MARK Warburton added the sort of experienced professionals his Rangers squad was sadly lacking in when he brought in the likes of Joey Barton, Matt Gilks, Clint Hill, Niko Kranjcar and Philippe Senderos during the summer.
The arrival of players who had plied their trade in the top flight down in England and had been involved extensively in international football in the past would, the manager hoped, enable the Ibrox club to compete in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
But having won just two of the seven games they have played in the top flight, a disappointing run of form which has left them in seventh place in the table, that has not, so far at least, happened.
Read more: Rangers boss Warburton banished to the stands after referee rant in Aberdeen defeat
Barton is currently serving a three week suspension following a training ground altercation in the aftermath of the 5-1 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead earlier this month and it is uncertain if he has a long-term future in Govan.
Warburton, meanwhile, has admitted that his other high-profile signings are, despite the rarefied level they have operated at in the past and the famous clubs across Europe they have been on the books of, taking time to adapt to the intense pressure and scrutiny they are under in Glasgow.
Read more: Rangers boss Warburton banished to the stands after referee rant in Aberdeen defeat
“Clint Hill, who has vast experience, and Niko, who is vastly experienced internationally, are staggered by the amount of focus on Rangers and Celtic,” said Warburton.
"But that’s Glasgow. It takes some getting used to. It’s a gold fish bowl and it takes some getting used to. Every goal is scrutinised, every miss is scrutinised. But it is Glasgow.
“It’s Rangers. It’s the stature of the club. It’s the size of the club. People come from clubs down south and it’s hard to realise the size and the scale of Rangers until you get here and you do the media and you read the papers every day.
“Then you understand the scrutiny. Until they get here, it’s hard. People here have lived it all their lives, but if you come from outside, it’s different. Here, the scrutiny and the focus is more on the team. And whatever you say, it does take time to adjust to it. That’s the honest truth.”
Warburton added: “Gedion (Zelalem), a boy of 18, came to me last year and said: ‘I went to get a loaf of bread gaffer - and I signed two autographs and had four pictures taken!’ He just went down the local Waitrose.
"He couldn’t get his head round it, and he’s at Arsenal. He’s an Arsenal player and he couldn’t get his head round the focus. Not intrusive, not in a bad way, great fans, great people, but it’s just a different level of focus. It’s hard to get used to that. Everything is scrutinised. It took me a few months.
“That’s the way it is. I’m not being ignorant. Guys up here live and breathe it every day. Andy Halliday lives and breathes it, Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace know exactly what it is.
“But when you come from outside, when you’re Clint, or you’re Niko,or you’re Rob Kieran last year, or you’re Jordan Rossiter it’s different. Jordan’s come from Liverpool and gone ‘bloody hell!’ It does take time to understand it.”
The scrutiny of the Ranger strikers and defence has been particularly extreme in recent weeks; the Ibrox club has only scored eight times in the Premiership and has conceded on11 occasions.
Only Ross County and bottom-placed Partick Thistle have hit the target on so few occasions while only Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Kilmarnock have picked the ball out of their own net as much.
Read more: Rangers boss Warburton banished to the stands after referee rant in Aberdeen defeat
But Warburton, who is hopeful he will have Josh Windass available for the visit of Partick tomorrow, believes his side’s form is picking up and has stressed it is the responsibility of the whole team to both net goals and keep clean sheets.
“It is not about the strikers,” he said. “That is like saying conceding goals is down to the centre halves. We defend from the front and we attack from the back. That is how we have always done it from day one.
“If we are not defending right, it is because the centre forward never got to the right player? That is how we think. It is important that scoring is the responsibility of the team. Centre halves go up for corners and the ball could end up in the back of the net. It is not about strikers scoring or defenders defending, it is about us as a team
“As a group, we want to get the message across. We were better against Ross County, we were better against Queen of the South, we were much better against Aberdeen. We just need to get rewards now.”
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