Steven Gerrard will lead his Rangers side into battle with Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, but he does so as a manager under pressure.
While the Gers have excelled on the continent, notably seeing off Portuguese sides Porto and Braga to extend their European campaign as far as they could realistically have hoped when they kicked off against St Josephs in Gibraltar on July 9, their quest to win their first domestic silverware since 2011 has fallen embarrassingly flat.
A 1-0 Scottish Cup loss away to Hearts, who sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership with just 22 points from 28 games, last weekend ended those aspirations, with Oliver Brozovic’s 58th-minute strike leading Gerrard to admit that he was questioning his very future at Ibrox.
“I’m very disappointed. It’s the lowest I’ve felt since I came into the job by a long way,” he confessed.
“On Wednesday night I was the proudest man in Europe because my players were outstanding.
“Everything we’ve worked on for two years, I could see it on the sidelines. I was proud as punch, it was incredible.
“But today for 90 minutes, I didn’t recognise anything. So I’m feeling really low.
“Two seasons without a trophy isn’t good enough. It's not what I’m about.”
Just 11 weeks after committing himself to a new contract in Glasgow, he admitted he had some “serious thinking” to do after the Scottish Cup exit, which was the culmination of a month of indifferent league form that saw points spilled to Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone, thereby virtually ceding the league to Celtic.
Optimists pointed out that the Gers' tally of 64 points was superior to that which Celtic had attained at the same stage last season, but the harsh truth was that their rivals were 12 points ahead of them this term, albeit with a game extra played.
And having issued a rallying cry at Tynecastle that should have seen his team respond in positive fashion in a home league match against second-from-bottom Hamilton, the response was perhaps their most embarrassing loss of the season.
Rangers might have boasted 31 shots and 69 per cent of possession, but the only goal of the game was scored by David Moyo 11 minutes into the second half. It was the fifth time in eight league games that they failed to win – more than Celtic all season.
“With all due respect to Hamilton, that is not an acceptable result at this club. I'm going to take responsibility for that. I hear the fans, I feel them, no one is hurting as much as myself and the players,” Gerrard said ahead of a Sunday trip to Ross County
"So we certainly respect the reaction and will do everything we can to make them feel better as quick as we can. It's about actions now, rather than words.”
At the turn of the year, it all looked so different. While the Ibrox side sat second as the new decade dawned, they lay just two points behind their rivals with a game in hand, having claimed what appeared to be a watershed 2-1 victory in Parkhead, with Ryan Kent and Nikola Katic on target.
The winter break served only to stall Rangers’ momentum, while there have been unconfirmed reports of a fall out during a training camp in Dubai that served to split the dressing room in two.
While the unity of the performances to defeat Braga suggest that is not the case, what has been evident on the field is that Rangers have lacked character and drive at crucial moments. Kent’s dip in form has coincided with the team’s downturn, while they have lacked inspiration at key times much too regularly.
In addition to this, the absence of Alfredo Morelos, arguably Rangers’ best player, last weekend due to yet another disciplinary issue – this time an internal one – was a further unwelcome sideshow that only served to further tarnish the club and Gerrard’s control over it.
As a player, he inspired Liverpool to many famous comebacks from seemingly impossible positions, but as a manager he has never faced a crisis of this magnitude.
The bleeding must be stopped in Dingwall on Sunday, even if the domestic damage has already been done.
Only pride is available now in Scotland before May, yet it must be restored or else it will take something sensational in the Europa League to ensure Gerrard’s long-term future at the club.
What only three months ago looked like a dream partnership is slowly morphing into a nightmare.
