Methods that stopped the 10
not being ready to play,” he said. “They have been resting for five or six weeks. It’s a disgrace if they’re not fit. They can go out and run, they can go out and train. So go and do that.
“As an athlete, you know what is required. You have to get yourself right. I did that all the time when I played. Ask any of my old team-mates. When I came back for preseason training I was always absolutely flying.
“Players at the very top level are athletes who are good with a ball. The guys who feature in the latter stages of the Champions League every year are all like that. There are no slow players because they would be exploited.
“I am sure the Rangers players have been using the time out of the game well and can benefit from the work they have done next season.”
Ross Wilson, the Rangers sporting director, and his scouting staff have continued to identify potential signing targets during the coronavirus pandemic and new recruits will be arriving after the transfer window opens next month.
But Miller, the former St Mirren, Hibs and Aberdeen manager and Scotland assistant who is, despite now being 70, still training every day on a static bike, reckons figuring out why their form once again nosedived after the January break and how to avoid that happening again will be every bit as important.
“Having money to spend on good players is obviously a big factor when it comes to winning the title,” he said.
“But knowing Steven he won’t use that as an excuse for their failure.
“Rangers did really well in the first half of the season and went into the January break on the back of a good win over Celtic. He has to analyse what happened during the break because they dropped a level after they came back. “There wasn’t the same consistency of performance either collectively as a team or individually as players. The players have to look at themselves and ask what level of performance they gave after the break.
“They have got to analyse that as players and as a team and make sure there is no repeat if they want to win the Premiership.”