STEVEN GERRARD knew he would have been trying to defend the indefensible.
Collectively and individually, he had been let down by his players once again as another two Premiership points were squandered from a winning position at McDiarmid Park.
Gerrard was calm and composed as he spoke, but clearly as frustrated as he was disappointed, both in the result and the performance.
Neither was acceptable for Rangers on Sunday and any lingering hope they had of lifting the title was finally extinguished when Stevie May scored for St Johnstone and earned a point for the hosts.
Losing one goal in the manner that Rangers did would be careless. To do it again was just criminal.
Only Nikola Katic will know what he was trying to do in the build-up to the first. It seemed to happen in slow motion as Callum Hendry outmuscled him and the Croatian stumbled for a few yards, trying in vain to rescue a situation of his own making.
It should have been the wake-up call for Katic but he looked spooked by the May and Hendry pairing. His passing - not exactly the strongest aspect of his game - was erratic and touches were heavy on what was a rutted and sandy surface.
So often a dominant figure at the back, he would sink to his knees at the whistle, fully aware of the damage that had been done and the criticism that would inevitably follow.
“I felt the same,” Gerrard said when asked about a nervousness in the defence as he admitted the first goal was a ‘silly’ one for Rangers to concede. “Basically just not doing the basics of defending well enough.
“That is what it is down to. It is difficult to defend that kind of defending because it costs the team goals.”
Had Katic been the only one that was performing poorly, Rangers might well have escaped unscathed. But the man next to the 23-year-old was just as unsure, both with the ball and without it.
Connor Goldson is one of Gerrard's stalwarts on the park and in the dressing room, he is a player he trusts and a man that he respects.
He was let down by the Englishman at the weekend and Goldson, an honest assessor of the game, will be the first to admit it.
“A straight ball over the top, confusion and get away with that,” Gerrard said of the second goal as Goldson and Katic conspired to gift St Johnstone the corner from which they ultimately scored.
“Then we give a set piece away and don’t defend the set piece well enough, which is just a simple cross into the box that we don’t defend. It is really frustrating."
The biggest problem for Gerrard is that this isn't a one-off. Rangers have now been ahead at Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone in recent weeks and been unable to see the game out.
For all the talk of tactics and mentality, it is impossible to legislate for such basic errors as the ones that have been made too often since Rangers returned after the break.
Goldson and Katic are capable of so much better, but for every handful of accomplished performances, they have an afternoon like that on Sunday in them.
It would be a huge call for Gerrard to introduce George Edmundson against Braga on Wednesday given that his only Europa League action came in the qualifiers with St Joseph's and Progres Niederkorn.
The 22-year-old clearly has talent and perhaps could have been used more often this term. The second leg in Portugal doesn't seem like the right moment, though.
With Filip Helander still injured, Gerrard appears to have little option but to stick with Sunday's pairing and hope for the best.
Helander didn't immediately endear himself to fans this term but the left-footed Swede did give the defence more of a natural balance. He may not be the quickest, but he is experienced and composed and his absence has been felt.
That is certainly the case for Borna Barisic. The blow he sustained to the kidneys last Thursday could keep him out again tomorrow and Gerrard has no adequate replacement.
Andy Halliday came off at the break on Sunday and is a makeshift left-back, while Jon Flanagan has never looked convincing on that side and hasn't been seen since a first half horror show at Tynecastle.
As Gerrard admitted, a repeat of Sunday's shambolic defensive showing in Braga will see Rangers punished by the Portuguese and eliminated from the Europa League.
With Hearts to come in the Scottish Cup, this could be a defining six days for Rangers and Gerrard as questions are asked by supporters. In the court of public opinion, the jury is out right now.
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