Rangers: Europa League run papered over cracks; now revolution required
There can’t be another Danilo – £6m spent on a fee, millions more in wages and three more years left on his contract.
There can’t be another Oscar Cortes, a lesser-spotted winger of questionable ability, who is at Rangers on loan with what is understood to be a must-buy clause said to be in the region of £3-4m.
There can’t be another Nedim Bajrami; another Sam Lammers; another Ben Davies. Around £11m was splurged on those three alone.
For £11m, or less, Celtic brought in Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate and Alistair Johnston. All major successes and all trophy-laden, with two of them subsequently sold for a combined £35m.
Rangers are only playing around at the foothills of the mountain they must climb.
The financial waste at the club spreads far and wide. Ferguson was powerless to do anything about that. Philippe Clement did as decent a job as anybody could have done in the circumstances, but he fell short, too.
Their European adventures have been extraordinary and freakish, but they only served to paper over the cracks. Revolution is required now.
The optimistic note is that they have, all going well, a new and impressive outfit about to take hold of the place.
From what we know, they are not the kind of soft touches that have roamed around the Ibrox corridors of power for long enough, which is just as well, for setting Rangers on the right course is going to be a herculean pursuit.
