Pundit tells Rangers to target Dutch players in future transfer windows
Alan Rough is “surprised” Giovanni van Bronckhorst hasn’t looked to tap into the Dutch transfer market during his tenure at Rangers.
Van Bronckhorst is under increasing pressure at Ibrox, but looks set to cling onto his job for time being after his side’s miserable 1-1 draw against St Mirren.
Rough feels it’s up to the 47-year-old and board to change the way they’ve recruited at the club and feels they have missed a trick by not looking to Holland for new players.
Talking on the PLZ Football Show (46:50, 16 November), Rough said: “It’s on the manager and board to change it, I am just surprised he isn’t tapping into the Dutch market.
“Generally, you get a manager going into a club and he will go and identify a couple of players he can go and look at and certainly Holland have got a few young players who keep breaking through into the national team.
“It will be interesting to see which way he goes down, with Steven Gerrard tapping into the English market as he had a lot of connections down there.”
“I think he needs to bring a different kind of player to Rangers.”
Good suggestion
This isn’t a bad suggestion from Rough, with Gerrard clearly having success by bringing the likes of Joe Aribo to Ibrox during his tenure at the club. There are plenty of talented young players in Holland who van Bronckhorst will know well, so it’s a surprise the club haven’t looked to delve into the Eredivisie market.
There is obviously the caveat of Scottish football being a significantly lower standard than in Holland, but nontheless, there will be hundreds of younger players who could be available on loan or for a cut price due to a lack of first team football.
Rangers need to learn to box smart in future transfer windows, by bringing in players who can go on to be assests for the club moving forward. The next two windows are absolutely vital for the Gers. There are a number of players out of contract which could allow for a large squad overhaul to take place.
A refresh is desperately needed.
In other Rangers news, Martin O’Neill offers Giovanni van Bronckhorst sympathy at Rangers as ‘money talks’