Rangers crashed out of the Scottish Cup on Saturday after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Hearts, leading manager Steven Gerrard to admit that he will consider his role at the Ibrox club.
Three days earlier, the Liverpool legend watched his side dispatch in-form Portuguese outfit Braga from the Europa League by winning 1-0 away from home, but a poor run of domestic form sees them trail Celtic in the Premiership by 12 points and staring down the barrel of another trophyless season.
Saturday’s display at Tynecastle was a particularly limp affair, with the Gers being comprehensively outplayed by an opponent that finds itself in a relegation battle.
Gerrard has confessed that it was the type of performance that has left him questioning if he has a future at the club.
“I’m very disappointed. It’s the lowest I’ve felt since I came into the job by a long way,” he admitted. “The performance today was nowhere near good enough.
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“On Wednesday night I was the proudest man in Europe because my players were outstanding. Everything we’ve worked on for two years, I could see it on the sidelines. I was proud as punch, it was incredible.
“But today for 90 minutes, I didn’t recognise anything. So I’m feeling really low. Two seasons without a trophy isn’t good enough. It's not what I’m about. But that’s where it comes down on my shoulders.
“I need to think now. The plan was to have a day off on Sunday. But I need to think hard about where we are. I’ll do some serious thinking in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Gerrard was probed as to whether that might include his own managerial future, but while he admitted he needed time for self-reflection, he does not doubt his own ability.
“I just need to think,” he said. “I’m feeling pain right now because I want to win here, I’m desperate to win here. But looking from the side today, I didn’t get the impression that the feeling amongst my players was the same.
“I’m not doubting myself. But it’s tough when you feel like this after performances like that.
“I need to analyse myself, for sure. Is it still possible to win here? It will be extremely difficult in the short term because of where we are in the league.
“And we all know that we’ve punched above our weight in Europe so far. This is what I need to analyse in the coming days.”