Rangers were looking to kick-start their pre-season campaign and produce the sort of display that gave frustrated fans a bit of encouragement – they didn’t get it.
The manager has a squad that is yet to really take shape and Philippe Clement will be wanting to move more players out the door as soon as possible after this display.
Here are your Rangers player ratings for the encounter at St Andrew’s as the Light Blues fans travelled in their thousands to see their side serve up a shambles.
Rangers player ratings v Birmingham
Clement will be hoping that this season doesn’t have the same injury problems and it could be the last time that some of these players are seen in a Rangers shirt given how many are up for sale:
Liam Kelly – 5
Couldn’t do much with either goal but his distribution could have been better.
James Tavernier – 2
Got his body shape all wrong and didn’t look like he was paying attention when he scored an own goal.
Didn’t get over half way and was ball watching on too many occasions.
Ridvan Yilmaz – 6
Should have scored, offered a real threat down the left-hand side and tried to make things happen.
Was strong one-v-one too.
Leon Balogun – 4
Should have been organising the defence but it was all over the place centrally, he should have been talking Clinton Nsiala through the game.
Can’t just win duels and headers.
Clinton Nsiala – 5
Tough night for the young defender who switched off for Birmingham’s second.
Easy to forget it’s his first season in senior football.
Better in the second half though so there might be a player there.
Cole McKinnon – 2
Couldn’t get into the game at all. When he did have possession he was usually tackled or gave it away.
Alex Lowry – 4
Got into some good positions but his couldn’t execute his shot well enough, wasn’t great out of possession and left the midfield two isolated.
Mohamed Diomande – 4
Not his best performance as he struggled to make any impact and couldn’t do the basics well enough to get going.
Rabbi Matondo – 3
Should have scored or created a tap-in for Danilo at 1-1 but his execution was poor.
Carried the ball well at times but frequently ended up running into dead ends.
Danilo – 4
Looked sharp in terms of his movement but just didn’t get any service, Matondo really should have squared an easy chance to him.
Ross McCausland – 4
Worked hard enough, but you could put a right back on the wing and they would work hard too.
Needs to start offering a threat when he is given the chance to.
Substitutes – up to 75 minutes
Scott Wright – 6
Made an immediate impact and looked bright in possession. Good ball into Dessers’ feet should have resulted in a goal but the striker’s first touch was heavy.
Connor Barron – 6
Added steel and a bit of dig to midfield, also worked a lot harder than those who had been on the pitch.
Best player on the park.
Robbie Fraser – 4
An honest shift from Fraser as he looks to cement his place in the first-team squad this season.
Cyriel Dessers – 5
Provided a more direct option and did well to link up with Wright to get a goal back.
Usual story though, presented with a 1v1 chance and makes a mess of it.
Other substitutes were Archie Stevens, Baily Rice, Curtis Davis
