JOSH WINDASS believes he and his Rangers team-mates have just four games to save their Ibrox futures. Manager Pedro Caixinha has already made clear he intends to make sizeable changes in the summer, with the axe hovering over many of his squad following back-to-back defeats to Celtic, including last week’s 5-1 humbling at home.
Windass, who has endured an injury-interrupted campaign, knows the spotlight will be on the existing squad to show they deserve to remain at the club for next season, starting with Sunday’s derby away to Partick Thistle.
“We want to play into the manager’s plans,” he said. “He’s just come in to the job and is looking to put his own style on things. He obviously wants new players to come in in the summer and so it’s down to us to keep the shirts for next season.
“The manager has said he wants to change things in the summer and everyone is playing for their shirt. Everyone here should have that motivation to stay in his team. Nobody wants to leave a club like Rangers or not play for a club like this. So I think that’s everyone’s target now to impress the manager and stay in the team.”
Last weekend’s Old Firm defeat has been a hard one for Rangers to take, with Windass revealing that morale was at an all-time low.
He added: “I think that’s the lowest I’ve seen the dressing room since I’ve been here. We had a meeting before training the other day and it still wasn’t really high spirits in the camp. That’s to be expected after a defeat like that to Celtic. It obviously wasn’t a good feeling and one that we never want to happen again.
“We have a game against Partick now and we have to go and win every game between now and the end of the season. We owe it to the fans and to ourselves really to put on performances after the last couple of games.”
The 23 year-old made a decent start to life at Ibrox following his transfer from Accrington Stanley before a succession of knocks reduced him to a bit-part player. But he feels his game is exactly what Caixinha is looking for.
He told the Rangers podcast: “When I first came in I did quite well. My performances were good and I was playing week in, week out. And then I picked up a few injuries and I’ve struggled for form since then. Hopefully I can get back to what it was when I first signed and pick things back up.
“The manager’s way of playing suits my style of explosive power, sprinting and stuff like that. He likes players to get on the ball which is good for me. When he first came in I was injured which is a bit unfortunate but I’m glad to get in the team and hopefully stay in it, although Saturday’s defeat to Celtic was massively disappointing for us.”
Meanwhile, former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson reckons the current squad should forget about complaining about their summer holidays and focus on trying to put in a better challenge to Celtic next season.
Some Ibrox stars were said to be unhappy with Caixinha’s plans to reduce the length of their close season break but Thomson thinks they should worry less about that and more about their form.
He told the Rangers podcast: “It gets on my wick when players moan that they don’t get too long on holiday. I’ve been a player myself and loved a nice holiday, going away and getting some air into your legs. But if they come back next May as part of a successful Rangers team that’s closed that gap to Celtic then their summer holiday this year is something that would have been worth sacrificing. The players should embrace that.
“I would give my right arm to be still involved. When you’re retired you can have as much holiday as you want, play as much golf as you want and drink as much wine as you want. But when you’re a Rangers player your holiday should be irrelevant. The Rangers fans deserve better. They are the life and blood of any football club.
“Players come and go, as do managers, but you get remembered at Rangers if you bring success to the club. I was always treated like a king here and that’s the challenge for the players here. If they want to be has-beens, players who are just forgotten about and brushed under the carpet, then they’ll never succeed at a club like this.”
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