Quality, not quantity. Appears very much to be the mantra that the Rangers recruitment team, including Michael Beale, will be looking to stick to when the summer transfer window opens.
As we’ve seen with the additions of Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin, signing players who are hungry, more energetic, more aggressive and of a higher technical ability only benefits the team and it is encouraging that the Gers gaffer is looking to continue this trend as the rebuild continues.
Speaking as part of the build-up for the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie with Raith Rovers, Beale was asked how he wanted his squad to look next season and, as reported by The Rangers Review, he explained that quality of competition is key:
“If you have two 10s so a double on every outfield position, that gives you 20. You’d like an extra striker, possibly if you want to play three at the back, an extra centre half. That gives you 22/23 plus goalkeepers.
“The reason the squad’s been slightly larger is that we’ve had players out on loan and we’ve players out with long-term injuries and the club’s had to go out and sign replacements. The squad’s large at the minute, I think the budget is very healthy for us as a club, it’s just obviously spread out a little bit.
“This summer, like any window, to make some decisions to trim the squad a bit and at the same time add competition because if you lower the number you add the competition and the quality goes up.”
By budget, I presume that Beale is talking about wages because, when you look at the squad on paper, we are spending an awful lot on players who aren’t contributing. Even if you cut this cost, it still leaves room to add individuals who could contribute.
We only need to look at the performance in mid-week against Hibs and the quality of the bench, when the manager lets this team go out and express itself, it has as high a ceiling as any Rangers team that we have seen for a long time. They are all comfortable in possession – Allan McGregor excepted – and, with two or three new faces, will be even better in terms of movement in attack.
The blueprint is starting to look a lot clearer and Ross Wilson has to give Beale the players that he needs to take it onto the next level, but at the same time, find a way to move on those who can’t keep up.