Glasgow Rangers dropped four points behind the league leaders of the Scottish Premiership on Sunday when they lost 3-2 to Motherwell at Ibrox on Sunday.
The Gers now face an uphill task to win their first title since the 2020/21 campaign, as they need to beat Hearts and hope that the leaders slip-up in one of their other games.
Irrespective of what happens in the next four games of the Premiership season, Danny Rohl knows that there is plenty of work that needs to be done in the summer.
Rangers started their clash against Motherwell on Sunday with zero academy graduates and zero players signed directly from another Premiership team, although Bojan Miovski had played for Aberdeen before his time at Girona.
The Scottish giants should look to address their lack of domestic experience within the squad when the summer transfer window opens for business.
Why Rangers need to target more Scottish Premiership players
When the Light Blues won the title under Steven Gerrard, three of the players in the most-used XI – Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, and Glen Kamara – were either academy graduates, signed directly from another Premiership team, or had previous experience in the division.
|
Most-used Rangers XI in 20/21 season |
|
|---|---|
|
Position |
Player |
|
GK |
Allan McGregor |
|
RB |
James Tavernier |
|
CB |
Connor Goldson |
|
CB |
Filip Helander |
|
LB |
Borna Barisic |
|
CM |
Joe Aribo |
|
CM |
Glen Kamara |
|
CM |
Steven Davis |
|
RW |
Ianis Hagi |
|
CF |
Alfredo Morelos |
|
LW |
Ryan Kent |
Rangers made sure that they had experienced players who knew the division and could provide consistent performances, whilst helping the other stars to adapt to the league.
That is why Rohl should look to recruit more of those types of players in the upcoming summer window, because there are not enough of them in the current squad, and they were so important to the club’s last title success.
Davis, in particular, was a real leader in that team. He had already spent five seasons at Ibrox earlier in his career before a return to the club in 2018, and he won the SFWA Player of the Year award in the title-winning season.
The Northern Ireland international, who ended his career with 370 appearances in all competitions for the Gers, was a tigerish midfielder who provided calmness and reliability on the ball, whilst biting into challenges defensively.
Rangers have unearthed their new Steven Davis
One of the few players in the current Gers squad who does fit the bill as an experienced Premiership campaigner is central midfielder Connor Barron, who joined on a free transfer from Aberdeen in the summer of 2024.
The Scotland international has not started a league match for the Gers since he picked up an injury in January, as he has come off the bench in the last four matches.
Prior to his injury, though, the former Aberdeen star caught the eye with his Steven Davis-esque performances in the middle of the park alongside Nicolas Raskin, as he showcased his ability on the ball and his tigerish work out of possession.
|
Premiership |
Connor Barron (25/26) |
Steven Davis (20/21) |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
24 |
35 |
|
Pass accuracy |
88% |
89% |
|
Assists |
2 |
2 |
|
Tackles per game |
1.8 |
1.7 |
|
Dribbled past per game |
0.7x |
0.7x |
|
Duels won per game |
3.3 |
3.6 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
53% |
57% |
His statistics this season are remarkably similar to what Davis put up in the title-winning campaign under Gerrard, which speaks to the similarities between the two players and their style of play.
Barron, who is “hungry” to win the Premiership this season, is looking to emulate the Northern Irish icon by using his combative and metronomic midfield play to win a title for the Gers.
Irrespective of what happens this season, though, Rangers have hit the jackpot with Barron because he is an example of the gold that can be found in the domestic market.
The Gers signed him after his contract expired at Aberdeen and he was valued at just €1m (£866k) by Transfermarkt at the time of his move to Ibrox.
Now, almost two years on, Barron is valued at €2.5m (£2.2m) by Transfermarkt after making 80 appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions.
His value has soared 150% during his time at Ibrox, and he still has time for it to increase further at the age of 23, which shows that Rangers managed to sign a star who is on the up.
The task for Rohl and the recruitment team this summer is to find more players like Barron so that they can build a core of Premiership-proven and experienced players to anchor a title push next season.
He’s now worth £16m: Rangers let a homegrown Raskin leave for just £500k
Rangers once had their own homegrown version of Nicolas Raskin in their academy.
