THE Rangers team are playing some fine football and the supporters are,
as a result of both the fare being served up on the park and the new regime in charge upstairs, returning to Ibrox in sizeable numbers.
Yet, Mark Warburton, whose side will get their Ladbrokes Championship campaign underway at home in front of a sell-out crowd tomorrow night, knows that after just two competitive matches there can be no room for complacency.
He has worked hard with his squad at Murray Park this week ahead of
the league meeting with St Mirren in an attempt to improve upon the performances against both Hibs in the Petrofac Training Cup and Peterhead in the League Cup.
He is also continuing his efforts to bring in new players. A third bid for Scott Allan – upped to £280,000 – was rejected by Hibs on Wednesday night and it is looking increasingly unlikely he will succeed in his pursuit of the Championship Player of the Year.
Elsewhere, though, a loan move for the Spurs kid Harry Winks could also be drawing closer as the White Hart Lane club – whose first competitive fixture of the season away to Manchester United is this weekend – are nearing the end of their pre-season programme.
Warburton took Alex Pritchard on loan from Spurs when he was in charge at Brentford last season and the England Under-21 internationalist did well. He is hopeful or persuading Spurs to allow midfielder Winks, who was on the bench in the friendly with AC Milan in Munich last night, to move to Glasgow.
Ryan Fredricks, who had been linked with Rangers, today signed for English Championship club Bristol City on a three year deal for an undisclosed fee.
“It is still bubbling along on certain things,” said Warburton. “Things take time. There are English clubs still away on tour and waiting to come back. When things settle down, we will still have more time left in the window. Hopefully we can use it wisely.
“I look back to Brentford when we had Alex Pritchard on loan from Tottenham. He’s played on loan at Swindon in League One then played for us in the Championship. Now he is ready for the Premier League down there.
“We got Stuart Dallas for £5000, loaned him to Northampton, then he came back and did well for us. He’s just gone to Leeds United for seven figures. It is very rare to get the transition straight from academy to being a first-team regular.
“The loan market is important to us both ways. Young players have to play football. There seems to be a lot of kudos to sitting on the bench at some clubs – playing five minutes one game, not playing the next two, then playing eight minutes the next.
“You are not developing as a player that way. All that happens is that when you do get your chance eight weeks down the road, you are not match fit. Our job is to make sure the young players continue their development by going out to play football.”
Meanwhile, John Eustace has recovered from a knee injury and joined in with training in the last few days. Warburton has spoken positively about the experienced English midfielder throughout his trial and is keen to offer him a season-long deal.
“John is training well,” he said.
“He is with the first team group now, which is a positive step. Hopefully he continues that progress.”
Warburton is loving life in Glasgow so far and will have no difficulties talking up the benefits of a move to Rangers to prospective signings targets. He enjoyed meeting up with former Rangers manager Walter Smith at a Rangers under-20 game this week and even an encounter with a Celtic supporter during a round of golf.
“Walter was great company and is always great to speak to,” he said.
“You can always pick something up. The fans on both sides have been great. They’ve been really polite and warm and friendly. I was playing nine holes of golf at Mar Hall the other day and there was a crazy Celtic supporter with a green checked shirt and trousers.
He had a terrible swing, but was
good fun!”
Warburton knows, though, that goodwill towards him will disappear if results fall below the desired standard and is determined to get the Championship campaign off to a winning start tomorrow night.
“You saw against Peterhead, we kept the ball really well and worked the opposition,” he added. “We created chances late in the game, which we did against Hibs as well. We are trying to be the best we can be for Friday night and get that done, then be the best we can be for the next game.”
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