Leon Balogun stops short of ‘panic mode’ but says Rangers were ‘not good enough’

Rangers defender Leon Balogun stopped short of “panic mode” after Wednesday’s friendly defeat by Birmingham but some supporters are fearing the worst amid a pre-season that has thrown up challenge after challenge.

Manager Philippe Clement revealed at St Andrew’s that midfielder Todd Cantwell had handed in a transfer request but it is the lack of movement in the other direction that will cause more anxiety for fans.

Clement has added goalkeeper Liam Kelly plus the inexperienced Clinton Nsiala, Jefte and Connor Barron to his squad after losing the likes of Kemar Roofe, Borna Barisic, John Lundstram and Ryan Jack.

The Belgian was keen to get a more youthful feel to his squad but he has admitted his transfer ambitions depend on getting players out of the door first, with the likes of Ianis Hagi, Sam Lammers, James Tavernier and Connor Goldson all being heavily linked with exits.

Cantwell was another who had been the subject of speculation having not featured during friendly defeats by Ajax, Manchester United and Birmingham, and Clement clarified the situation after defeat by the Blues. The former Norwich midfielder reiterated his desire to leave Glasgow after being asked to consider his initial request.

The 26-year-old has scored 14 goals in 64 matches since joining Rangers 18 months ago but his attitude has come into question at times.

He was substituted in the first half of a Europa League clash with Aris Limassol in November last year after failing to carry out Clement’s instructions and his social media output has perturbed fans.

After writing a “bird can’t fly in a cage” on Instagram after being substituted against Kilmarnock in May, Cantwell was left on the bench at Celtic Park days later as Rangers’ title hopes more or less ended with a derby defeat.

But the circumstances around his impending departure have underlined the difficulties experienced by Clement during his first pre-season in Glasgow, which have been exacerbated by an exile from Ibrox amid delayed renovation work.

The former Club Brugge and Monaco manager picked a youthful squad for the game in Birmingham but a Tavernier own goal sent them on their way to a 2-1 loss against the League One side.

Balogun offered a blunt analysis of his side’s shortcomings, telling Rangers TV: “Not good enough, quite frankly. If you play the way we played in the first half then you have to seriously question yourself.

“I don’t want to get into panic mode or anything but that’s just a very honest assessment. In the second half we showed a bit more.

“Birmingham are a good side but if you play for Rangers you can’t present yourself like that, plain and simple.”

Balogun admitted he was “quite mad” about the performance but hopes they can smooth things out before facing Hearts in their William Hill Premiership opener at Tynecastle on August 3.

“Obviously we are still learning, we have a lot of young players in the team, we have a few new players in the team,” the centre-back said.

“There will be mistakes made. We made a lot of them. We just need to make sure – because there’s 10 days left until the kick-off of the season – that we eradicate them.

“Even throughout the season there will be mistakes but we have to minimise them and make sure we don’t make those type of mistakes.”

Rangers face Union Berlin in the German capital on Saturday in their final warm-up for the new campaign.