Furious Mark Warburton finally turned his anger on his own players after last night’s 1-1 draw with relegation haunted Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
The former city trader has had three transfer windows to put his mark on the team but following an opening day draw with Hamilton Accies they found Kilmarnock every bit as tough to get the better of.
Killie had Greg Taylor sent off in the second half but despite playing against ten men Warbo’s men were unable to come up with a winner.
Plastic pitches, fixture scheduling and a host of other excuses have been used by Warbo in the past but last night it was his signings that were in the firing line.
“The first-half was well below Rangers’ standards,” the former city trader admitted. “ The players and staff are honest, there is no point saying that was good because it wasn’t. It was way below the level.
“It was much better in the second-half. We moved the ball a lot better and had more intensity and purpose, playing with more confidence and character but it can’t take us 45 minutes to get going. We dropped two valuable points tonight.”
Respectful Warbo added: “We must credit Kilmarnock who worked hard, but the second-half was much more like Rangers and we have to be like that in every minute in every game.
“We have a lot of new players, they need to gel, we need to find right combinations and it’s about the new guys finding out what it’s like to be at the Old Firm.
“Every game is a cup final – you saw the reaction at the final whistle. Teams sit in and they are hard to break down.
“I said to all the players who came up over the summer that players in Scottish football have a work ethic which is unrivalled. They will run until they can’t run another step.”
Warbo is hoping to complete a double deal to sign Phillipe Senderos and John Eustace in the next 48 hours although both players are available outside the transfer window since no one else is remotely interested in either player.
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