PUT YOUR FAITH IN SQUAD
Michael still has bones of a really top side and the wise heads are way under-rated when it comes to team building
Michael Beale has declared that his Rangers squad needs trimming.
He’ll want to put a group together that feels like HIS and not the remains of the Steven Gerrard or Giovanni van Bronckhorst eras.
He has out- of- contract players probably wanting to leave and others who will be desperate to stay.
There are guys who have not played much at all on long contracts and huge decisions to be made over veterans whose presence I feel is undervalued.
Michael has all these moving parts and plate-spinning to get right over the next three months – at the same time as having to win two trophies!
I was involved in the January window for Huddersfield recently – albeit on a small scale – and I can tell you it’s not easy. So I can’t imagine how difficult all of the above is going to be for the Rangers boss.
We’ve seen him start to put his stamp on the squad by bringing in Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell.
When he mentioned his squad was too big, I had to agree if you’re touching over 30 players.
Even if you’re looking at 26 available it’s not great for training. You don’t want to operate like that.
However, what needs done leads to many questions over the future of players who’ve had a major role in the club winning silverware again and reaching a European final.
The easy ones are those whose deals are expiring and who’ll leave because it suits both parties like Filip Helander.
And, while you might like to keep them, I think Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos just want to go somewhere else to play.
The biggest call is which of Ryan Jack, Scott Arf ield, Allan McGregor and Steven Davis do you keep?
And the other is what do you do with those bought for big money who aren’t playing such as Rabbi Matondo and Ridvan Yilmaz?
Deciding there’s no Jack, Arfield, Davis or McGregor is a huge call and I’d be reluctant to let them ALL go.
When it’s down to squad numbers, Michael maybe just keeps two and I still think McGregor must be one.
He’s 42 next January but it’s just another year. It won’t make any difference – trust me.
You can’t put a price on what he and Davo bring to the club with their presence from Monday to Friday around the dressing room.
McGregor is still No.1, the manager has stated that himself.
Although the position has been rotated, if there’s a cup final tomorrow I know who’ll be between the sticks. It’s him.
There’s been chat about replacements but those are big gloves to fill. When the big saves need to be made, he’s still there to make them.
He’s one of those invaluable to Michael because he can be trusted to drive his message and have the right standards in the thick of battle out there where the manager can’t influence the guys as much.
I know fans would say, ‘C’mon, we’ve got to move on.’ But the contract would ref lect what stage of his career he’s at. Neither McGregor nor Davo is going to be on the bigger contracts of those in their prime.
Michael works with them day in, day out so knows what they contribute to his environment, his culture.
Jacko is an interesting one. When fully fit, he still has lots to offer. He has been at the club six years and over the course and distance.
Through the tough start with Pedro Caixinha, the whole Gerrard era including a title, with Gio to Seville and a Scottish Cup where he scored the opening goal.
Is he in the same mould as McGregor or Davis? Not at the moment. But he could be that guy in the future if they were to move on.
You’d then look at guys who’ve been in the dressing room a while such as Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Jack for your leadership. The big thing is getting him fit for most of the season. That will definitely reflect on the type of contract they’d be prepared to offer.
Ryan will also have suitors. Being 30 and coming out of Rangers on a free, after everything he’s achieved and the level of games he’s played, would make him a really good signing.
I’m sure there will be teams at the top end of the Championship in England or even abroad who have seen him perform in Europe.
But I know he will want to stay at Rangers. I’d like to think his time hasn’t run its course.
Of the six I’ve mentioned, if you’re picking a team to face Celtic right now then Davo is injured.
But Kent, Morelos, McGregor and Jacko would probably start. Scotty Arfield would definitely be involved in coming off the bench, at least, with his experience to give you a goal or a calm head.
Listen, it can’t go on forever, I get that. But if there are too many personalities and characters leaving the building at the same time, it’s not easy in this day and age to replace that.
Michael might want to bring in four more quality players but may have
trouble moving on others and is going to have to find solutions.
I ’ m not talking top- end performers –I mean guys not getting a game for Rangers.
Yi lmaz and Matondo have cost good money and Rangers won’t be getting that back as it stands.
Yilmaz is nowhere to be seen and doesn’t look any closer to the team now than when he signed last summer.
Yet you can’t just let that situation dwindle away after spending around £5m on him.
So maybe a loan that recoups his wages and gets him and Matondo back playing again is the option to start with. You’re up against it trying to recoup a transfer fee.
And given those haven’t worked out despite a heavy outlay, are Rangers real ly going to pay £ 6million for a permanent Malik Tillman move?
Michael isn’t short in that department after getting Cantwell in and Ianis Hagi fit. I think Michael likes Kemar Roofe but we all want to see him have a run of games.
I fear we’ll be here in 12 months debating what’s going to happen with him in the final year of his contract. That sums up how much of a minefield the recruitment game and squad building can be.