Barry Ferguson says exactly what Rangers need in January amid ‘crazy’ Ibrox developments
Barry Ferguson is desperate for Rangers to make several additions to their squad in the January transfer window.
After taking interim charge at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, Ferguson was linked with becoming the permanent Rangers manager, before Andrew Cavenagh opted for Russell Martin instead.
Ferguson will be grateful that he didn’t get the job, as Kevin Thelwell spent over £20 million on unproven players who still haven’t adapted to the demands of Scottish football.
Danny Rohl has been left with the mess to clear up and has done a fairly impressive job, winning seven of his 10 Scottish Premiership matches in charge.
However, there are plenty of issues he has to address in attack, and Ferguson still can’t believe that James Tavernier is Rangers‘ top scorer in the Scottish Premiership, given the money they’ve spent.
Barry Ferguson urges Rangers to invest in a proven striker
Ferguson pleaded for Rangers to sign Lawrence Shankland in the summer, and they’re now clearly paying the price for ignoring his services.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show Podcast on 29 December, the ex-Gers legend is insistent that Rangers have to make at least three or four new signings in January.
He said: “They need to reinvest in the spine of the team. Rangers need a really dominant centre-back, a number six who is dominant with and without the ball.
“And obviously, the problem is up top; they’re not scoring enough goals. Tavernier is still the top scorer; it’s crazy.
“The players that he brings have to go straight into the starting lineup. It’s pointless bringing them in for numbers because Rangers have a big enough squad as it is.”
| Player | Goals |
| James Tavernier | 4 |
| Bojan Miovski | 3 |
| Five players | 2 |
The fact that Tavernier is Rangers’ top scorer after 18 games is frankly embarrassing, and it’s a testament to how poorly Thelwell recruited in the summer.
Youssef Chermiti and Bojan Miovski have failed to perform consistently in attack, and supporters will rue the fact that Rangers refused to sign two loan stars who excelled at Ibrox.
Rangers’ goalscoring woes stem from poor summer decisions
Rangers could have permanently signed Vaclav Cerny and Abdallah Sima, but instead of choosing proven goal scorers, they went for players who had struggled at their last club.
On the other hand, Cerny has gotten off to a great start with Besiktas this season, whilst Sima has moved to league leaders Lens in France.
It’s clear that these players were unwanted by their parent clubs after their loan spells with Rangers over the past two years, who had all the money in the world to keep them in Govan.
| Sima | Stat | Cerny |
| 2023/24 | Season | 2024/25 |
| 40 | Appearances | 52 |
| 16 | Goals | 18 |
| 2 | Assists | 9 |
Having focused on young players who could potentially be sold for a profit, the board wildly missed the mark and passed up on the opportunity to sign two players who had already proven themselves in a Rangers shirt.
Shankland and Hibs midfielder Josh Mulligan are among other players who were there for the taking, and it will take a while for the Bears to recover from Thelwell’s disastrous decision-making.
The only way they can start to repair the damage is by being ruthless in the January transfer window from the first minute.
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