What are the reasons behind Rangers' post-split collapse?
· Yahoo Sports
The Rangers support have seen this film too often for their own liking, and now they are all repeating the same questions.
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Is the manager up to it? Where are our leaders? Why do our players not have the minerals? The list goes on.
But this time feels different, and perhaps worse.
Rangers wilting in a title race with Celtic is one thing, but wilting in a title race with those same city rivals and a non-Old Firm club that has not won the top flight in 66 years - and with a fraction of their budget - is quite another.
Ibrox great Ally McCoist has questioned the team's mental strength, their ability to put together a 90-minute performance, and the lack of a Scottish core in the squad.
Head coach Danny Rohl has bristled at the mindset doubts, but Rangers' back-to-back league defeats at the start of their post-split schedule - after suffering just two Premiership losses all season beforehand - perhaps suggest otherwise.
And that is before considering Rohl's record against top-six sides this season. In 14 matches under Rohl against teams from the top half, Rangers have won just six times.
Throw in the Scottish Cup and League Cup exits to Celtic and that becomes six victories in 16 games in all competitions.
Sub-par player recruitment, with Rangers reportedly spending up to £40m across the past two windows, has also drawn serious criticism.
Lawrence Shankland smashing in the winner on Monday to all but eliminate Rangers from the title race was symbolic of that.
The Scotland striker was a player the Ibrox club supposedly showed no interest in when he was available as a free agent last summer, before re-signing with Hearts.
His unerring finish was his 18th goal of the season. By contrast, Rangers' strikers on the night - Youssef Chermiti (12), Bojan Miovski (13) and Ryan Naderi (three) - have 28 goals between them and cost a combined total of around £15m.
Rangers' season is now likely to peter out, even with an Old Firm derby still to come on Sunday - which has so much riding on it for their Glasgow rivals. The club can then expect the same familiar questions throughout the summer.