FALKIRK 1 RANGERS 1 Heaven knows where this is going to end up for Russell Martin's side if American owners keep their fingers in their ears

Only if you happened to have been living in a cave for the past four months could this outcome possibly have come as any surprise.

Rangers began this season under Russell Martin looking feeble, vulnerable and rudderless. As the shop shelves are being stocked with Christmas decorations, absolutely nothing has changed.

The club’s owners can talk about long-term plans and the need for patience all they want. This just isn’t working. Something has to give at Ibrox.

Russell Martin’s side were second best yet again here. The only team entitled to nurse a sense of injustice by time up were the Premiership’s new boys, Falkirk.

Brave and inventive, they hugely unfortunate to find themselves a goal down at the break. They were never out of this. Rangers, under Martin, just do not have the wit to put teams away.

The final whistle brought some familiar sights and sounds. The visiting manager went straight up the tunnel. His players took a couple of steps towards their pocket of supporters and were met by a tidal wave of fury. ‘Sacked in the morning,’ was the cry from every side of the ground.

Those among the away support who believed matters could only get better were proven wrong. Their side managed just two shots on target all afternoon. It was another lamentable display which, bluntly, was ill-deserving of any tangible reward.

For their followers, Rangers on the road are an extremely tough watch. The run of games away from Ibrox without a clean sheet now stands at 23. Clearly, not all of that is on Martin. But there is not a trace of evidence to suggest that he’s capable of addressing it.

What a state the Ibrox side are in. They’ve won just one league match this season and now sit 11 points behind Hearts and nine behind Celtic. Aberdeen, the Premiership’s bottom side, are only four points behind them. Heaven knows where this might end if the American owners continue to put their fingers in the ears.

Quite why Falkirk were trailing to Bojan Miovski’s goal at the break was a complete mystery.

Full credit to John McGlynn’s players thereafter, though. To a man, they were outstanding. The equaliser from substitute Henry Cartwright was the least they deserved.

Any game which immediately precedes an international break in October spells danger for any manager who’s under pressure. When you’ve won just five competitive games to that point, as Martin had, your existence is day-to-day.

The Ibrox manager would have demanded that none of the elementary errors which pockmarked his side’s display in Graz were again on display. Some hope.

Within the opening five minutes, Nico Raskin had tripped over the ball at the expense of a corner, Joe Rothwell had run it out of play and John Souttar had twice turned it over.

Any prospect of some quick relief for the visitors vanished when Mikey Moore was adjudged to have strayed offside before Djeidi Gassama lashed home from close range.

Falkirk controlled the early exchanges, threatening any time they turned their opponents with a diagonal over the top.

Ross MacIvor attempted to capitalise on one such opening, dancing in from the left and seeing his shot repelled. Kyrell Wilson dragged the rebound narrowly beyond the far post.

The passing between the home side was crisp, accurate and purposeful. All they lacked was a better final ball.

Rangers just didn’t settle. When Nasser Djiga fired a six-yard pass at Raskin, Ethan Williams pounced on the Belgian’s poor control. His strike flashed just wide of the upright.

Although James Tavernier rifled a strike narrowly wide, his side struggled to make any headway. It said much that the visitors’ best openings came when the Bairns twice overplayed as they tried to build from the back.

You could not fault Martin’s players for effort, but they struggled to link the play. Moore, in particular, was culpable down the right. All too often, the on-loan Tottenham forward was simply brushed off the ball.

If Rangers were going to create something, it was bound to come down the left. And, four minutes from the interval, their first cohesive move brought the opener.

Rothwell took his side up the park with a energetic burst into a vacant area. He played in Gassama who picked out Derek Cornelius.

Advanced from his left-back role, the Canadian’s cross had accuracy. Miovski was on his toes and bundled the ball home from three yards out.

Aside from that one lapse in concentration, McGlynn could not have asked for much more from his players in the opening period.

They didn’t change their approach much, believing it would inevitably fashion more openings.

The introduction of Alfredo Agyeman, their jet-heeled right winger, just after the hour mark gave them a new dimension.

His first burst up the flank left Cornelius in the starting blocks. His cross picked out Calvin Miller. Tavernier got a telling touch to prevent the goal being threatened.

Agyeman’s next delivery caught Jack Butland backpedalling. MacIvor kept his eye on the ball only to see his header drift just wide. He ought to have scored.

There remained a fragility about Rangers. These days, that’s usually the case.

Cartwright would have sensed it when he climbed off the bench. He demanded the ball in tight areas, passed and probed.

And when fellow substitute Mohamed Diomande contested a 50/50, there was only one winner.

Having outmuscled his opponent, Cartwright took three touches to advance then let fly. Butland may not have got it anyway, but a slight deflection off Souttar gave him no chance.

As in Graz, as in so many games, Martin threw on sub after sub to the point where you could no longer discern the game plan.

With the visitors gambling and leaving space at the back, Agyeman threatened to win it on the break, but fired a decent chance over.

Brian Graham also missed a fine chance to claim Falkirk’s first home win in the top flight in 15 years. A weak effort from eight yards allowed Butland to drop on the ball.

Within minutes, the Rangers keeper was given the signal to go forward to see if he could cause chaos at a free-kick. It was desperate. It summed up exactly where Rangers are at this moment in time.