THERE are times when the bleeding obvious still needs to be stated and yesterday Graeme Murty made no apologies for saying out loud what everyone else is thinking.

That Rangers need to appoint their new manger soon, and the right man this time instead of a left-field risk, or Celtic will disappear over several hills, perhaps never to be caught again.

The interim manager, who surely never thought he'd still be that at this stage, will never say a truer word

Murty has been given something of a hospital pass in terms of him being in charge for tonight’s mouth-watering meeting with Aberdeen and also Sunday’s trip to the North East for one of the great fixtures in the Premiership season.

Apart from Celtic, these are the hardest games Rangers will face and they do so going into their sixth week without a manager, and there is also the highly-anticipated AGM on Thursday. No wonder Murty half-joked all of this was making him go bald.

The youth coach toed the party line when he said that things were progressing but the supporters would rather see an appointment made, rather than sit through this waiting game which is seriously stretching their patience; that’s if they have any left

Asked whether he could understand why the search for Pedro Caixinha’s replacement was taking longer than many on the outside feel comfortable with, Murty said: “It’s a lot better than getting it wrong.

“This is the key signing for the next three years at the football club. If it takes a couple of weeks more than the fans would like to make sure we move forward then I would ask them for a bit of understanding.

“I know people want things sorted out. I know they want a resolution now but the correct resolution would be better, not necessarily for myself, but better for the football club, than a hasty one.

“I have spoken before about where we need to be, how we need to be at the top table of Scottish football. We want to actually get in to European football regularly.

“If we get the next five years right... this club is a massive club, an epic name. We want to get it back to where it deserves to be, where we want it to be. If we get that appointment wrong we risk jeopardising that future.

“The last thing we want is for the other guys across town to get further away from us. We want to close the gap. We don’t want that gap to get bigger. The disappointment fans feel now will be critical in that.”

That, in a nutshell, is it. This is what Dave King and the rest of the cast need to sort out.

What also has to happen, and again such an obvious statement is dripping with blood, is the team must start playing better. A lot better.

If Murty can’t get a tune out of this group either tonight or on Sunday, then Aberdeen and Derek McInnes will take six points off them,and go 12 ahead of the men from Ibrox who have trips to Easter Road and Celtic Park coming up.

The problem, as if there is only one, is too many players, many of them summer arrivals, have not shown nearly enough to suggest they are up to the standards Rangers require, particularly in such testing times.

Ally McCoist of all people described the team as weak and lacking in leaders. The club’s record goalscorer and former manager is far from a lone voice.

“I don’t see that on a daily basis,” said Murty when such accusations were put to him. “But, once again, it’s about how you want to be perceived.

“No-one else sees how I see them in training, they don’t see what happens behind the scenes. All they see is that performance on a Saturday. So when that performance comes, if people are going to level that at them, then fine. Go and change that opinion. What are you going to do on the pitch that changes that opinion?

“Talk is very, very cheap in my eyes. Go and perform. Go and change someone’s opinion by what you do. If you do that then they will have no cause to question you. I am encouraged they have an opportunity to do it and I’m encouraged they want to do it. Whether they go and do it will be down to them.”

Rangers needs to win some points over the next two games and recover a lot of goodwill. They are unable to win three games in a row. They cannot afford lose three, and then perhaps four, especially to McInnes for obvious reasons.

“I said to the players you have an opportunity on Wednesday and Sunday to go and stake your claim to play in this team and go and win points for this football club,” said Murty. “I told them that would change people’s perception of them.

“How do you want to be perceived? Do you want to be perceived as winners? Teams aren’t going to give you anything, It’s up to us to be man enough to go out and grasp it.

"If they do that I have no doubt the quality in the squad should be more than enough to take points from Hamilton, Dundee, and Aberdeen. I truly believe that. But they have to prove they can do it.”

That they do.