Former Rangers rampaging full-back Alan Hutton believes that Steven Gerrard will be considering bringing in long-term replacements for key duo Allan McGregor and Steven Davis, this Summer.
Hutton is aware that the pair still have plenty to provide, but in terms of contingency planning and bedding in their eventual successors, he feels that now could be the time to get that process in motion.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and Aston Villa player stated:
“I think when it comes to goalkeeper, Jon McLaughlin, he’s no spring chicken himself. I think he’s about 33 as well.”
“So that’s going to be good competition for Allan next season. Moving forward, I think they’ll have to look at certain positions and try and bring people in.”
“Whether it will be this summer, I don’t think they have to react that quickly.”
“But definitely, they will be planning ahead. They know that those boys, Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, they’ve only got a certain amount of years left in them.”
“They’re squeezing everything out of them at the moment.”
“They’re going to have to look to the future. Whether that’s this summer, bringing players in to be understudies, learn off these guys and then take over in a year’s time, maybe that’s the process that Rangers will be looking for.”
Quality
Everyone in the Rangers camp is all too aware of the impact made by the veteran duo in this title winning season – as reflected by the Scottish Writers Player of the Year award picked up by Davis and McGregor with his SPFL Premiership Player of the Year prize.
The two experienced campaigners were previously champions at Ibrox, they are exemplary professionals and most importantly, they are proven quality footballers – replacing them will be a mammoth task.
For the upcoming season ahead, it will be more of the same with both players signing fresh 12 month terms but it will be interesting to see how their gametime and load is managed following the incredible numbers posted this term.
