ALLY MCCOIST reckons Rangers will only achieve Dave King’s ambitions of ‘immediate success’ if the Ibrox board bankroll deals for at least four new players this summer.
The Light Blues chairman wrote to supporters this week as Rangers launched their season ticket drive for the new campaign and laid out his lofty ambitions for next term.
There could be a significant overhaul of players once again during the summer, regardless of whether boss Graeme Murty remains in the dugout.
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And McCoist believes key additions must be made to give the Gers the best possible chance of challenging Celtic for the Premiership title.
He said: “They certainly, absolutely, need strengthening, all over the park. It would be wrong for me to sit here and say specifically those positions but certainly Rangers will need, I would have thought, at least four players if they want to challenge Celtic for the league title next year.
“You can win a cup, with the greatest of respect, with a bit of luck anyone can win a cup and that has been proven over the years.
“I think Celtic this year have enjoyed the fact that they have been safe in the knowledge that they are going to win the league. By that, after the European ties they can have the odd draw here and there and it has not done them any harm.
“Rangers, and Aberdeen, can look and say if and but and if they did this or that, but I am of the opinion that it wouldn’t have mattered that much because Celtic had a wee bit more where they would have won these games if they needed to.
“For that reason, I still think longer term Rangers would need certainly three or four players of good quality.”
Murty added five players to his squad during the January transfer window and still has a chance to lead his side to second spot in the Premiership and the Scottish Cup this term.
King insisted the board will ‘provide the funding necessary’ to ensure success at Ibrox and McCoist reckons funds must be given to whoever is in the dugout going forward.
He said: “It’s a realistic prospect if they continue to support the manager financially with new players.
“It depends what you mean by instant success. Is instant success winning a trophy?
“Some Rangers fans might say instant success is winning the league.
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“I would say success, the next step, would be winning a trophy and for that to happen, or to have a better chance of it happening, certainly the manager would have to be able to invest in the squad again.”
The pressure is on King and his board following the failures of Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha over the last two campaigns.
And former Ibrox boss McCoist knows the Light Blues hierarchy must deliver to keep supporters onside going forward.
He said: “I think it goes with the territory with boards, chairmen and owners.
“You look at players, particularly in Old Firm games, and you can have a section ‘excellent’ and one ‘not very good’ and there are not too many in the middle.
“That is the way boards are judged and they know that. I think the vast majority of Rangers supporters will accept that this board has definitely, I can certainly tell you in comparison to some other boards, been very good in terms of their support for the fans and the manager.
“But, you are right, they will be determined by, effectively, how much the club progresses and how successful they are.”
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