FOD’S DEPTH
TALKING RANGERS
MARK Warburton couldn’t fill a bench at Hampden. Now he doesn’t have enough seats at Ibrox.
The Rangers boss struggled for numbers in the Scottish Cup Final yet he will be spoilt for choice when his side set out on the road to potential Premiership glory.
A summer recruitment drive has seen Warburton add strength and depth to his Gers squad. He is still just short of what is required in terms of bodies, but there is no doubt that the quality of his first-team pool has increased significantly.
The fear for supporters throughout last term was that the lean squad Warburton wanted was just a bit too thin.
That was to prove the case as Rangers ran out of steam and saw their Scottish Cup dreams turn into a nightmare against Hibernian.
It is an issue Warburton has addressed with the recruitment of nine players as every area of the team has been strengthened, and more reinforcements at the back and in attack remain on his wanted list.
After four Betfred Cup wins, Rangers are now preparing for the visit of Burnley this weekend.
It will be their final warm-up before the Premiership opener against Hamilton Accies, the last chance for Warburton to experiment before the big kick-off.
The first issue he must solve is who to hand a starting jersey to. It is a welcome headache, though, and one keeper Wes Foderingham is pleased the 53-year-old has.
“It always takes a while until you get to your optimum level. I know these games are competitive but with all due respect to the standard, until you get into the actual league campaign, it can take a while,” he said.
“We’ve done everything right so far. We had a great 10 days in America, so we’re ready and are hoping to go into the campaign with a winning start and the right mentality.
“The Burnley game will be a step up in class, so we’re looking forward to that. The quality is there for all to see in the games we’ve played.
“There’s fantastic ability plus experience, which I think we lacked a little bit last season. We’ve added the right quality in the right areas. You could see the squad was a little bit light last season but now we have strength in depth.
“Anybody is ready to step in and do a job. It will be interesting – it will be a good challenge for us.
“It’s difficult but the gaffer has always said he wants to work with a tight-knit squad – that he won’t just add numbers for the sake of it.
“He’ll add the right players of the right quality when they become available and that’s what he’s done in the summer. The squad’s taking shape now.”
Of the nine players that Warburton has recruited in recent weeks, two have already become firm favourites with the Light Blue legions.
THE acquisitions of Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar have added very different qualities in the middle of the park, but both will have a huge part to play in the Gers’ title push.
Barton was handed his first start at Ibrox as Stranraer were beaten 3-0 on Monday night, with his former QPR teammate rounding off the scoring
There’s fantastic ability plus experience, which I think we lacked a bit
as he completed 90 minutes in Light Blue.
It was a straightforward evening between the sticks for Foderingham, but he was encouraged by what he heard in the dressing room and saw on the park.
He said: “Niko and Joey have had fantastic careers, are still very fit and have a few good years left in them.
I think you can see from their displays the quality that they bring.
“There’s a touch of class and they fit right into the way we play, so I’m sure they’ll be brilliant.
“You need those sort of characters in the dressing room – winners and people that can lead and Joey is definitely one of those people.
“From day one he’s been very vocal and has been fantastic for all the boys.
All the boys have been saying