Ally is at the gallows but it's players who should hang their heads in shame

But they are the ones who should be in the firing line after allowing their part-time rivals to come from two goals back at the Indodrill Stadium to triumph.

The back five of Steve Simonsen, Darren McGregor, Lee McCulloch, Bilel Mohsni and Richard Foster could hardly be more experienced.

But the goals they conceded in the last 20 minutes in the Petrofac Training Cup semi- final tie on Wednesday night were simply horrific.

Rangers let wingers put crosses into the box, failed to clear the danger when they did so and gave forwards time and space to shoot and score.

I know Ally will be fuming with the way his backline played. To be two goals up with 20 minutes left and lose the game is inexcusable.

It was one of the worst performances and results, if not the worst performance and result, of Ally's three and half year tenure as manager.

He is the one who will get the flak. He will be under so much pressure whenever his side take to the field from now on - starting with the SPFL Championship game against Cowdenbeath tomorrow.

But I don't think you can say that the manager's tactics were terrible or that he picked a bad team. The players have to put their hands up and accept responsibility.

Defensively, they were extremely poor. I can't remember opposition players being given such room in the box to score a goal by Rangers.

All three of Alloa's goals were scored between the posts. What were the defenders thinking about? There were certainly plenty of them back.

It was obvious the opposition was going to throw players forward in an attempt to haul themselves back into the game. So why wasn't the defence prepared for that?

Neither of the Alloa players who scored, Ryan McCord and Greig Spence, were marked at the goals. That is the desperately sad thing for me.

Rangers went into the game on a massive high after thrashing Kilmarnock 3-0 in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox on Sunday.

Everybody said: "Brilliant! That's the third SPFL Premiership side we've beaten this season! We're good enough to play in the top flight!"

Allan Johnston's side didn't have a single shot on target in the entire 90 minutes.

How can Rangers go from that to their capitulation against Alloa in the space of a few days?

The manager must be pulling his hair out. The Jekyll and Hyde nature of his team is a serious concern for him.

The players looked as if they thought they were as good as in the final against Livingston in April when they went 2-0 ahead.

John Brown came out and had a dig at the players after the defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle last month.

Some of the players had a dig back at him. Well, I would like to hear what they are saying now?

Their defending was really, really bad. I am sure Ally will have gone gone through it all at Auchenhowie yesterday.

He can shout at them until he is blue in the face. But where do you go with senior professionals who don't mark players inside their own box? .

The Rangers players carved out a two-goal lead in the second half and they should be able to see that out. It is scandalous that they lost the game. I am sure that Ally would dearly like to drop five or six players. But has he got half a dozen players of sufficient quality to bring in to replace them?

That is a big part of the problem. Ally is often accused of being too loyal to players who are underperforming. But does he have alternatives? Does he have players who are good enough to come in and play on a regular basis?

In saying all that, you have to take your hat off to Alloa manager Barry Smith and his players for the way they went about their business. It is the best result in their history and they deserved it.

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