Weak Rangers led by James Tavernier and his consistently unreliable bunch – Keith Jackson

It's not necessarily the end of the road for Rangers.

It’s entirely possible that they might still gather themselves and make something meaningful of the run-in to the line. But, even so, it did feel like quite a moment in this two horse race and one almighty capitulation in the Highlands as Philippe Clement’s players turned in a woeful apology of a performance and got exactly what they deserved for it as a consequence.

Weak of will and devoid of character or purpose, they somehow went inside at half time holding onto a one goal lead courtesy of an own goal bundled into the back of Ross County’s net by skipper Jack Baldwin. If that felt like a travesty for the home side, they most certainly didn’t dwell on it. Rather, the team sitting second bottom of the top flight table, responded by running all over the top of Rangers, winning every loose ball and helping themselves to three goals in the process as Clement’s players allowed their bottle to crash in truly spectacular fashion.

Yes, captain James Tavernier pulled one back from the spot late in the day with a trademark perfectly executed penalty kick. But that was just about his only positive contribution over the course of 98 error strewn minutes and even when it hit the back of the net, Tavernier didn’t look even remotely like a man who truly believed he was about to dig his team out of a hole.

On the contrary, his body language was as unconvincing as his overall performance and it is starting to feel as if Tavernier’s attention might be drifting some place else just when his team needs him to be fully focussed and leading from the front.

Rumours linking the 32-year-old Englishman with a big money move to the Middle East have never fully gone away since surfacing last summer and if Tavernier already has one eye on cashing it all in in Saudi Arabia - or anywhere else for that matter - then he’s the wrong man in the wrong place right now that the entire season is on the line.

His nine years at Ibrox have been punctuated by all manner of huge personal achievements and Sunday's goal was another of these massive milestones - his 125th in a Rangers shirt which is a quite astounding return for a right back.

However, his medal collection remains paltry by comparison given the amount of time he has spent wearing the armband. Tavernier has lifted just one Premiership title, one Scottish Cup and one League Cup during six years of his captaincy and perhaps he is satisfied with completing the collection.

But these are not the kind of figures which reflect well on a Rangers skipper and, crucially, when his team needed some kind of spark, all Tavernier could muster was a string of misplaced passes and a succession of poorly delivered corner kicks.

Of course, it’s way too simple to pin it all on just one man and especially when so many of Tavernier’s team mates were found wanting or, in some cases, completely missing in action in Dingwall.

But that’s the weight which comes with wearing the armband and, on days like these, it can often look a little too heavy for Tavernier to carry.

If the speculation about a potential summer move turns into something more tangible over these next few weeks then Tavernier’s career might be about to reach a crossroads. And if that is the case then he owes it to himself and to his club to go out with a memorable bang rather than the kind of whimpering, rudderless surrender which was served up yesterday lunchtime.

If Clement needs to sit his captain down for a heart-to-heart to find out where his head is at then the manager should not waste any time in doing so. But he may want to have similar conversations with a number of others who seem to be distracted at the most critical of moments.

Is John Lundstram’s heart still in it or is he another player with one eye on his next move now that his contract is almost up? Borna Barisic is in the same boat and he too played like a man with other things on his mind against Ross County before being subbed off and replaced by Dujon Sterling.

And Connor Goldson, for so long a rock like presence at the heart of the Rangers defence, also appears to be struggling badly for form now that the weight of the world is coming down upon his shoulders. In their last seven games, Rangers have won just twice - both times against Hibs. They have been beaten by Motherwell, Benfica and Ross County.

And they set off on a lap of honour after scrambling a 3-3 draw at home to Celtic the other weekend, whilst allowing another two league points to get away from them. Ahead of that derby they had the chance to open up a five point lead over their old rivals at the top of the table going into the post split fixtures. Now, though, with six games to go they find themselves trailing by four.

Yes, that gap could be cut to just one point on Wednesday night when - one way or another - they will finally get around to playing their match in hand against Dundee. But, even so, Rangers are making an almighty mess of things and, ultimately, repeat offenders like Tavernier will have to carry the can should such a promising position be given up and another season ends in failure.

For the time being, at least, they can console themselves with the fact that their fate remains in their own hands. Should they win all of their remaining games they will end up with a treble which, of course, would represent a historic haul.

But it’s the trend of recent history which will be weighing heavily in the hearts and minds of their own supporters now that this campaign is about to come down to the crunch. And too often over the years they have learned that these players are a consistently unreliable bunch.