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I don`t by into this self-defeatism and lack of character or class things some seem to point at. We were a hair-width away from scoring thrice, had a penalty saved and two not given, conceded a clear offside goal, played them off the park at time and people leave it out on our players? Had any of our chances gone in, it might have become a feast. "Might" does not win you anything, but likewise disappointment should not cloud our views or objectivity here.

Yesterday was extremely tough to take The usual social media outcry or overreaction is to blame everyone, rip it up start again, they are all shite bags etc My own personal view was that we played well up until the last 20mins then our heads dropped Crucial decisions didn’t go our way and in space of 5 days we have had blatant decisions go against us, that’s really tough to accept especially when it’s not close or difficult decisions - I’d like to see us challenging that in whatever capacity we can I don’t buy into personal criticism of anyone from yesterday, think we need to tinker but not wholsesale changes and agree with manager that we need to stick with these players Still think we lack something in the final third which is something I said on an earlier podcast this summer. A really painful defeat, I remain positive & not despondent Five victories are needed this month otherwise the season will very quickly derail

Today's Guardian carries a match report of yesterday's League Cup final. It's penned by Allison McConnell, former cub reporter at ra Sellik View. Obviously, conditioned by her previous employment, Allison has managed to construct a number of words to describe her heroes' goal, "Rangers lost to a Christopher Jullien goal that Television pictures suggested was offside". Note, Allison doesn't state the goal was offside, it's those remote TV pictures that suggest it may be so. Allison's sin is clean. How are you and Chris getting on these days? TV pictures suggest Chris behaved in an offside manner? Please feel free to contribute other conditioned descriptions of the goal. We should have a prize, 'the Man in the Know' award for the most construed.

Yesterday was a rare chance to see Rangers face Celtic at a neutral venue, while both sides were in top form and equally motivated for the occasion. Under those conditions, our players proved that they are a better team than this mob and should have no doubts whatsoever that they can win this league. Make no mistake about it, that was the toughest game Celtic have had this season and it will have come as a shock to every single one of them how one-sided it was and they now know they will have to fight tooth and nail for this league title because our boys are clearly up for the fight.

Quite. The team were great. They just didn't score.

“Rangers lost to a clinical finish from Julien from a superb Christie free kick brought about by an atrocious hack on ‘French Eddie’ by Goldson who was lucky to escape a red card. Julien may have strayed marginally offside if some TV angles and Sevco fans are to be believed. But he didn’t know he was offside, McGreogor the H*n keeper didn’t know he was offside, 50,000 fans didn’t know he was offside, and the assistant referee who was perfectly positioned could not have reasonably flagged for offside due to several other Celts who were potentially in an offside position obstructing his view”

I'm glad the manager is backing his players. The support need to listen to him.

I think that we can all be grateful that the players show more mental strength than you are here.

It's a wonder we played them off the park with all that mediocrity

If Davis was fit I suspect Aribo would have been the player to make way.

More likely a promotion

It was a strange atmosphere. Their support was quiet until Eduoard came on and they sprung into life.. They quickly got the goal but even then didn't really make much noise until the last few minutes. As for being critical of players... I was ready to launch for the guy behind me. Constantly moaning, shouting and swearing at the slightest thing that he perceived were failings by our players. Sometimes we all agreed loudly, but the constant barrage of "awferfuxake.... [insert Tav, Goldson, Helander, Barisic, Kent, Arfield, Aribo, Kamara, Morelos]" was really grating on me from about 10 minutes in.

By the time she got her elephant thighs out of her jeans you would be onto something else mate. The only thing I’d stick in her would be a bar of soap in her gob.

Many of us have had those thought these last few years - will I live to see another league win? Many have passed these last 8 years without that pleasure, maybe we'll be the lucky ones. Chin up.

Im as low as a submarine I am running short of time to see another trophy maybe the league will perk me up .

As you say, there's no way Tav bottled the penalty but I suspect there is a fairly widespread belief that, while Tav is a considerable asset, he's not necessarily the popular idea of a Rangers skipper. Hence the misdirected criticism on this occasion.

Before the final, I thought our tempo was paramount to possible success. The first 65 minutes, our tempo was spot on. Ra Sellik go down to ten men, we fail to score the penalty, and our tempo begins to slow down. Lennon identifies it during his post match comments. He lauds their ten men performance, recognising they struggled to compete with eleven men. Of course, they retreated into their last third. We were reduced to passing the ball sideways, relying on Barker and Tav' accessing the bye-line. Generally, our crossing became woeful. Both probing and threading stopped too, Kent was withdrawn into starting attacks from the centre circle. Tempo needs direction, it's dynamic. Just saying, when Katic came on, I thought they will throw him up front. Jullien has to mark him, leaving Morelos and Defoe to feed on secondaries. Further, our midfield steps another few yards forward to feed on edge of the box secondaries. Anyways, after sixty-five minutes ra Sellik controlled the match tempo. Count the minutes lost to perceived injuries, cramp, bye-kicks, throw-ins, ........ etc. Solve the question of maintaining tempo(in many cases where do you place the extra man), and we will continue to progress.

A day's reflection often clears the head a little and if I were Gerrard trying to lift a losing squad I'd be trying to decide which of the positives from yesterday to emphasise first. I'd certainly be upbeat. We outplayed Celtic, we had better players all over the field and we were only beaten by an illegal goal. Sure, we didn't take the cup home but we should be going into every game now fully aware of these facts and in no doubt that our time is almost here. The support has to be part of that reassurance to and I'm sure I'm not the only one today feeling a mixture of disappointment, pride and expectation. Our upcoming trip to Parkhead is one to anticipate with confidence. I've always said if we were still in contention come January then this would be our year.

I'm afraid I'm also questioning the mentality of this side. I was also reminded of Tommy Burns Celtic against Walter Smith's Rangers, they'd play us off the park for long periods but we'd still win. That's a concern for me. Dropping points to Aberdeen during the week was a disgrace. There was a lack of leadership and a lack of sheer will to win. When Aberdeen got a lucky goal they grew in belief and we visibly drew in. That's a worrying trait. It was different yesterday, we were unable to get a goal despite numerous chances, almost all falling to the player we'd want them falling too. But let's be honest here, that was a makeshift Celtic side upfront. Their only forward was a winger who looked half decent when in the Championship but well out of his depth in the SPFL. This severely hampered them, make no mistake, and allowed us to control the match. We were unable to make this count and my concern is they won't be that poor again when we next play them. Yesterday was our chance to land a blow and we didn't take it. I'm not suggesting wholesale changes, but we do need to make changes. There's a lack of leaders on the pitch for a start. I like Tav but has he got the sheer drive to be a Rangers captain? Be honest, will he do what Scott Brown does to help change a match? Are our centre-halves commanding? Do they scare the opposition, do they control our box at set-pieces, do they hurt the forwards they're up against? Lastly where are the moments of magic from Kent and particularly Aribo? Aribo clearly has a wonderful touch and a great close control, but we need to see that create something during a match. When I first saw him I thought we'd bought a player similar to Sone Aluko. Not in stature obviously but it terms of what he'd bring to the side. The ability to beat a man, to create space for others, to hold the ball and draw a foul, and more importantly to provide that wee piece of quality that wins us tight matches. I'm not seeing that, he's fine at playing one-twos with Kamara but he's not hurting the opposition and that's what we need. I accept we need to be careful of knee-jerk reactions fuelled by bitter disappointment, but football matches between evenly matched sides are won by small margins, and, in my opinion those are largely in mentality related. Personally I've not taken any positives from yesterday.

Nothing to do with being found wanting mentally. The over-reaction from some Bears is astounding. we pummeled them from start to finish. That isn’t being found wanting mentally. If you want to seek mental weakness go back to Pedro or Warburton’s Rangers teams against Celtic (cup semi aside) and you’ll see mental weakness. Today wasn’t mentally weak at all - offside goal, missed penalty that should have been retaken, two more penalties could have been given and a keeper inspired. It isn’t mental weakness, it’s poor luck and a lack of composure in front of goal

Mack1950, I think you are a bit harsh on Kamara who, along with Arfield, was industrious and part of the reason our midfield outplayed them. Having said that I believe we need someone with a bit more bite and pace than Arfield. Although Kent did not have his best game he was tightly marked by Celtic players which allowed others the space to operate. I agree, however, that it would be beneficial to see Kent do his work nearer the opponent's goal rather than meandering across the pitch 40 or so yards from the goal. Leaving aside the terrific shot from Jack, today's game also showed that we need players, other than Morelos, to be stepping up and scoring goals in the big games.

I think I would be more concerned if the performance and result were reversed in all honesty.

I certainly viewed yesterday's match as a benchmarking of sorts, an opportunity to see where we were compared to our biggest rivals and ultimately the side we need to finish in front of. I'd hoped we were closer than I now feel we are. I very much saw this season as one where our goal was the winning the league, unlike last season where I felt that was unrealistic. Celtic have a 'new' manager, and even though he knows the club and had a few months of last season to assess the squad I still felt that gave us some advantage. I accept they've a better squad and more money to attract players, but while I think Lennon is a better manager than some give him credit for I don't think he's of the same calibre as Rodgers. Having played them twice now, once at Ibrox and once at Hampden it concerns me we've not been able to score a goal yet. That was a Celtic side who got their tactics all wrong yesterday, who had nothing upfront almost all match and a rookie 18 year old at full back. I expected us to be able to beat Celtic in a one off match such as yesterday by this stage in our rebuilding. Psychologically that was a huge result for Celtic yesterday and a damaging one for us. I'm not really having a go at Gerrard, or any specific player. I just thought we were further along the road than we seem to be. Plus we just lost a cup final to Celtic so I'm in a fucker of a mood.

I think that is doing this Rangers team a huge disservice mate. Rangers did not allow them to play for the full 90 minutes. You have to bear in mind that this is the same Celtic team that have been lauded all season.

I think we're a better squad than this time last year and light years from the year before that, so I agree about the situation as a whole. But we couldn't beat a poor Celtic side yesterday. That tells me we're still some way short of where we need to be.

This is confusing for me, we all know I have previous for this kind of thing??

Nice to read someone who is reassuring me that my sanity has not off the cliff? I thank you for making the point much more concisely than my John ?

Sheffield United are doing rather well .

Agreed, there is a time for critical comment. This isn't it. Not after yesterday's performance. Criticism now is merely indulgence.

"Support" as in "Kent is over-rated and we shouldn't have bought him ? I would, on the whole, agree though. Far too many in our support see every loss, every point dropped, as an opportunity to absolutely crucify players. Internet and social media have created this easy form of anonymity. Boils my piss that people slate players who have given absolutely everything and played their opponents off the pitch - almost as if they forget that there are 11 other players out there trying to prevent you from winning, along with poor officials and a huge slice of bad luck.

Spot on Bill. Too many in our support see a loss and think the world has ended. Since Gerrard has come in he has made us competitive against that lot again. Prior to that you KNEW we would get humped. We now are playing them off the pitch (when Gerrard gets his tactics right, as he did yesterday) - we have come a very long way in a very short space of time against a club who have had consistency for the better part of a decade. There is much to be positive about, despite the result. We now KNOW we can go up against this club and compete. With Ross Wilson in, one can hope that we see us strengthening again, whether it be January or the summer. What I will say, is that those players gave everything yesterday, to a man, and can be very proud of their efforts. They deserve our support, not our criticism. I could see criticizing them if they didn't show up or lacked character, but they showed both in spades.

You could say FOUR decisions - because Brown made contact with Morelos in the box and, technically, should have been a penalty - not given. Then Christie pushes Morelos in the back to make a clearing header - again, blatant penalty, not given. FOUR critical decisions and every single one went for Celtic. Every single one. And they say they even themselves out over the course of the season ?? In the last two games we have lost a Cup final and fallen two points behind in the league - some of it down to our own failings but it can't, or shouldn't, be ignored that much of it is down to awful officiating.

I’ve been disappointed with our management response to yesterday’s game. Can you imagine Lennon’s response if they’d lost to an offside goal, a penalty which should have been re-taken & denied at least one further penalty? The harsh reality in Scottish football is that dignified silence gets you nowhere

Being played on the Sunday.

I'm taking positives from it. There has been talking of them playing badly on the day but I don't think they did, they have been in good enough form prior to this game. They simply looked bad because Rangers were simply too good for them. That's going to remain in their heads for the future. We didn't take the cup on the day but I don't put that down to mental deficiencies or small margins. It was just one of those days where absolutely nothing went our way. The ball didn't go our way, they had a goalie playing the game of his life, (the goalie broke my heart comes to mind) and nor did the refereeing decisions go our way. Such a litany of bad luck can't be expected to occur repeatedly. Aside from being more clinical in taking chances and getting this penalty taking thing sorted out I really don't see much that needs to be changed following this disappointment. Ironically despite winning they would appear to have more to be concerned about than we do.

I think you make some good points. You may have a point about Tavernier, but I'm not willing to throw him under a bus quite yet; he's a good player, and has been a good servant. I think you are mistaken about Aribo, though: he was never an Aluko-type player, which I mentioned at the time we signed him because people were thinking similarly, he's actually a box-to-box player, a destroyer-type that plays deeper, like Kamara. He's a good talent, with a big future, but he's not settled yet. (Kent didn't do much, but I did say yesterday, there were 4-5 players around him every time he had the ball; that's not a bad thing.) I think the obvious position to improve is Arfield's. If we can get that player you thought Aribo was into there, then we'd be vastly improved.

I'm definitely taking it better than you. That much is clear. A couple of questions. Did we "lack penetration" or have "countless chances"? What did the manager say about the penalty? I'm not sure why you think I am trolling. I'm also not sure how you think you made that point. All I see is someone who is assuming that everything will go wrong for the rest of the month.

While that's mostly accurate it ends on a peculiar note. On the one hand he points out that they were played off the park and lucky to win this cup then that somehow translates to champions again? He expects that kind of luck to continue and take them all the way to the title?

Do you believe him? He is superficially plausible and facetious, especially when his side has won. He's laughing at us which is hammered home by his last word.

I think the fact that he hasn't scored against Celtic has got to him. If only he could have equalised in injury time I think we would have gone on to win it.