A hat trick of cup humiliations are now complete after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Swansea to send Rangers crashing out of the cup at a stage we have not been in for over 30 years.

To make matters worse this match was live on Sky TV so most of us will have to endure plenty of work mates saying stuff like “You lot really are shit” and “What happened, you used to be quite good”.

Yesterday was nothing new for Rangers fans, we are getting used to this level of performance and this kind of results a sin recent weeks we have been awful and only a 2-0 win at Notts County has papered over the cracks. Holloway though had a tough job on his hands for this cup match with several players out injured.

Paul Bruce was dropped to the bench with Christer Warren coming in but the lack of pace at the back was there for all to see so thank god for Terrell Forbes as it could have been a lot worse. Stuart Wardley was dropped so Alex Bonnot returned in midfield whilst Leroy Griffiths replaced And Thomson who’s wife is expecting a baby any day now and was given time off for the second time this season by Holloway.

Ironically the other time he was given the night saw us crash out of another cup in the first round. Rangers started the game by trying to pass it on the floor and we were working hard in midfield but lacked that spark of creativity that could open up Swansea.

Swansea made their intentions clear from the start by launching long throws in which caused us problems and the pace of Williams and Sidibe was causing Plummer and Palmer problems from the start. The opening goal was one of pure quality.

Swansea’s broke quickly from defence with some good passing and with Forbes chasing back the defence was split open as the midfield was nowhere to be seen despite being full of defenders. Sidibie did well to go round the keeper and was unselfish as he passed to John Williams who had an easy chance to make it 1-0.

At this point it looked to be the same old story but for the rest of the half we had some decent spells of possession. We tried to pass the ball and create openings but still didn’t create any worthwhile chances.

The best chances we had were when Bignot blocked a headed clearance and Freestone did well to save and a long kick by Digby evaded everyone and Doudou just couldn’t get the ball under control before it was cleared for a corner.

It was very frustrating as you could see the players trying hard but the ability just wasn’t coming through. The amount of times we’d win headers or tackles and not one player was coming in for the second ball was getting beyond a joke and it was no surprise when Swansea made it 2-0.

It was route one this time as a ball over top evaded the defence and Bonnot could not stop Nick Cusack from getting on the end of it and firing past Digby. They had plenty more chances as well as another long ball caught out Digby and he was almost embarrassed by it but managed to push it out for a corner. Connolly cleared a header off the line after more terrible defending and we looked all over the place as the half came to an end.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one at this point who just wanted the game to end as it looked like Swansea could get more. No changes at half time and the game continued with Swansea on top. Digby produced an excellent save right after the break to keep us in it but we never looked like scoring.

We had plenty of possession again and at least the players didn’t resort to hoofing it but the midfield were not supporting the forwards and I don’t remember us having a shot on target all game.

Oliver Burgess and Paul Bruce came on for Warren and Perry, Bruce had one chance to make a name for himself with a curling free kick which hit the post whilst Burgess looked busy in midfield and should have done enough to get a start on Wednesday, Hopefully by then the club might spell his name correctly as his shirt had the name BURGEES on the back.

As the game wore on Swansea got what the commentators called the killer third goal but anyone who thought we’d get back in the match was only kidding themselves. A long ball out of defence saw Digby come out to kick it and then stop as Sidibie couldn’t believe his luck and knocked the ball over his head and ran the ball into the empty net.

To Rangers credit we kept trying to pass the ball and worked hard but it was not enough to get anything from this game and more poor defending led to number four. So a humiliating night in Wales and we have now been knocked out of all three cups at the first hurdle against teams we should be looking to beat.

Man of the Match: Terrell Forbes

Players Ratings

30. Fraser Digby: At fault for the third goal and looked a shadow of the keeper we saw at Notts County. 5/10

17. Terrell Forbes: His best game for a while as he was solid at the back and always tried to get forward, god knows what the score would have been without his pace. 7/10

15. Christer Warren: Didn’t do a lot wrong but wasn’t put under to much pressure. His crossing was poor though when he got forward. 6/10

4. Steve Palmer: His lack of pace was exposed again but he did reasonably well. 6/10

6. Chris Plummer: Very disappointing as he was easily beaten in the air and left chasing shadows at times. Got a nasty knock at the end and will probably be out for a few weeks. 6/10

10. Karl Connolly: Some nice touches at times but to lightweight and gave the ball away too often. 6/10

11. Marcus Bignot: He runs all game for you and works so hard but his passing is poor at times. 6/10

26. Alex Bonnot: Tried to pass the ball and keep possession but to easily knocked off the ball and was at fault for the second goal. 6/10

2.Mark Perry: Very poor game from Perry, was never involved and should have gone off earlier. 5/10

29.Doudou: He tries hard but needs the ball to feet in space and not when he had three men on him. 6/10

14.Leroy Griffiths: Same as Doudou really but his first touch is awful at times. 6/10

Subs:

24. Oliver Burgess: Quite promising and added some passion into midfield. 6/10

3. Paul Bruce: Didn’t do much wrong and was unlucky with a free kick 6/10

22. Richard Pacquette: Had one shot which might almost knocked the man in the moon out.6/10