Rangers: Spend or save as Warburton looks to the future?

Followers of Scottish football’s most successful club watched 11 empty jerseys, seemingly devoid of passion or commitment, stumble from one embarrassment to the next under the guidance of Ally McCoist, Kenny McDowell and Stuart McCall last term. Little over five months down the line and Rangers sit proudly atop the Championship table, firm favourites with bookmakers to complete their rise through the divisions. So what’s changed?

Well, in a word, Warburton. The best thing since sliced bread in the eyes of Gers fans the world over arrived at Ibrox in the summer with a reputation for building clubs from the bottom up, bringing fans back through entertaining football and concentrating on the youth of today that will become the big money transfers of tomorrow. In short, everything that was needed to take Rangers, a side that once employed talent such as Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup and Ronald de Boer, back to the summit north of the border.

Lack of egos?

Key to former Brentford boss Mark Warburton’s success in Govan so far has been a lack of big names in the dressing room. So far he’s put an emphasis on signing young, hungry individuals with the skill and determination needed to get results. That’s just phase one of the 53 year-old’s grand plan however – getting out of the Championship while phase two – challenging Celtic for the title, will be a damn sight more difficult and the man himself admitted recently he’ll have to delve into the transfer market in January and over the summer if he’s to build a side capable of surviving in the Premiership.

Despite winning twelve of their first 13 Championship outings, no Rangers fan is under the impression that the current crop of players will be good enough to see their side battle for major honours in the top flight. The likes of Martin Waghorn, James Tavernier and Jason Holt have been standout in the second tier but flattening opposition like Alloa and Morton is a far cry from the quality needed to match Celtic and Aberdeen over the course of a gruelling campaign.

A timely reminder

If Warburton required any further evidence of this he need look no further than his side’s exit from the League Cup at the third round stage in September when St Johnstone, a side 12 points off the pace from the league above, left Ibrox with a comfortable 3-1 win, a result many in blue admit could have been a whole lot worse, with a late Tavernier strike giving the final score any shred of credibility.

We saw a glimpse of Warburton’s plans for the future when bringing Frank McParland in as the club’s new head of recruitment. McParland, who’s impressive CV boasts time spent at Liverpool under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benetiz, played a huge part in bringing Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano to Anfield, while spotting the talents of a 14 year-old Raheem Sterling and ensuring he pulled on the famous red of Liverpool remains the 56 year-old’s proudest achievement to date.

Despite a busy summer in the transfer market, Mark Warburton counts McParland’s arrival as his most important so far and with a track record of spotting and bringing on big talent which can be sold for a healthy profit when the time is right, it’s obvious both men are reading from the same page. In the meantime however Warburton says he will not be afraid to break out the cheque book in January to ensure continued success on the park and insists he has the backing of the club’s shareholders to make big-money signings in January.