Rangers head into the October international break in relatively similar shape to the previous one, still trailing Celtic and Aberdeen by five points in the league.
They’re impressing in parts of games but only rarely putting together a solid, sustained 90-minute performance to give the impression of a team on the up.
That may seem harsh to some, particularly as they have won all four of their domestic games in the intervening period without conceding a goal, reaching the League Cup semi-finals in the process.
Yet I would challenge anyone who has watched their games to offer a different opinion. There was a nerviness to the league victories over Dundee United and Hibernian and even the most recent win over St Johnstone was not wholly convincing.
Their best performance was, surely inarguably, the 2-0 win over Malmo in Sweden and yet even that display served to underline a glaring deficiency within the team – their inability to kill opposition off, to turn good play into goals, to show a ruthless streak when opportunities are created.
That came back to haunt them last Thursday when Lyon – a class above everyone else they have encountered since the last international window – came to Ibrox and put Rangers to the sword, punishing both their profligacy at one end and a defensive frailty that still rears its head even while clean sheets are being registered domestically.
Rangers have seven more games before the next round of internationals, including the League Cup semi versus Motherwell and two more European games against Steaua Bucharest and Olympiakos, from which at least three points are a must.
Of the four league games they will play, the visit to Pittodrie looms largest, but in truth they have to be perfect in the Premiership to stay on the leaders’ coattails, otherwise a lingering feeling of discontent hanging over the club will grow.
