A penny for the thoughts of Dave King this morning. He is in a bit of a predicament now, isn’t he?

Quite what he must have been thinking watching a Rangers side he has invested heavily in being beaten comfortably by a Motherwell team, on a fraction of the budget, and a manager in Pedro Caixinha who literally self-combusted on the touchline. It looks like it is all unravelling.

Whilst I understood his anger at his centre-half having his nose broken from a stray Ryan Bowman elbow, you need to control your emotions. It screamed of a manager under severe pressure and certainly after that result yesterday he will be. It is just not acceptable to a Rangers support who have really tried hard to get behind Pedro and desperately want him to be the guy. The guy who restores the club at the top end of Scottish football.

Read more: Matthew Lindsay: Pedro Caixinha on borrowed time at Rangers after Louis Moult and Motherwell coast into final​

In his fall out with Kenny Miller, they have, in the main, been on his side. You could sense a growing momentum and goodwill towards Caixinha the last month, from the punters. They could see progress.

However, I’m afraid that a performance and result like yesterday will blow that goodwill apart. He now looks as if he is on borrowed time at Rangers. But King has went all in on Caixinha and his playing staff at Rangers. It was a huge gamble that looks like going wrong. Surely, even now, if it is his inclination to push the reset button, King simply cannot afford it?

The rip it up and start again option is not viable. What will be even more galling for the Rangers supporters filing out of Hampden miserably in the rain, is that the executioner in chief was a striker that was right under their manager’s nose, and who a lot of them were screaming for during the summer.

I said in this very column back in August that it was a no brainer for Rangers to go and sign Louis Moult. He is a striker who has the lot, and he showed it on the big stage yesterday. I have liked him from day one. Strong, mobile, great touch and a superb scorer of all different types of goals. He can feather balls over goalkeepers with finesse, like he did yesterday, or burst the net.

Read more: Pedro Caixinha takes the blame for Betfred Cup semi-final defeat ahead of talks with Rangers chairman Dave King​

Crucially, he was a proven scorer in the Scottish Premiership. No settling in period was required. You are not allowed that anyway at a club like Rangers anyway. They demand instant performances. In the last year of his contract at Motherwell, I am sure if they were offered something in the region of £500k they would have cashed in on Moult. That is a lot of money to a club like the ‘Well. I’m still staggered that Caixinha ignored him and went out and bought Herrera for £1.5m. A striker from a totally different style of play in Mexico.

Whilst I was right about Moult, I certainly got it totally wrong when it came to Bruno Alves. What a major disappointment he has been so far. When Alves signed for Rangers I thought it was a magnificent bit of business in an area that they were crying out for, in central defence, and a leader. He looked a perfect fit. Yes, he was 35 years old, but, he was still playing at a good level in Serie A and a regular for a Portuguese national team fresh off winning the Euro 2016. His pedigree was outstanding. But he has fallen massively short so far at Rangers. He doesn’t look half the player I thought he was. He was destroyed by Moult yesterday, in terms of his movement and his strength. Bullied in other words.

He was very fortunate actually not to be sent off for a kick at the striker but that was probably in frustration at being battered about Hampden by Moult all day. Again, it’s just not good enough for a guy brought in to be a leader and an enforcer of the Rangers backline. He has to be better.

Read more: Rangers defender Bruno Alves criticises Motherwell's physical approach and referee Steven McLean after cup loss​

It says everything about how far Rangers have fallen that no-one actually saw this as a shock. Take nothing away from a really good Motherwell side assembled by Stephen Robinson. A team who know exactly what they are doing all over the pitch. Rangers had to match that physicality but they didn’t.

Those are games as a manager of either side of the Old Firm, you simply have to win, by any means. Just win.

Caixinha has yet to win three games in a row for Rangers, a damning statistic. If he doesn’t achieve that soon his number will be up. Dave King will have no option.

And another thing …

THIS week sees the first Edinburgh derby of the new season, and the first in the top flight for a wee while at Easter Road, when Hibs host Hearts. I played in this fixture plenty of times, although I have to say, winning it wasn’t something I was accustomed to.

What gets me - and this is entirely the West of Scotland mentality - is that folk cannot see how the rivalry of Hibs and Hearts can come anywhere close to matching the intensity of the Old Firm, although to be fair, that view only comes from those who have never actually witnessed on up close.

Trust me, these games are full of passion, aggression, and no shortage of animosity. It’s just that in Edinburgh, the fans mostly leave all of that at the match.