Goldson blames cup defeat on Rangers losing 'hunger'

Connor Goldson admitted he feels Rangers have “lost a bit of hunger” after they were bounced out of the League Cup with a 3-1 semi-final defeat to Hibernian.

With new manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst watching from the Hampden Park main stand as he awaits a work permit, Hibs attacker Martin Boyle scored a hat-trick within 38 minutes, with the third coming from the spot.

Scott Arfield’s strike gave the Gers a lifeline but the Ibrox side, who won their first cinch Premiership title in a decade last season under previous boss Steven Gerrard, could not come back.

Defender Goldson told Premier Sports TV: “We know the new manager was there today and you would hope that the players would want to impress but after that performance we need a change, we need a spark.

“I don’t want to say this but I feel like we have lost a bit of hunger, all of a sudden we are champions and we don’t need to work as hard, which is wrong.

“I feel that has crept in all season. We haven’t been good enough the whole of the season so far and hopefully that new manager can come in and give us a spark. ”

The former Brighton man refused to put any blame on the temporary management team of B-team boss David McCallum and his assistant Brian Gilmour, player-coach Jermain Defoe and goalkeeping coach Colin Stewart, as he claimed the game was effectively over at the interval.

He said: “The staff covered everything. We have let ourselves down. Players don’t follow instructions.

“The first two goals, from a corner, people are in the wrong position which we worked on yesterday, from a throw-in, people are in the wrong position, which we worked on yesterday and if players don’t want to follow instructions then we can’t blame coaches.

“Then we are 2-0 down and they score a third goal and the game is over.

“We can be in there at half-time and say ‘Believe in ourselves and blah, blah, blah’, but the game is over, you are 3-0 down, 3-1 at half-time. It is nowhere near good enough.

“I am not going to stand here and not give them credit, they beat us fair and square but as Rangers Football Club, our standards need to be so much higher.

“Defensively poor, three chances, three goals in the first half, you can’t give yourself a 3-0 mountain to climb.

“Attacking-wise we didn’t create anything again so as a team at the minute we are not performing, it is simple as that.

“Back to front not one individual can come off that pitch and hold their head high, we have a lot of work to do.”