Charlie Nicholas has warned Steven Gerrard that standards are slipping at Ibrox.
Entering season four with largely the same squad that he has had throughout his time at the club the former Liverpool boss has been unable to spend any money in the transfer market.
Connor Goldson and Glen Kamara have refused to sign new contracts, Alfredo Morelos delayed his return from one substitute appearance at Copa America with Steven Davis forced into playing the full 90 minutes plus in the defeats from Malmo and Dundee United.
On top of that lumbering midfielder John Lundstram dropped the C-Bomb on Saturday and although the Scottish media have tried their best to ignore all of those factors are building up a perfect storm for tonight’s match against Malmo.
Picking up on Nicholas’ column in The Express, Glasgow Live reports him saying:
I read John Lundstram’s strange quotes at the weekend about how Covid had impacted on Rangers’ pre-season preparations, something the club had kept under wraps. Then we had Gerrard coming out after the Tannadice loss with the message that some of his players need ‘home truths’.
Over the summer Rangers players were saying they were ready to kick on again and dominate. It was a big surprise to me because the Englishman tends to only field players if they are fully fit. If they aren’t then normally they don’t play because of his demands.
Morelos didn’t have a great season last year. There are question marks over whether he is going to stay and whether he gives the team enough.
There seems to be a bit of slacking at Ibrox. You would have thought they would have learned their lesson. Gerrard has told them before to keep their mouths shut and do their talking on the park because these silly bragging games have never worked for them.
It shows where Rangers are that Alfredo Morelos was thrown into the starting line-up despite having only returned to training the day before after his spell in quarantine.
At yesterday’s media conference Malmo boss Jon Dahl Tomasson taunted the clever lads of the broadcast media about the Ibrox club needing the money from the Champions League group stage.
— Tam sellic son (@TamsellicsonIII) August 9, 2021