BIG DJ: CLOCK TICKING ON GERS BOSS CALL

Gers must have their plans in place to avoid being left behind in the league and facing another Euro struggle

RANGERS won’t need reminding what can happen when you don’t hit the ground running at the start of a season. I’ll give you two words: Progres Niederkorn.

And I would hope that the memories of that defeat will ensure that Rangers don’t make the same mistakes again this summer.

There are still plenty of big games to be played this season. Second place in the Premiership must be secured and a win over Celtic at Hampden would put Graeme Murty’s side just 90 minutes away from the Scottish Cup.

But, even at this stage of the year, you need to have one eye on what will happen during the close season and the build-up to the new campaign. When it comes to everything from transfers to training camps, Rangers can’t afford to get left behind over the next few weeks.

With director of football Mark Allen there, you would hope that Rangers are in a better place off the field and behind the scenes than they were 12 months ago.

But the most important man at any club is the manager and that is the big issue Mark and the board must address sooner rather than later.

It is fine Mark looking at players to come in and considering the futures of those already at Ibrox but until a boss is in place, there is only so far those discussions can go.

Right now, we don’t know who is going to be Rangers manager but we can’t get to the end of the season, decide who that will be and then start looking ahead. By then, you have missed out on two or three months of preparations and you

could have missed out on Bosman deals or lining up transfers.

I would like to think that work is being done as we speak. Every club is doing the same thing so we need to be as well, despite the uncertainty.

If you leave it too late, the deals you want might not be there anymore. Agents are speaking to clubs right now so it is important that Rangers make up their minds quickly to allow them to get in position to strengthen the squad.

Mark can’t just go out, do the deals and say to a manager, ‘Right, there are

Rangers can’t afford to get left behind

the players, get on with it’.

If you are a manager and have players thrown on you, you are quite right to turn round and say, ‘Well, I didn’t sign them, I knew they weren’t good enough, so what chance have I got?’

Mark can be putting the groundwork in in terms of drawing up lists of potential targets and sounding people out but Rangers can’t push the button on a player until they have a manager in.

It is a very crucial time of the year for any club but Rangers find themselves in a difficult situation right now. Big decisions need made and the board can’t afford to get them wrong.

Across the city, Brendan Rodgers will be going through the same process with his staff.

You have to do that. You always have to plan ahead in football but Rangers haven’t been able to do that longterm because there has been uncertainly over who the manager will be.

If you wait until the end of the season, you are into the middle of May and you only have a few weeks to prepare for the Europa League qualifiers.

If you have any ambitions of challenging for the title next season, you have to get off to a good start.

And we know how important European football is for Rangers in terms of prestige and finances.

This season got off to the worst possible start against Progres and we were quickly on the backfoot in the league. That can’t happen again and it was a harsh lesson that must be learned.

The first few weeks of this season showed why you can’t just throw a team together and expect them to go out and pick up results.

When Rangers report back for pre-season training, the bulk of the squad must be in place. The carry-on with Derek McInnes set them back big time and we now find ourselves in a congested timeframe again.

We really can’t afford any mistakes. Whoever is manager must get as much time and money as possible.

I know these are tough decisions for the board, but that is why they are in there in the first place and they will rise or fall by the calls that they make.

The clock is ticking.