BBC pundit slams Rangers summer signings as Michael Beale verdict shared
Michael Beale’s summer signings at Rangers should be showing why they were brought to Ibrox, according to BBC pundit Neil McCann.
The Scottish outfit have made nine signings so far this summer, three of which – Jack Butland, Jose Cifuentes and Cyriel Dessers – started in the Champions League clash with PSV on Wednesday (30 August).
Three more – Sam Lammers, Danilo and Dujon Sterling – came off the bench as Rangers lost 5-1 to the Dutch side in their play-off second leg.
“We are at the back end of August; these guys should be starting to show why they were brought to the team,” said McCann, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“It’s probably the fault of the players that they’re not doing it yet, but Michael has to nail down a formation and say: ‘Right, these are the guys I’m choosing and this is how I’m going to play.’”
Time to step up
Rangers have been really busy this summer, with a massive revamp having taken place at the Glasgow club. The likes of long-serving players Allan McGregor, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos all moved on following the expiry of their contracts, leaving manager Beale with plenty of gaps to fill.
And he has done that through a long list of new players, many of which are attacking reinforcements. They have had varying degrees of impact so far at Ibrox, but all will be massively disappointed to have been knocked out of the Champions League.
The squad must now gather their thoughts sooner rather than later after the humbling by PSV, as they are now in for the first Old Firm derby of the season.
Celtic travel to Ibrox on Sunday (3 September), with a handful of new Rangers players set to taste Glasgow derby action for the very first time, in what is a hugely significant clash.
In other Rangers news, Gheorghe Hagi has shared a “twice as good” Ianis Hagi prediction after his Gers loan transfer.