If you're setting out to win the Scottish Second Division, attempting to sign the division's top scorer from last season is a move that makes plenty of sense. Hence Rangers' move for Nicky Clark was understandable.
But bringing in a Honduran international midfielder, and potentially a Bosnian international defender?
I'm not sure who currently scouts opposing teams for Ally McCoist, but if they are going to Brechin, Airdrie and Methil, and feeding back to him that he needs to sign players like this, then that particular scout should be wrapped in a straitjacket and dragged away kicking and screaming.
The events of the summer of 2012 could have been a fresh start for Rangers. No-one, not even Sir David Murray himself, could surely argue against the fact that for years there had been gross overspending on players, with an onus entirely on "winning now" rather than building for the future. There are plenty of reasons why the club collapsed, but that was one of them. But the squad that Super Ally was left with when he started the 2012/13 campaign was already strong enough to win the third division at a canter, with experienced players like Neil Alexander, Lee McCulloch, Lee Wallace and Andy Little hanging around. This could allow them focus on blooding youth players. They could take the time to hone an attractive playing style which could give the supporters something to crow about. The old Rangers weren't famous enough for their actions on the pitch, and too infamous for their actions off it; the new Rangers could change that image completely.
But, by the end of the August transfer window, the club had signed nine more players: Hearts midfielder Ian Black, who was on the brink of a Scotland call-up; Kilmarnock's Northern Ireland international Dean Shiels; St Johnstone's top scorer Francisco Sandaza; Brazilian defender Emilson Cribari, who previously played in the Champions League with Lazio; former Scotland international striker Kevin Kyle; French under-21 international defender Sebastian Faure; Greek full back Anestis Argyriou; Australian forward Francesco Stella; and, for an outlay of £800,000, Hearts attacker David Templeton.
"Winning now" and all that.
Some of those players, as we know, were earning £5,000 a week last season. In contrast, the Montrose players who nicked a draw at Ibrox with a last minute equalizer during the winter were on about £150 a week plus expenses.
Why were all these players signed? Most likely, it was hoped that these 'marquee' moves would help sell season tickets - and it seemed to work. Rangers fans lapped up the prospect of charging through the leagues, whilst wreaking revenge on SPL clubs by dumping them out of cup competitions and winning domestic trophies as a lower league club.
So much for that plan. Rangers beat Motherwell in the League Cup, only to be embarrassed by Inverness at home in the next round. Dundee United annihilated them at Tannadice in the Scottish Cup. They couldn't even progress far in the Challenge Cup, the competition that involves only sides outside the SPL - Queen of the South beat them on penalties at Ibrox.
Even the league campaign was a slog. The title was delivered with plenty to spare, but impressive performances were few and far between. From the word go, the defence looked vulnerable, and the propensity for losing goals at set pieces was almost as staggering as the continued failure to fix the problem over the course of the campaign. An attractive style of play? Nah. McCoist preferred hoof-ball to Lee McCulloch instead. The midfield was something to be bypassed, not utilised. Some youngsters got their chance, though Chris Hegarty and Lewis Macleod were the only players under 21 to start more than half the league matches. The high-paid stars? McCulloch, Wallace and Templeton (when fit) earned their keep. Cribari and Black were not impressive. Kyle, constantly injured for the previous few years, was, to the surprise of absolutely no-one, constantly injured whilst at Rangers. Sandaza, of course, left under a cloud.
Still, lessons were bound to be learned, weren't they?
Apparently not.
This summer, seven more signings have been lined up - though none can officially join till the end of the club's transfer embargo on September 1. Not one of the seven is under the age of 21. Three come from SPL clubs - Dundee United's Jon Daly, Motherwell's Nicky Law and Killie keeper Cammy Bell. Two are former Gers returning after a few years away - Stevie Smith and Ricky Foster. There are also the aforementioned Clark and Honduran Arnold Peralta. Even though Rangers have moved on high earners such as Alexander, Dorin Goian and Carlos Bocanegra (the last two were out on loan last year, which their wages paid by the loaning clubs), the new signings take the number of players over the age of 21 to nineteen, while I count another 12 youngsters with some sort of first team experience on the books as well - though I don't see much prospect of first team action for them this season. There are new faces to come yet - Bosnian Boris Pandza seems likely to sign on, as does Tunisian Bilal Mohnsi.
That can't be cheap. Even if the new guys are on lower wages than Black et al, they will still be on good money.
And to what end?
The division title and promotion, obviously. The Challenge Cup is a reasonable prospect. The other domestic cups? Maybe. Perhaps the new players could perform to a higher level against SPL opposition that last year's motley crew. But chances are that Celtic would stand in their way at some point. There is no way that Rangers would win that particular tie.
But so what? Given the sums of money that Rangers are used to dealing with, a cup run is not going to be of huge benefit unless they make the Scottish Cup final and qualify for the Europa League. Ladbrokes, at the time of writing, offer 13-1 against them winning the 2013/14 Scottish Cup.
32,000 season tickets have been sold - a comparable figure to last season - but prices were frozen. So there is a bigger wage bill, but income is not higher.
And we already know that, for their first seven months, the newco was running at a loss of £1 million per month. What has changed since then? How are they going to afford it?
None of this makes much sense.
McCoist's rationale when interviewed for Rangers TV recently was "other teams raise their games against Rangers, so my players have to try harder, so we need a big squad in order to rotate and rest them". That argument was debatable a few years ago in the SPL for matches against the likes of Inverness and St. Johnstone; when used in the context of part-time opponents, it is ludicrous.
What does 2013-14 hold for Rangers? Undoubtedly another promotion. Quite possibly the Challenge Cup - they are justifiably favourites for that. The other domestic cups? The problem will be the same as last year - upping their game to play SPFL opponents after taking on part-time sides most weeks.
But the glaring question - and one which is not being asked at all by the Scottish media - is: how is this sustainable?
Rangers squad (* donates under 21 player who has played a first team game) at time of writing
Goalkeepers: Cammy Bell, Scott Gallacher
Full backs: Darren Cole*, Anestis Argyriou, Richard Foster, Lee Wallace, Steven Smith
Centre backs: Emilson Cribari, Luca Gasparotto*, Ross Perry, Chris Hegarty*, Sebastian Faure
Central midfielders: Arnold Peralta, Lewis Macleod*, Robbie Crawford*, Kyle Hutton, Andy Murdoch*, Ian Black, Andrew Mitchell*
Attacking midfielders: Dean Shiels, Danny Stoney*, David Templeton, Fraser Aird*, Tom Walsh*, Nicky Law
Strikers: Barrie McKay*, Kal Naismith*, Lee McCulloch, Andrew Little, Jon Daly, Nicky Clark
L.
No comments:
Post a Comment