'That Is Crazy' - Pundit stunned by most wild thing he's ever seen from Rangers man v Motherwell

Alan Hutton was left in disbelief by what he saw from Jefte as Rangers went behind to Motherwell at Hampden Park.

The former Gers full-back reacted live on the Premier Sports half-time coverage of the 2-1 League Cup victory on 3 November after the Light Blues defender completely failed to provide any defensive obstacle to Andy Halliday, as he made a late run into the box and stretched to volley the opener past Jack Butland in the 25th minute.

Stephen Craigan criticised the Brazilian’s lack of awareness as he left space for the ex-Ibrox midfielder to run into, while Hutton was stunned that Jefte turned to run away in anticipation of starting a counter-attack before the current attack had even been dealt with.

Craigan said (4.03pm): “He has no sense of danger at all. At no stage in this passage of play does he even think about the gap between him and Leon Balogun, which he has to fill. Look at the huge gap. You’re just enticing Andy Halliday to run into that gap. He doesn’t do it”.

Hutton added: “I genuinely don’t think he’s aware of Andy Halliday’s run at all, which is a real, real worry for me.

“He expects Butland to come out, collect the ball, and then start the attack and throw it to Jefte, but he doesn’t even see it. He’s looking for a wide man… that’s the danger, right in front of you.

“He’s no clue he’s there, his first thought is, ‘Can I break away?’ That is crazy. That’s the craziest defending I’ve seen.”

Jefte let Andy Halliday put Motherwell up against Rangers

The first 45 minutes from the Light Blues was abysmal at Hampden, and it was a toss up whether the Halliday goal or Cyriel Dessers open-goal miss summed it up best.

Since the latter did at least respond after the interval to make amends and draw his side level it probably has to be the bizarre sequence which saw Rangers go behind.

John Souttar had already been beaten by a simple long-ball over the top, and while the centre-back, far from the worst offender on the day managed to block the initial cross, captain James Tavernier, who had a nightmare afternoon, failed to close down Steve Sneddon as he swung in a dangerous ball.

Butland could have been more commanding as he simply stood and stared as Halliday ran in and poked it past him, but the sight of Jefte with his back to the play sprinting in the opposite direction as the scorer made contact encapsulated the disarray Philippe Clement’s side have got themselves into.

The left-back has been one of the brighter aspects of the new season, and one of the more successful of the under-fire manager’s signings.

Still only 20, he can probably be afforded a few errors as he develops, but this one was a giant one that also had Michael Stewart in disbelief on the match commentary.

It hasn’t been entirely plain sailing for the full-back and he has been accused of not being an upgrade on Borna Barisic after the oft-criticised Croatian left in the summer [Maurice Ross, 3 October].

The former defender became known for allowing attackers to steal in ahead of him at the back post, particularly in Old Firm derbies, and when it comes to Celtic’s Daizen Maeda so has Tavernier, but neither have actively vacated the area rather than do some defending so Gers fans will hope Jefte’s aberration was a one off.

In other Ranger news, the “obvious” replacement for Clement at Ibrox has been named.

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