Dave King shares view on Rangers summer transfer activity
Dave King is concerned that Rangers haven’t done enough transfer activity before the transfer deadline.
The Bears could have used the Champions League cash pot to sign a few players to bolster the squad, but they failed to make any new additions.
The Ibrox club had a relatively quiet end to the summer transfer window, with only Stephen Kelly completing a permanent move to Livingston on deadline day.
“With Rangers, you always had a plan A, B and C. Plan A is what you do in Scotland if you don’t reach the Europa League group stages,” said King, as quoted by Glasgow World.
“Plan B is what happens if you do get in. Plan C is what happens if you reach the group stages of the Champions League.
“Clearly, the club don’t win the Champions League. You aren’t going to spend the kind of money needed to win it.
“But you can take away the bonuses gained from reaching the group stage to strengthen your team so you can win the Premiership.
“Given where we’ve come from, and given we’ve now got the Champions League moneym I am susrprised the surplus resources hasn’t found its way back into the team.
“That is my big concern. I go back to the end of last year when the club presented its accounts, and Douglas Park and Stewart Robertson said Rangers was going to be profitable this year.
“That benchmark for profitability for this year did not include Nathan Patterson’s transfer, and didn’t include at that stage reaching the group stages of the Europa League.
“It did not include running to the final of the Europa League, and did not include getting into the Champions League this season. I add all the bonuses we have got from a situation that was already profitable.”
Spot on
It was surprising to see Rangers didn’t show enough urgency to sign one or two quality players before the end of the window.
They had money to spend, and they should have used it. The defeat against Celtic was an eye-opener. They are now five points behind them, and the season has only started.
The Bears have been pitted in the group of death where they will face the likes of Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax. It won’t be easy for them to qualify to the next round, but they can at least compete and give them a tough fight.
If Rangers can finish third in the league, it will be seen as a great achievement. They will have a chance to play in the Europa League, which again will give them another opportunity to win the trophy.
This summer, the Gers lost two important players in Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey, and they have recruited well.
Rangers need to work hard to close the gap with Celtic, and they cannot afford to drop further points.
The club could have possibly added a right-back and a quality goal-scoring winger.
In other Rangers news, Michael Stewart got stuck into one player after what he did in the past week