ALLY McCoist last night moved to reassure the club's fans he won't be panicked into making rash transfer deadline-day signings.
Nikica Jelavic appears increasingly likely to leave the club by Tuesday, and a job lot of foreign trialists have been coming and going all week long, but the Rangers manager insisted he won't gamble the club's breadline finances on new players for the sake of appearances.
"I can assure every Rangers fan I will not bring any player to this club that I don't think can play in the team or better the squad," said McCoist, perhaps on the defensive after the early season travails of the likes of Juanma Ortiz, Alejandro Bedoya and Matt McKay. "I will not bring in anybody that I don't think will do that. People are asking if I am wishing the next few days away, but I'm not really, because there is nothing I can do about it. But I'm looking forward to Wednesday morning when you sit down and say 'here's what we've got, let's get on with it'."
Funny things, however, have been known to happen at Ibrox on transfer deadline day. Like El-Hadji Diouf for instance. Twelve months ago, the Senegal international arrived to assist Rangers in their attempts to secure their third title in a row, not to mention pour a metaphorical can of kerosene on a slow-burning SPL title race. David Healy's entry point at the same time was less eventful.
Neither, though, ever nailed down a consistent place in the Ibrox first team, but McCoist feels their impact was still significant. "It might sound crazy because they didn't play a lot, but I think the influence the January signings were massive. We did some great business there. I'm not saying we wouldn't have won the title but it really, really helped us."
McCoist has already added Swedish winger Mervan Celik in this window, but in all likelihood he will need to offload one or two players before he can free up a wage for any further additions. There has been a bewildering array of trialists at the club in the last seven days – the club were unable to offer a deal to Estonian defender Enar Jaager – but McCoist preferred not to dwell on the impoverished circumstances he has come upon as Rangers manager.
"We have had long-term injuries to big players," said the Rangers boss, who also mounted a stout defence of scouts Neil Murray and John Brown. "I don't want to make excuses, but there are one or two reasons you could put forward. The club has been downsizing for a number of years now and still managed to win the title. The situation we are in now is certainly as difficult, but I still believe we will win the title, absolutely."
Making an immediate impact on a short-term trial isn't always easy. Dorin Goian recalled this week an unsuccessful trial period at French side Guingamp which he experienced as a young player coming through the ranks at FC Bacau.
"I was playing for Bacau, they were a small club, and obviously I wanted to make a step forward so I went on a trial in France," he said. "But my French wasn't so good and it was difficult because I was staying alone in my hotel room, speaking with nobody. I didn't sign in the end, but maybe it was better because six months later I joined Steaua Bucharest. Maybe if I had signed then I wouldn't be here at Rangers.
"It's not easy for a player who wants to make a step forward to travel by plane and after those flights come here to train and do their best," Goian added. "There are many players staying here only one or two days. In that short time it's impossible to show something, especially if you are tired."
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