Danny Rohl was left bemused by grumbling Rangers fans in the early part of the 5-1 home win over 10-man Kilmarnock which cut Hearts’ lead at the top of the William Hill Premiership to three points.
Gers captain James Tavernier scored from the penalty spot in the fifth minute after Killie defender Dom Thompson was sent off by referee David Dickinson for denying Djeidi Gassama a goalscoring opportunity.
However, Rangers struggled to take advantage against a team second bottom of the league and nervy supporters allowed their anxiety to spill down from the stands with a smattering of boos at the interval.
Striker Bojan Miovski made it 2-0 before new signing Andreas Skov Olsen scored his first goal for the club after coming off the bench.
A blunder by Light Blues goalkeeper Jack Butland in the 84th minute allowed Greg Kiltie to score for the visitors.
However, late goals from Rangers substitute Oliver Antman and Mikey Moore took the Ibrox side three points clear of Celtic, whose game at Aberdeen was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and three behind the Jambos.
Rohl, who took over from Russell Martin in October, said: “I couldn’t understand this, I must say this.
“I love our fans, really, but today I was really surprised.
“In the last couple of weeks we spoke about ‘we’, and ‘we’ want to be together, and ‘we’ need the crowd.
“We led very early in this first half and then I was really surprised, but it’s my job then to give my players the right feeling for this game, the right instruction.
“What we saw today is that we have a strong bench now, I think this is crucial
“Some players start, and everyone knows the first 60 minutes is sometimes harder than the last 30 minutes.
“Some players scored, we want to create confidence, give them minutes.
“It’s the reason why I’m very proud of my group at the moment, it’s not about me, it’s all about my group because they deserve a lot of credit for what they did.
“In some moments we forget very soon and very quickly which position we were in 10 weeks ago, and it was not me, it was my group who came from a position we were behind, from 14 (13) points down to three points.
“Maybe this deserves sometimes a little bit of positive energy.”
Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann, a former Rangers player and ex-interim assistant manager, questioned Thompson’s red card and claimed Tavernier should have been in trouble for a similar foul on Tyreece John-Jules.
McCann, who was proud of his side’s efforts, said: “On the two decisions, I don’t think Dom sees him (Gassama) coming.
“I think Gassama initiates the contact. He slows down, bumps him and then goes down.
“I can understand why David (Dickinson, referee) has then produced the red card and it’s not overturned.
“Sometimes it’s so harsh because not every challenge should be a red card. I know the laws of the game, denying a goalscoring opportunity, but for the reasons I’ve just said, I think Gassama slowed up to make contact.
“What I’m really angry about is that I think James Tavernier should be also sent off.
“There is no reason for Ty (John-Jules) to go down. It’s a clear push from behind. Ty was in with the ball over the top.
“I’m hearing there’s not enough contact. It’s virtually identical contact to what Dom was penalised for.
“I can’t, for the life of me, understand why it’s not a red card. It’s 1-0 at that stage and that evens it up, and then we’re right in the game.”
