KENNY Miller has told his Rangers team-mates to rise to the challenge of keeping their place in the side rather than complaining about it. Five new players have already signed in this window, a further three are waiting on work permits, while moves are also pending for Jamie Walker and Graham Dorrans.
That could mean virtually an entirely new Rangers team lining up next season, a source of anxiety among those players who featured last year. Miller, though, has warned his new team-mates he will not give up his place in a hurry and urged those worrying about their futures to take the same approach.
“If somebody wants to come in and take my place then they're going to have to be better than me,” he said. “And I'm not going to allow that to happen easily. So if you come in and prove you're better, then you've got the jersey. If you don't, you won't.
“People who say, 'we're bringing this guy in who's in my position', [my message is] just be better. You're at a big club - every season there's going to be new players brought in. If it's in your position then you're just going to have to be better.
“You just have to show you're better equipped to do the role. You can't mump and moan because we're signing players. Clearly we need to sign players. With how far back we were last year we need better players and we need better competition within the team.”
Miller admitted signing players in bulk “wasn’t ideal” and revealed communicating with his new team-mates from Portugal had proved difficult in the first few weeks of training.
“There's a language barrier straight away, so getting a message across is an issue - not from the manager, clearly, because he speaks their language, but communication's key; control, organising, speaking to each other, demanding. That can be an issue which needs to be addressed." he said.
“But football's football. If there's an understanding of what we're trying to do, it makes it a lot easier if we're all on the same page. Some teams gel rapidly, with some it takes a longer period of time. Is it ideal bringing 10 players in? No, it's not. But if that's what the manager feels is right at this time, then we've got to roll with it and make sure it works.”
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