THE Mark Warburton era at Rangers has delivered its first piece of silverware and chances are it won’t be the last. You would have got fairly short odds from the sponsors on Warburton being named the Ladbrokes Championship Manager of the Month after August brought seven straight victories – even if only the four in the league count towards the award – and even shorter odds on the manager sharing the credit with the rest of his backroom team and his players. The onus is on the collective at Rangers and so far it is an approach that is paying dividends.

“It speaks volumes for the team and the staff,” he said, the award plonked on the table behind him. “Any individual award – player, manager, whoever it may be – is about the team. The more we can have of those the better. It reflects what we and the players are doing.

“I got a couple of those last year [when he was manager at Brentford]. Not quite enough for a trip to IKEA yet for another shelf but we’re getting there slowly.

“They are at home at the moment gathering dust as we’re having some work done on the house. When the time is right they’ll be put in an appropriate place I’m sure.

“It would be ludicrous if you didn’t appreciate them. You work hard and it’s how you perceive the awards. They are about the team. If you just sit there and say it’s about yourself and for your own ego then I think that’s completely wrong. It’s about the players and staff.

“The more of those we have the better. It speaks volumes about the work the players are doing, the commitment they are showing and the quality they are showing. There will never be a complaint from us about winning an award.”

Warburton has something of the upper hand against its divisional rivals given he presides over the second biggest budget in the country meaning his team ought to be comfortably beating all in front of them as they have been doing of late. Of course, his predecessors enjoyed a similar financial advantage without delivering the same levels of success, meaning the Englishman deserves to harvest the plaudits for inheriting a spluttering, stuttering machine and getting it running smoothly again. Again, though, he disseminated the praise.

“The unity and harmony within the group has been really pleasing,” he added. “Don’t forget we had 11 players leave and five loans, with 11 new ones coming in including young ones. When you have that sort of activity around the squad, sometimes it’s hard for them to get going at the start.

“But from day one, the harmony has been great. We build our season around unity and harmony and a work ethic and those pillars have thankfully been really evident.”

Warburton’s focus on achieving a viable long-term strategy at Rangers seems at odds with the recent missives from chairman Dave King who admitted that money from season ticket sales alone would not be enough to sustain the club until the end of the season. Despite the ongoing uncertainty off the field, the manager wants to plan ahead as much as he can, including possible activity in the next transfer window.

“You can’t get to January and just say “we’ll see what we need”,” he added. “You see the activity leading into the start of January. There’s an early flurry so you have to do your work beforehand. Our work is being done now.

“You always ask yourself the ‘what-if’ scenario. What if “A” happens or “B” happens? What if that player leaves or that player is injured etc? All the various scenarios that you could imagine.

“You have to make sure you have options and our work has to be done now. Leaving it to December is way too late.

“The squad is doing really well. Sometimes more harm is done by adding unnecessary players to what you really need. You make too many changes in January and you can rock the harmony and weaken the squad unit and you pay the price for it. January’s a far trickier window. Summer you have more time to shape it, mould it and get it right for the start of the season.”

There is regular dialogue between Warburton and King. “What we’ve maintained is lines of communication with the chairman,” added the manager. “We are already clear about what we think we need and how the squad is shaping up. Also areas of perceived weakness, where we are vulnerable, where we’ve been exposed. You have to go through everything and study it. It’s the same as any other business.

“It’s not just about football – in any business you need to make sure that communication is really clear and that messages are relayed so we are in a good position to act as and when we need to.”