Rangers Skipper Blasts Teammates in Rant After Europa League Defeat

Rangers captain James Tavernier slammed his own players after the Scottish side's woes continued with a "disgraceful performance" on Thursday night.

After sacking Russell Martin after just five wins in 17 games since his appointment, Rangers moved to appoint former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl following unsuccessful talks with both Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat.

Rohl took charge of his first game in the Europa League on Thursday when Rangers travelled to Norwegian side Brann but he got off to the worst possible start after suffering a 3-0 loss.

There was no immediate new manager bounce for Rangers, who are rock bottom of the Europa League table after losing all three of their fixtures.

And after the loss, skipper James Tavernier laid into his colleagues after another shambolic display and result - admitting he has been left "raging" as he called for them to show more fight.

"It was a disgraceful performance," he said, speaking to media after the game.

"It's as simple as that. All the years I've been here, for the consistency of poor performances that we're putting in, I've experienced it before.

"Some of us show our aggression after the games after we get beat. Individually, we have to look at ourselves much harder.

"You can get instructions from managers, but we simply have to put that on the pitch. We were just second best at second balls and first balls. Not enough fight - and I shouldn't be saying that as a player of Rangers. That should be a given."

Rohl was appointed on 20 October and did not have much time to implement his methods before his first game in the dug-out.

However, Tavernier was left frustrated by the lack of effort and desire on show from his team - something which he says he had never previously experienced in a decade-long stint playing for the Glasgow giants.

He added: "It's far too easy at the minute to play against us. That's the hurtful thing about us all.

"It comes from within as a player, to fight, to give it your all. I don't think that's something that's taught. Clearly, we're not showing that at this moment in time.

"I'm raging. This is what I'm saying. This is the first time I've been in this position at this club. This is the most consistent where there's been certain basic levels that we've not been performing at. That's what is making me raging.

"You want it to sink in to players, but it just isn't at the minute. That's what I'm raging at."

Rangers return to action on Sunday when they host Kilmarnock in Rohl's maiden SPFL game and a first fixture at Ibrox.

A win would see Rangers climb above Kilmarnock, who are fifth - one point above them in the table after eight games.