RANGERS scouts have been racking up more stamps in their passports in recent times than Alan Whicker during a particular fervent bout of wanderlust.
Not a week passes these days without the Ibrox club being linked with another player from one of football’s last outposts, whether in Asia, Africa, Europe or beyond.
Given their financial difficulties, it is hardly a surprise that Rangers are exploring all possible ways of making money, no matter how diverse. They need only look across the city at the commercial success Celtic enjoyed in the Japanese market on the back of signing Shunsuke Nakamura to see that there’s money to be made by signing the right player from the right country. It is to India where Rangers are turning their immediate attention, a football-obsessed country of 1.2bn people but without a megastar at a major European club on which to shower their devotion. It is little wonder Craig Whyte, Ali Russell et al are getting rather excited at the prospect of becoming the first to take advantage of that potentially lucrative situation.
Rangers are not going at this half-heartedly. They will tweet updates from this afternoon’s match against St Johnstone in Hindi, while an Ibrox delegation will head to the sub-continent later this month to meet officials from the Indian Premier League. Around the same time, Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua, strikers in the Indian national team, are expected in Glasgow for a trial. And that’s where the whole plan is in danger of unravelling.
Nakamura’s time at Celtic was a success commercially because he was a talented player who became a key part of Gordon Strachan’s side. It is hard to imagine Celtic flogging thousands of replica shirts in Japan if Nakamura had been a flop, as his countryman Koki Mizuno was. Neither Rangers nor Celtic can afford passengers in their side just so they can reap commercial benefits, no matter how desperate their financial circumstances may be.
Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, tiptoed diplomatically around the subject yesterday. He is keeping an open mind about the prospect of trialists flying in for an X-Factor style audition in front of him and his backroom team, but was at pains to insist that no player would be signed simply to appease the club’s commercial department.
“We’re in no position to turn anybody away that might make us a better team,” he said. “We, as coaches and managers, will give everybody an opportunity. But there’s nothing untoward, believe me. There’s absolutely no way that I would sign a player for this football club if I didn’t think he would benefit the first team squad and play.
“The players come before the commercial interests. You don’t get one [commercial success] without the other [the player succeeding]. It’s very important for this club to have a commercial side that is doing well but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I bought someone to flourish the commercial side if he isn’t going to play in the team.”
It is hard to believe that a country the size of India has failed to produce a global football superstar and it seems the pair Rangers are keen on are not going to be the ones to change that. Chhetri is 27 and has been around the houses, linked with a number of European clubs (including Celtic at one point) without ever completing a deal. His time at the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS ended without him ever making a league appearance. Lalpekhlua is 20 and has yet to play outside of India.
McCoist admitted to being somewhat in the dark over the standard of Indian football, but has watched footage of the two players. “When I was on A Question of Sport I was very knowledgeable about a lot of sports, especially football across the world. But India is not one of the new footballing countries that I’ve come across like Australia or USA, it’s a country that’s still progressing. I would be lying if I said I was knowledgeable about the Indian league. But we do know players, which is maybe as important, if not more important. Football is a global game now, so there’s every chance you’ll get a good player from India or wherever else.
“The world’s a small place in terms of sourcing footage on You Tube or DVDs. So we’re looking forward to getting them over and we’ll see how they do. But if they sign it will be a football decision. The marketing people know that 100 per cent. They haven’t put any pressure on me to sign anyone. They’re intelligent people – they know these guys would have to be playing regularly for them to get any commercial benefits off the back of it.”
INTERVIEW Ally McCoist insists he will make the call on his trialists next month, and not Rangers’ commercial staff, writes Graeme Macpherson
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