NEIL McCANN used to destroy defences when playing on the left wing for Rangers. Now he is more than happy to tear apart just about everything which is currently going on at his old club.

From Mark Warburton’s tactics and the lack of a Plan B, to failures in the transfer market, the confused role of Joe Garner and what Dave King thinks of it, everything was fair game for the player turned pundit.

Oh, and if Pep Guardiola can change his way to suit the country he earns a living in, why not the current Rangers manager.

McCann is a divisive figure on television, he is actually one of the more thoughtful of the many Scottish football analysts, but it would be a surprise if any Rangers supporter reads what he has to say and doesn’t nod their head.

Where to start? Perhaps it’s best if we go back to Saturday at Firhill where Rangers struggled to beat Partick Thistle, and this is what McCann had to say about the match.

“They’re [the team] massively under pressure from the Rangers fans and there were undertones from Dave King that he hasn’t spent wisely. Recruitment is massive and when you haven’t got loads to spend then you need to make sure that what you do spend is correct.

“His [Warburton] judgement has come under real scrutiny from upstairs and that’s a big problem. If you want money you need to say, ‘Look what I’ve done with that’. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the Championship. This is a higher level. Joey Barton was an absolute disaster.

“Jordan Rossiter and Matt Crooks have been unlucky with injuries so you can’t point the finger at them but it’s another couple of signings that haven’t worked.

“Philippe Senderos? Another one. The list goes on. Joe Garner is the big flagship signing. If you’re paying £1.8 million on a player then you have to say he’s the golden egg and the one who will make a difference.

“Look at Brendan Rodgers across the city. I know we’re talking different levels but it’s relative. They could afford Scott Sinclair but £1.8million is a big outlay for Rangers on Garner, but look at the difference in impact.

“Don’t spend all your money on someone you’ve then got to adapt to how you play. That’s where I’ve got a problem with it. There’s a guy there playing through the middle that looks like he’s in the wrong movie.

“Rangers don’t play that way so why spend £1.8m on him? It’s a big gamble. You would think good players can learn to play the way a manager wants them to, but some can’t.”

And as McCann spoke to a small group of Scottish fitba' hacks a few days later, his tone had not changed one bit.

“For me, there’s something missing with Rangers,” said McCann. “You can play this style of football and it’s pleasing on the eye at times. But, for me, it’s training football. You can have seven-aside games on a Thursday or Friday when you’ll get centre-halves going up front.

“At times Mark has this freedom of movement and I know what he’s doing tactically, it’s this Manchester City thing of a player coming out of position and a player should be intelligent enough to come out and fill that position.

“But sometimes it looks like the player in possession looks confused, as though there’s no structure to the movement. I’ve said for a long time that Mark needs an ability change how they play.

“I don’t think Garner is a bad player but he looks like a guy who’s losing the knack of being a striker, of getting into the right areas."

But in the words of Warburton himself, if Plan A doesn’t work you do Plan A better. No?

“He needs to change,” said McCann. “I heard a stat that they’ve dominated 11 games out of 12. The only one they didn’t was the Celtic game. But how many did they win? There were five draws among them, so they need to find a way of doing something different.

“He says his Plan B is doing Plan A better but pitches are going to get worse, teams now know how they play so they’re just making it difficult. It wouldn’t be as if he would be admitting defeat by changing tactics – it’s football. Even Pep Guardiola spoke about playing against Burnley and how he has to learn to deal with their up and at ‘em style.”

Rangers go to Tynecastle tomorrow night, then their close friends from Aberdeen visit, and then it’s Hearts at Ibrox. These are seriously big games, lots of pressure will be on the team and manager and we will all find out more about this group of players after this run of matches.

“Walter Smith quoted the Bill Struth comment about how you can play against Rangers but can you play for them?” said McCann. “It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from, there’s almost a need from the fans for you to come up with the answers. I look at some of them and it’s as if they’re not dealing with that pressure.

“They’re going to Tynecastle which is one of the best places you can play football, an amazing stadium. I thought Hearts were solid against Motherwell, probably they won’t be as pleasing on the eye as Rangers but I think it’s going to be a really tough game for Rangers.”

McCann stressed that the pressure Warburton is feeling now will pale in comparison to the flak he will come under should the results not come from those crucial games.

“He’s under enormous pressure," said McCann. “Until you’re in that job you don’t know what it’s like. How could he know? The comments King made about the transfer budget and the use of it in the summer is an indication he’s under even more scrutiny because of the signings he’s made. If he’s mid-table it won’t be good enough, in my opinion, absolutely not with the budget he has at his disposal.

“The way they’ve come from the Championship – that wouldn’t be anywhere near good enough.”

Sky Sports will show the biggest head to heads over the festive season, including Manchester City v Chelsea this Saturday and the Old Firm derby on New Year’s Eve.