing short of a shambles and even though this was a makeshift line up you expect better of the players chosen to don the blue and white hoops.

With players injured, ill, suspended and cup tied changes were inevitable but nobody could quite believe the extent of the problems faced by Holloway. Day was in goal behind a bizarre looking back four of Branco, Shittu, Edghill and McLeod. The midfield four were Ainsworth, Rowlands, Bean and Cook, with Cureton and Gallen paired in attack. So thin was the squad that U-18 players Scot Mulholland and Luke Townsend were on the bench.

Chances were thin on the ground in the opening exchanges as it became clear that this was going to be a poor quality game between two poor quality sides. Martin Rowlands struck a fierce shot straight at Gerrard in the Forest goal before former loan Rangers Gareth Taylor saw a near post effort turned behind by Day.

Having survived this scare Rangers very nearly took the lead after great work from Jamie Cureton. He managed to wriggle his way clear of the Forest defence and sent a ball into the near post. Gallen and Morgan attacked the ball and one of them got a touch that beat Gerrard only to come crashing back off the post.

Just as it seemed Rangers were starting to take control they were hit with a sucker punch by Andy Reid. Having been felled by a wayward boot from Shittu, Reid stood over a freekick just outside the box. Ainsworth went back onto the line but was sent away by Day as he didn’t want to invite any more Forest players on top of him. Can anybody guess where the freekick went? Bingo, straight over the wall and into the now unguarded part of the net. Once again you have to question Day’s positioning as the gap seemed to be enormous. Full credit to Reid though, as his effort was delicate enough to get up and down in such a short distance.

Almost from the kick off Rangers found themselves two down courtesy of an opportunist strike from Kris Commons. Gerrard launched a long ball forward and McLeod challenged for a header in the centre circle. The ball fell to Commons forty five yards out and he took one touch before striking it goalward. Day was caught off guard and seemed to misjudge it as it sailed over his head and nestled in the top corner. At the time I thought Day was clear of blame, having seen it again it looks like he gave it up as he couldn’t get his leaden feet moving quick enough to get back to it.

Rangers tried to reply before the break but it just wasn’t happening. A good combination saw Cook played in but he slammed his shot high into the crowd. Ainsworth was trying to inspire his insipid team mates with his usual all action display but it was to no avail. Before the break Reid had another goal chalked off for offside and in the end the team would have been grateful to get in at the break only two behind.

After the break Rangers seemed a bit more up for the fight but there was such a dearth of quality passing that it all came to nothing. At one point early in the half Rangers must have forced six consecutive corners, the nearest they came to hitting the target was from a sliced clearance from Wes Morgan that landed on the top of the net. Rangers did get the ball in the net but only when Ainsworth threw Gerrard into it whilst he had the ball in his hands!

Forest were proving dangerous on the break as Rangers pushed forwards an in truth things could have been worse. Commons and Robertson both had chances to add to the lead but poor finishing meant that the chances slipped away. Rangers meanwhile were huffing and puffing and achieving nothing in their quest to get back into the game.

With fifteen minutes left there was finally some activity from the bench as Thorpe and Padula replaced Branco and Cook. It was amazing that Branco had been left on for so long as he was showing what a poor excuse for a footballer he truly is. I know he is not a right back but that is no excuse for showing no bottle, the number of 50/50 challenges he pulled out of were starting to run into double figures.

The changes made no difference though and still Rangers couldn’t eek out a chance. Then Forest hit them on the break once again and added a third. Referee Atkinson came up with a quite farcical decision when he penalised Bean as he ran with the ball despite being kicked and pulled by Reid. Reid took the kick quickly and the ball broke to Southampton loan player Yoann Folly and he struck the ball first time. It was heading wide before Gino instinctively stuck out a leg to send it spinning past the helpless Day.

The sparse crowd were already making their way out of the ground, the majority of them stunned by watching their team getting dismantled by a side that would be flattered to be described as average. Rangers tried nothing and were all out of ideas and I can safely say that this was probably as inept a home display as we are likely to see all season.

Defensively we were all over the place. Branco and McLeod looked like fish out of water and the lack of communication coming from Day was clearly unsettling Edghill and Shittu. Time and again he would either not tell them anything and stay rooted to his line or come haring off of it and make things difficult for everyone. We need a keeper to put some pressure on him, or maybe it is time to let Jake Cole have a chance. Olly can’t keep him wrapped in cotton wool forever and Day badly needs a kick up the arse.

Rowlands did nothing for the argument that he should play in central midfield. He gave the ball away constantly and looked devoid of ideas. Cook on the left was the same and the only surprise was that it took so long to get him off. The strikers were so starved off the ball that they couldn’t muster a shot between them. Curo looked lively in the first half but went missing in the second.

I think this will be a Vauxhall Motors moment for Rangers and that this was the very bottom of the barrel. I would expect one, maybe two signings this week to pep the squad up and I think that Stoke need to be very wary on Friday as they might just be on the end of the backlash.

simon@qprnet.com