Attendance 10,310
Rangers faltered for the second successive SPL game at Rugby Park this afternoon - a goalless draw with Kilmarnock in a game mired with controversy and two red cards.
Pedro Mendes and Manuel Pascali were the two players receiving early baths - for the Ibrox men the third ordering-off in four League games.
However one must qualify any judgement by pointing out that the referee was none other than anti-Rangers official Steve Conroy, who somehow in a game of modest tension and controversy managed to produce no fewer than ELEVEN yellow cards (including the two double bookings).
Manager Walter Smith made four changes from Stuttgart with David Weir, John Fleck, Nacho Novo and Kris Boyd replacing the suspended Madjid Bougherra, Jerome Rothen, Kevin Thomson and Kenny Miller.
A dull opening saw little of incident until the sixteenth minute when Mendes received a yellow card for his first tackle of the game, a fair one on Craig Bryson where he clearly won the ball yet incredibly the referee awarded a free-kick and booked the Ranger.
Seven minutes later the game threatened to explode when Frazer Wright collapsed in mid-air under challenge from Kris Boyd. However the Killie player responded after treatment.
The first-half had been lacking in excitement with Kilmarnock defensive and the visitors showing signs of weariness after their midweek European travels. Steven Naismith almost broke the deadlock in 34 minutes when his twenty-yard shot from a Sasa Papac pass struck the legs of former Ibrox goalkeeper Mark Brown.
Two minutes later Manuel Pascali was yellow-carded for a foul on Novo.
The game boiled over in 43 minutes when unbelievably Mendes received a second yellow and consequent red card for an innocuous trip on Bryson. Steve Conroy signalled a foul and immediately took up position for the free-kick to be taken. He was immediately surrounded by Kilmarnock players and suddenly decided to produce another yellow and consequent red card for the Portuguese midfielder.
Walter Smith was so incensed by the referee's decision - which he presumed to be influenced by pressure from the home players - that he had words with Conor Sammon and was promptly despatched to the stand by Steve Conroy. Once in the Director's Box, Walter was then on the receiving end of a torrent of abuse from local businessman Sam Boles. One would hope that Kilmarnock Football Club will take appropriate action against this individual.
Rangers were right up against it - and things almost got worse two minutes after the restart when Danny Invincible's cross produced an almighty scramble in front of goal before Steve Davis cleared.
Jamie Hamill then tested Allan McGregor in fifty minutes with a 25-yard shot that the 'keeper clawed away.
Two minutes later Killie went even closer when from a Salmon cross Invincible's header was blocked on the line by Sasa Papac, the ball coming back to the Australian who then skied the ball over the bar.
Sammon was causing problems down the visitors' right flank - and when another cross in 56 minutes found Hamill his volley appeared net-bound until the ball was turned onto a post and clear by McGregor.
Sixty seconds later at the other end Fleck's twenty-yard left-foot drive was turned wide by Brown.
The referee had been the centre of attention throughout - and he continued in this vogue when he yellow-carded Hamill for dissent - yet chose to ignore the fact that the player committed the same offence on the hour when he angrily threw the ball away following a decision..
Rangers made a double substitution in 57 minutes when Miller and Thomson replaced Novo and Boyd - the latter (a former Kilmarnock player of course) being abused by the home fans as he departed the scene.
Invincible again tested McGregor in 62 minutes when his 25-yard left-foot shot was held by the 'keeper.
Two minutes later Conroy again turned a blind eye when Bryson scythed down Naismith - incredibly not even a foul was awarded.
Rothen substituted for Naismith in seventy minutes.
For once Conroy actually decided to even things up when he ordered off Pascali for pulling Steve Davis' shirt in eighty minutes - as with Mendes forty minutes earlier it appeared a harsh decision.
Killie were still pressing for a winner - Salmon's turn-and-shot two minutes later being blocked by McGregor.
The final whistle signalled a goalless draw - an unsatisfactory outcome from almost every conceivable angle - and afterwards Walter Smith commented:
"This was always going to be a tough game. There were few goalscoring opportunities - Kilmarnock possibly had the best two. Pendro Mendes' ordering-off was very harsh. It was not a dirty game - the referee over-reacted. There was not a malicious tackle in the game."
Kilmarnock Manager Jim Jefferies likewise stated:
'I didn't agree with either ordering-off. The first yellow-card was not even a foul."
Jefferies was also at pains to stress that his players had not attempted to influence the referee into red-carding Mendes:
"My players were simply complaining that the advantage rule had not been applied."
KILMARNOCK Brown; Old, Wright, O'Leary, Clancy (Skelton 49); Invincible (Taouil 71), Bryson, Pascali, Hamill; Kyle, Sammon
UNUSED SUBS Bell, Owens, Flannigan, Fernandez, Kelly
RANGERS McGregor; Whittaker, Weir, McCulloch, Papac; Davis, Mendes, Fleck, Novo (Miller 57); Boyd (Thomson 57), Naismith (Rothen 70)
UNUSED SUBS Alexander, Smith, Little, Wilson
REFEREE Steve Conroy