Five months into the Dave King regime Davie Weir has admitted that Sevco still has no scouting network.
New manager Pep Warburton has only managed to sign three players although reports last week claimed that highly rated Alvechurch starlet Jordan Gibson had been spotted by the club’s Midlands scout.
With just over a fortnight to go before facing Hibs in the Petrofac Training Cup recruitment has been a slow process despite speculation of a number of top stars heading to the state-of-the-art Murray Park training centre.
As he launched the sale of season tickets Mr King, who was recently described as a glib and shameless liar by a South African judge, promised the gullible a ‘whatever it takes’ budget for the new manager.
So far Mr King has still to invest a penny in the troubled company which has no auditor, nominated adviser or exchange to trade shares in.
Weir and Warbo have struggled to attract the big names anticipated with the former Sheffield United boss admitting that it has been hard going trying to bring new players in for the promotion challenge.
“Scouting is a fundamental part of any football club and it is a big thing Rangers have lacked,” Weir explained.
“The scouting structure hasn’t been as thorough as it needs to be and my experience is that the best clubs have the best scouting structures. It is something that over a period of time the club needs to put in place.
“It is definitely one thing we are working on but there has been no changes as of yet. Is that having an impact on attempts to rebuild the squad? Yeah, it makes it harder obviously.
“If you have got people and a structure in place that helps but that takes time. It’s important that with players we make the right decisions and it’s the same staffing wise.”
Mr King binned 11 players at the end of the season but Weir revealed that even more had quit the club before the new regime took charge.
“I think 16 or 17 players left at the end of last season so we have brought in some additions and quality additions at that,” Warbo’s number two added.
“It is important that we get some quality in to help the group that is already here. We are working on it but nothing that is imminent.
“We have not found that (playing in the Championship is putting players off). We have brought players in from good levels and everybody we’ve spoken to and brought in have been really keen to come here.
“They see the infrastructure, the see the stadium, they see the training ground and Rangers have got a lot of things that people want.
“I don’t think you can put a number on how many players we need. It’s about quality rather than quantity.
“It’s difficult but it’s maybe better to miss out on certain players if you are not sure about them, rather than jump in and regret it later.”
Despite sacking Gordon Durie and fitness guru Jim Henry, Warbo has still to add a scout or coach to his backroom staff. With his extensive international contacts it was believed that the former Brentford boss would be able to call in favours to top up the funds available in his transfer warchest.