Welcome to the Month of Hell.

 

It will resemble the last Month of Hell but with a younger cast and some of the star names absent. The Month of Hell (Rangers January 2015 production) has the potential for extraordinary mayhem in that the transfer window opens. Lewis Macleod and Nicky Law may be the first to leave. But a team of others are out of contract in the summer.

How about this for a 4-3-3 of players who can leave for nothing at the end of the season?

Steve Simonsen; Darren McGregor, Lee McCulloch, Bilel Mohsni, Richard Foster; Kyle Hutton, Ian Black, Stevie Smith; Kenny Miller; Kris Boyd and Ian Black. Substitute goalkeeper: Lee Robinson.

McGregor could be excused duty in this team as he appears to have triggered another year in his contract by being involved in a certain number of years. This has not yet been confirmed.

But it is no surprise that Kenny McDowall, caretaker Rangers manager, is circling the wagons.

He has called back young players who were on loan at other clubs simply because he has no idea of the losses in personnel that may be incurred this month.

"Aye, well, that's the beauty of the window. It's a month from hell," said McDowall with the sort of grim humour that must sustain him in these times of trial.

The off-field drama at Ibrox shows no sign of abating. The on-field theatrics have been similarly sensational. December saw Rangers beaten by Alloa in the semi-finals of the Petrofac Training Cup and by Queen of the South and Hibernian in the SPFL Championship.

A manager also departed and an assistant was demoted. Out of the triumvirate of Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant and McDowall, only one has an influence on first-team affairs.

McDowall has to galvanise, perhaps even assemble, a team to face Dumbarton, Alloa, Hearts and Cowdenbeath. His task is given a greater degree of difficulty by uncertainty over so many players.

"It's not a great transfer window," said McDowall. "Most teams want to keep their best players and unfortunately we're not capable of it and we're not being allowed to, but I just need to wait and see and it's out of my control."

He knows that there is a team of players whose futures have to be decided before the summer. He knows, too, that he can make no moves, have no formal discussions until he talks to his employers.

"I will need to have meetings pretty sharp with Derek [Llambias] and Sandy [Easdale, chairman of the football board] regarding that," he said.

In the meantime, he is addressing the matters he can influence. Callum Gallagher (Cowdenbeath), Craig Halkett (Clyde), Robbie Crawford (Morton), Kyle McAusland (Brechin City) and Tom Walsh (Stenhousemuir) will all return.

However, Luca Gasparotto (Airdrie), Barrie McKay (Raith Rovers) and Daniel Stoney (Stranraer) will remain on loan.

"I don't know how January is going to go so I have had to cover my bases," said McDowall. "I couldn't take the chance with injuries and suspensions so we have brought these boys back for cover although I might use them regardless."

The loss of Macleod has focused McDowall on both the opportunities offered to young players and the traits they must have to thrive in such a pressurised atmosphere.

Of 20-year-old Macleod, he said: "Great talent, bundles of potential which, hopefully for Lewis, he'll fulfil. But I can't dwell on that side of it. It's an opportunity for someone to come into the team and go forward from there.

"I've been asked quite a bit about young players coming into the team. This is a tough, tough time for young players to be brought into this side.

"I'm not saying I won't do it but I have to bear in mind that I'm responsible for those young players as well and, in doing that, I have to make sure I don't harm them and set them back. That's something that, if and when the time comes, I'll have to look at."

Macleod made his debut in July 2012, a month after his 18th birthday, but McDowall already knew of both his quality and character.

"Sometimes you get one that you know right away can handle it. He was 16 the first time we brought him in [to the first-team squad] and right away we could tell he could handle it. He didn't look out of place at all. He would be knocked down and get right back up. That ability just stands out - and he was one of them who wasn't affected."

McDowall was philosophical over the departure of a talent he has helped to nurture.

"It's a blow to lose any of your top players - of course it is - but this is football, this is the world we live in. It happens every day at different clubs when players transfer," he said.

"You can't dwell on it. You must move forward. You have to readjust and try to get the team back to a winning way, whoever you bring in to fill his shoes."

This is the basic task for McDowall: to win games through another month of madness. He does not know what players he will have at his disposal, he does not know who may or may not own the club by the end of the month, he does not know whether the manager's job is his for January or for 2015 or for whenever. He does know he must take a glut of points, starting with the visit of Dumbarton on Saturday, if his club is to make even the promotion play-offs at the end of the SPFL Championship season.

And if he survives the Month of Hell, he can look forward to February. It starts with a League Cup semi-final with Celtic.