ONLY the coming months will determine whether Sean Goss, a former Manchester United youth who has found it difficult to break into the first team at Queens Park Rangers in the past year and is keen to get a regular start, is a worthwhile acquisition by Rangers.

The Ibrox club has experienced mixed fortunes with players who have arrived on loan from Premier League or Championship clubs in England in recent seasons. For every Dom Ball, Emerson Hyndman, Declan John and Haris Vuckic there has been a Harry Forrester, Nathan Oduwa, Remie Streete, Jon Toral and Gedion Zelalem.

Will Goss, a 22-year-old who has moved to Glasgow until the end of the 2017/18 campaign, be as influential as Vuckic was? Or will the midfielder return south without even completing a full 90 minutes like Streete. There is never any guarantee which way it will go.

But it can be said with some confidence even at this early stage that another one-time Old Trafford starlet to arrive at Rangers this week will do well.

Bringing in Jimmy Nicholl as his assistant manager is an inspired decision by Graeme Murty. He is exactly the sort of seasoned veteran who he needs to work alongside him if he is to make the most of the unexpected opportunity he has been handed and remain in charge beyond this summer.

Nicholl certainly knows how to be a No.2. It is a role he has performed with some noteworthy results at Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Northern Ireland and Falkirk, the club he joined Rangers from, during the past two decades.

The fact that the 61-year-old has survived for so long at such a high level in a ruthless and results-driven business speaks volumes for his expertise in what is a specialised position.

Nicholl, the former Manchester United, Sunderland, Rangers and West Brom defender, has also worked as a manager in his own right, most notably at Raith Rovers who he famously led to a League Cup final triumph back in 1994, and will appreciate fully the pressures which Murty is under.

Nothing he will face at Ibrox – and that could, let’s face it, be absolutely anything - will trouble him greatly given his extensive track record in the dugout in a variety of guises. Murty, an under-20 coach until a few months ago, is in his first job as a manager and will doubtless find his counsel and encouragement invaluable.

What players Murty adds to his squad in the coming weeks will certainly have a huge bearing on how Rangers fare during the second half of the 2017/18 campaign and whether or not they can pip Aberdeen to second spot in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

He has wasted no time in strengthening by bringing in Goss on a short-term deal, targetting Jamie Murphy and recalling Joe Dodoo, Andy Halliday and Michael O’Halloran from their loan deals in the opening days of the January transfer window. More new faces look set to follow.

But being able to coax the best performances out of the players he has at his disposal is what will be key if his side are to achieve their objectives. It is here where Nicholl will come in to his own. Man management is his forte.

Those who have worked both alongside and under the Belfast-raised coach in the past, and there are a fair few of them, will testify that fancy game plans, complex tactics and convoluted formations are not his thing. He is very much of the old school. He is unlikely to fire up a laptop and do a PowerPoint presentation any time soon.

He should, though, ensure that Jason Holt, Ross McCrorie, Alfredo Morelos, and their team mates give their all and excel. Some talented professionals lost confidence and regressed under Pedro Caixinha. The same was true, latterly at least, when Mark Warburton was in charge. Others failed to justify the considerable outlay on them.

Being a player at Rangers brings demands that some struggle to cope with. But Nicholl will appreciate that and knows how to help them deal with the scrutiny and criticism.

The arrival of a big personality who can bring humour and fun to the dressing room at Ibrox is no bad thing given the air of gloom and despondency which has hung over the Govan club in recent years. There may be plenty for Rangers fans to smile about in future.