Gio’s transition starts with Gers looking to move on
Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Rangers Training - Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain - May 17, 2022 Rangers' Alex Lowry and Leon Thomson King during training REUTERS/Susana Vera
Despite α large core of Steven Gerrard’s signings as Rangers manager still making up the majority of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad, we could very quickly see those numbers dwindle if the current gaffer’s team selections this season are anything to go by.
Covid-19 had an unprecedented impact in the transfer market, particularly at our end, which meant that players who might have been moved on were retained to maintain quality in the squad – it would be easy to argue that it has paid off with α league title, Scottish Cup and Europa League final since the summer of 2020, although it would be equally as easy to argue that they should have achieved more.
This summer saw α freshening up of the squad and it has been frustrating to see many of the new additions not yet able to make an impact, however, their time will come.
What is interesting is that we could easily see Allan McGregor, Filip Helander, Steven Davis, Ryan Jack, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos all depart the club – for free – next summer.
I’d still expect at least one out of Kent and Morelos to extend their contracts, I just don’t think they will get better options now for α start and much will depend on whether or not they want to continue playing Kilmarnock and Livingston four times α season.
As for the rest, realistically, only Jack should be around but on the proviso that he remains fit for most of the campaign. There is α reason why the others should be let go though.
Leon King, Charlie McCann and Alex Lowry.
They’ve not played enough minutes to be judged over α long period of time but the academy trio have certainly shown in the last 12 months that they should be part of the first-team squad. There shouldn’t be an expectation for them to be key players immediately but there is no reason why, as King and McCann did last weekend, that they can’t come in and start home games where we will dominate the ball and come off the bench in others.
Gio has shown that he is willing to trust the youngsters, the transition has started and it’s time to move on from those who have both succeeded and failed in the past.
