Rangers 1 Annan Athletic 2: Melancholy blues

Rangers were exposed to some harsh truths, although few of them would have been unexpected. Anxious in defence, lacking dynamism or guile in midfield, and one-dimensional in attack, this was a grim reminder that a team put together on the second highest wage budget in the country is desperately lacking.

There was no need to reach for perspective to try to understand how poor this display was. Even circumstances would not provide consolation. Rangers had a disrupted pre-season, but it is now March. There are some youngsters in this Rangers squad, but also SPL-calibre players.

"They know that level of performance was unacceptable," said McCoist. "You can sometimes take a defeat if you have been unlucky, but that wasn't the case. It wasn't good enough.

"Everybody is playing for their future, including the coaching and management staff. There were players who didn't perform to the standards expected at this club.

"This is a difficult place to play sometimes, but you've got to find something within yourself to get through it when the performances aren't up to standard."

Rangers were outplayed by part-time opposition, with the best player on the pitch being Annan's forward, David Hopkirk, who was also more composed and imaginative than any of his opponents. Annan deserved their victory, there was no siege of their goal, no breathtaking saves by their goalkeeper, just a calm, ordered, assured and competent performance. "We just wanted it more," said Hopkirk

Rangers are suffering from a malaise. The tempo of their play lacked the urgency or decisiveness to trouble Annan. Visitors to Ibrox will always be wary, but rather than take advantage of that caution, the pedestrian nature of Rangers' display allowed their opponents to settle into the game. Annan had lost their last away fixture 5-1 at Montrose, and one former professional observer who has watched them regularly remarked before kick-off that he expected them to lose heavily given their recent poor displays.

The home side lacked the wherewithal to take command. That ought to cause McCoist consternation, and he was constantly agitated on the touchline. He was not alone, since the home support became increasingly disgruntled and booed the team off at half-time. By then, Annan had created one clear chance, that David Murray could not finish with enough power to beat Neil Alexander.

For the second consecutive home game, Rangers only revealed the full extent of their flaws. This was confirmation of some painful truths. By playing Little and Kal Naismith on the opposite flanks they are normally used to – presumably for them to cut inside and leave space for overlapping full-backs, who were seldom that far forward – Rangers lacked width.

Too much of their attacking play became concentrated in the centre, just in front if Annan's penalty area. The visitors defended this space with relative ease.

This was a tactical feature, rather than the root cause of Rangers' hapless efforts. It was only when the home side fell two goals behind that desperation raised the energy and purpose of their game.

Even that petered out once Little had scored with a header from close range after Fran Sandaza's shot had been deflected into his path.

Annan were briefly stretched, but their resolve held. Put under pressure, they reverted to a confident, poised approach. Even the interval did not disrupt Annan, since only three minutes of the second half had passed when Daniel Orsi pulled away from Lee Wallace then crossed for Ally Love to steer a backheel past Alexander.

There was impudence to the finish, but this was a victory based on reliable qualities. Annan used their width to good effect, and when Murray left Chris Hegarty in his wake, he delivered the ball to the back post for Hopkirk to convert.

"We came with a gameplan to play positive football, I wanted them to demonstrate what they're capable of," said Jim Chapman, the Annan manager. "There are not many teams, at any level, that will come to Ibrox and win."

Melancholy blues