Disappointing Transfer Window but No Excuses Please

[Frankie 505]

The morning after the night before, eh? I’m sure I’m not the only football fan nursing the equivalent of a hangover this morning as the hype of January transfer window closes for another season. Internet forum server issues, ridiculous radio-phone rumours and around-the-clock satellite sports news excitement – coupled together they make for quite a cocktail of commotion and emotion. Hence the hangover this morning; especially when our team haven’t been as pro-active as we’d all like.

Despite my article of Tuesday morning warning all Rangers fans of the unlikelihood of substantial investment in the wake of the Alan Hutton transfer, movement occurred nonetheless and it seems we weren’t far off securing the services of Italian striker Andrea Caracciolo from Sampdoria while we did manage to sign the Fulham and Northern Ireland midfielder Steven Davis on loan from the Premiership. Davis is actually a decent signing and although I’m not personally a huge fan of loan deals, he will provide the kind of genuine back-up and depth required for Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani as Kevin Thomson sits out for another two months.

Obviously the £4million deal for Caracciolo was the most exciting rumour of the day and every Rangers fan waited with baited breath as we heard Walter Smith and Martin Bain were in Italy. Unfortunately (or as it may have turned out – fortunately) the huge striker chose to stay in his homeland and drop a division to Serie B to play with his former club Brescia. It’s ironic that in the week one Rangers player leaves to realise his ambitions what seems to be our main transfer target lacks the same aspirations in his career to move to the UK – instead blaming a lack of self-confidence and the weather for his decision. Hardly the mental and professional discipline you want to hear from a player you want to spend the total of around £7million on! A lucky escape then perhaps?

Unfortunately what this debacle does highlight is the further incompetence of our Chief Executive. Martin Bain quite simply is not up to the job. I bear the man no ill-will and in his Rangers career (over 10 years now) he’s done some good work in the face of constant criticism and financial downsizing while being the stereotypical lamb to the slaughter while his boss relaxes in France. A well paid ‘yes-man’ nonetheless though and the way we’ve conducted our business this January (and in the past) shows just how out of his depth he is.

To avoid any confusion I’m not criticising the club about not spending the ~£10million from the Hutton/Cousin deals per se. As I wrote the other day, not spending it is understandable to a degree and I’d much rather we were prudent and efficient in our dealings. However, if there was around £5million to spend, surely the old adage of not keeping all your eggs in one basket applies here? We’re told that the club have scouted Caracciolo for months, yet we leave it to the absolute last minute to try and negotiate our way through the confusing world of the Italian transfer system – three clubs involved directly, other clubs interested, translators required and agents hovering with their claws as sharp as ever. Yet, ex-catalogue model Bain is deemed to have the tactical nous to navigate his way through such a tough deal – all in a few hours!?

I certainly don’t pretend to be some sort of finance guru or transfer expert but time was never going to be on our side so instead of wasting time taking last minute flights to Genoa, we should have moved onto our next target. We do have one Ewan Chester, don’t we? Or was Willie McLies too busy hawking wee Broon again to furnish us with his usual brand of short-term client information? Certainly Martin Smithers and his merry band of under-achieving assistants are not justifying their inflated wages while the rest of us pay for the privilege of watching them let us down time after time.

But, and this is the crux of the article, all the above does not mean we have a convenient get-out clause for not winning the league (or the other competitions we’re in). Yes, we should have strengthened while Celtic have done so (to a degree) but we still have more than enough talent at Ibrox to compete on all fronts. Losing Alan Hutton is a big blow and Daniel Cousin (if he does actually leave – more crazy dealings by our staff given the obvious FIFA rulings) is a similar loss. However, we have deputies more than capable of taking their place. Steven Whittaker has shown he has the game to develop into a fine player while a fit Darcheville and a determined Boyd would keep out most strikers out of many teams anyway. Christian Dailly and Neil Alexander may not be the most glamorous of signings either but both will provide competition for places and much-needed experience as we proceed towards our goals.

As such, despite all the valid criticism aimed at the likes of Bain and despite all the obvious disappointment of not capturing another player or two, it’s vital we keep our eyes on the prize. A four point lead is a good one and should be able to defend this over the coming months with the existing squad. Three Old Firm games in two months will be the ultimate decider but we have nothing to fear in that regard either. So, confidence should remain, support for the players and manager should remain and no excuses will be accepted.

The SPL is attainable and nothing less will suffice.

[Bear 25]

Great post. I never knew we had the Italian in our sites for months but i 100% agree that jumping on a plane in Europe in winter to do a last min deal was completely stupid and seems to have come and bit us on the backside bigtime.

Mabe it's time to get very vocal (and banners made) about having Bain removed?

[Ibroxblue 122]

I agree that we've made useful signings especially Davis. As for the criticism of Bain I'm not sure whether it's valid or not. He seems to be a bit of a whipping-boy for some people. A deal was done for Caracciolo, just not to us. So we didn't leave it too late to actually work out the deal. It's just that the player preferred to stay in Italy.

[Frankie 505]

Mabe it's time to get very vocal (and banners made) about having Bain removed?

I think there may be better ways of doing it but I'm fed up of our under-achievements with Bain. Like I say, I hold no personal grudges against him but quite simply he's not up to the job.

[Bear 25]

I think there may be better ways of doing it but I'm fed up of our under-achievements with Bain. Like I say, I hold no personal grudges against him but quite simply he's not up to the job.

What ideas do you and the RST have??

[Frankie 505]

I agree that we've made useful signings especially Davis. As for the criticism of Bain I'm not sure whether it's valid or not. He seems to be a bit of a whipping-boy for some people. A deal was done for Caracciolo, just not to us. So we didn't leave it too late to actually work out the deal. It's just that the player preferred to stay in Italy.

With respect, Italian teams would know their way round all the red-tape quicker than us.

Furthermore, if the guy had almost no ambition and didn't like the UK weather, surely we could have found that out well before yesterday?

I will never accept second best. Having Bain as our CEO is doing that.

[Frankie 505]

What ideas do you and the RST have??

Those will remain private for the moment. You never know who may be reading...

[Poetry_In_Blue 1,043]

Agree with the majority of your article, but there were a couple of things which might have to be considered.

Certain reports indicate that Rangers have been chasing this Italian for about a month, we also don't know the full financial situation and it is possible they couldn't pursue this option until Hutton made up his mind or not about his own transfer therefore releasing enough funds. We have been made aware that WS spoke to Villa about Luke Moore, and irrespective of all the paper talk there doesn't appear to have been another approach. Other players have been "offered" to Rangers, there is no evidence that Rangers pursued or even wanted any of the offers. WS wanted this player, why we'll probably never know, but WS is probably the one who wanted to pull out all of the stops to get him, to such an extent even Amoruso tried to talk the player into moving to us. If the player himself didn't have the guts to make the change, then we probably have had a lucky escape, but again hindsight is a wonderful thing.

We talk about eggs in one basket etc, but isn't it just maybe that out of all the possible/rumoured options this was the only one that WS wanted. If that's the case then it would have nothing to do with SDM or Bain.

I don't disagree that Bain deserves criticism for certain actions to do with the club, in some cases undeserved, but this isn't necessary one of them.

[georgethebearlogan 14]

Great post, i agree with it all seems a big of a gamble to sell your best player and with the league title there for the taking this season, sad to say i am a wee tad dissapointed that we only sign three players, will the three we bought ever play i for cant answer that, mybe the guy from fulham might get a game or two, after sitting all day waiting on the big deal i was sad that we did not manage to get anyone of note.

Maybe we are saving the pennys for the summer transfer window.

If we dont win the league will our inactivity in the january transfer window come back to haunt us, i for one hope not.

[Bear 25]

What ideas do you and the RST have??

Those will remain private for the moment. You never know who may be reading...

fair comment.

I am 100% certain he will read these boards, or have a lacky do it andpoint him towards threads like this.

[Frankie 505]

Agree with the majority of your article, but there were a couple of things which might have to be considered.

Certain reports indicate that Rangers have been chasing this Italian for about a month, we also don't know the full financial situation and it is possible they couldn't pursue this option until Hutton made up his mind or not about his own transfer therefore releasing enough funds. We have been made aware that WS spoke to Villa about Luke Moore, and irrespective of all the paper talk there doesn't appear to have been another approach. Other players have been "offered" to Rangers, there is no evidence that Rangers pursued or even wanted any of the offers. WS wanted this player, why we'll probably never know, but WS is probably the one who wanted to pull out all of the stops to get him, to such an extent even Amoruso tried to talk the player into moving to us. If the player himself didn't have the guts to make the change, then we probably have had a lucky escape, but again hindsight is a wonderful thing.

We talk about eggs in one basket etc, but isn't it just maybe that out of all the possible/rumoured options this was the only one that WS wanted. If that's the case then it would have nothing to do with SDM or Bain.

I don't disagree that Bain deserves criticism for certain actions to do with the club, in some cases undeserved, but this isn't necessary one of them.

As I wrote above, not knowing the guys ambitions and weather concerns is not doing our homework.

This also isn't restricted to this transfer - see Cousin and many others.

[Boabe 1]

I agree that we've made useful signings especially Davis. As for the criticism of Bain I'm not sure whether it's valid or not. He seems to be a bit of a whipping-boy for some people. A deal was done for Caracciolo, just not to us. So we didn't leave it too late to actually work out the deal. It's just that the player preferred to stay in Italy.

Maybe we didnt wait to long to conclude a deal but we did wait too long so that if a deal couldnt be done we had no time to look at any other targets. I have no problem with making deadline day deals but make sure theyre going ahead because if you miss out you cant recover in time.

[Frankie 505]

fair comment.

I am 100% certain he will read these boards, or have a lacky do it andpoint him towards threads like this.

Absolutely no doubt about it.

[BlueIsTheColour 35]

The transfer dealings at Rangers is embarrassing. The way that our manager, CE and doctor all rushed over to Italy at the last minute, despite showing interest in Caracciolo for the last few months, was ridiculous. And to mae matters worse he decides to move to a Serie B side instead. Fair enough, it was because of his own faults that Rangers didn't appeal to him but where was the back-up plan?

After failing to sign Carraciolo there was no Plan B with Walter and Bain both returning from Italy with no star striker and no idea of where to go next. This was the worst part for me. Surely if you had been scouting this guy for months you must also have been looking at other options at the same time. You are not going to tell me that all of our staff were concentrating on one player. What about Luke Moore? We obviously had the cash to buy him, he wanted to sign for us and he is both younger and less of a risk than the Italian.

The signing of Steven Davis is the highlight of a depressing and disastrous transfer window. You may say, Frankie, that this is no excuse if we don't win the league but it will most certainly be a factor. Losing you best player and your top goalscorer will upset the balance of ANY football team. And whereas Celtic have strenghened during this period, and you cannot deny that they have, we have been depleated. Suddenly that 4 point lead doesn't seem so cushty now.

[Bear 25]

This thread highlights or diabolical SCOUTING situation. We should have at least four respected scouts.

One in the UK

One in Europe

One in The Americas, and mabe takes in SE and EastAsia (i personaly aint a fan of bringing in a Asian as they never realy do well here)

One in the west coast of Scotland looking at the young lads playing on saturday mornings for the schools and youth teams

[Frankie 505]

Our scouting system involves Ewan Chester, DVDs, agents and YouTube - not always in that order.

[Bear 25]

Our scouting system involves Ewan Chester, DVDs, agents and YouTube - not always in that order.

Till the post went up this week telling us that we don't have a scouting system i was stunned. I just took it for granted that we had them.

When i was a kid i played for Glasgow South Schools in goals (i went to Mosspark primary) and every game that Glasgow south played there was someone there from rangers aswell as every other SPL team.

To think that does'nt happen now is inexcusable!!!!!

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,917]

Our scouting system involves Ewan Chester, DVDs, agents and YouTube - not always in that order.

And that for a club as large as ours is nothing short of a disgrace.

[Ibroxblue 122]

I agree that we've made useful signings especially Davis. As for the criticism of Bain I'm not sure whether it's valid or not. He seems to be a bit of a whipping-boy for some people. A deal was done for Caracciolo, just not to us. So we didn't leave it too late to actually work out the deal. It's just that the player preferred to stay in Italy.

Maybe we didnt wait to long to conclude a deal but we did wait too long so that if a deal couldnt be done we had no time to look at any other targets. I have no problem with making deadline day deals but make sure theyre going ahead because if you miss out you cant recover in time.

Other targets could have been lined up and the deals didn't work out. We just don't know what went on behind the scenes.

Or maybe the other available players were not of the quality Walter wanted. He said along we wouldn't be adding to the squad unless the player was of sufficient quality. The only real addition has been Davis (Dailly and Alexander just replaced departing back-up players) and Davis is a good player.

[BlueIsTheColour 35]

Our scouting system involves Ewan Chester, DVDs, agents and YouTube - not always in that order.

What are the club doing about this then? I struggle to comprehend that Walter would be happy with this arrangement so surely he would put pressure on Murray to hire more scouts for the benefit of the club.

Ou signings under Walter compared to those of the previous two managers have been very good. So i can only assume that Walter has been doing alot of the scouting between himself, Ally and Durrant. Both Eckand PLG relied on videos and one or two recommendations rather than actually go and scput the player or send a close aide. This needs to change otherwise our full potential in the transfer market will never be attained.

Get the finger out Rangers.

[Poetry_In_Blue 1,043]

Cousin and many others??

If we're talking about Cousin to Fulham, that is totally outside Rangers control and can't be held as an example, he wanted to leave as soon as an EPL team came in for him, the valuation was met, we agreed to it, it was then out of our hands.

Again I re-iterate, we are laying this particular failure at the feet of Bain, how do any of us know that WS was interested in any other players, just because we want to see a player signed that we were apparently interested in does not guarantee that the manager wants them. The manager is the first person to identify targets, and do any of you actually think WS would accept being told what targets he can look at? And before people jump up and down I am talking within what financial constraints WS has placed on him.

As for the squad and not bringing in huge amounts of top notch players, I still believe that with the management team in place of WS and Coisty (and the rest of the backroom staff), plus the current squad of players that they have at their disposal then we are strong enough to win the league and possibly the treble.

Who cares that Celtic have brought in more players than us, those that have been brought in aren't exactly making me shake in my boots with fear, we as a unit are still so much stronger and I feel more determined to break the Celtic strangle hold of the last couple of seasons.

[Bear 25]

Other targets could have been lined up and the deals didn't work out. We just don't know what went on behind the scenes.

Or maybe the other available players were not of the quality Walter wanted. He said along we wouldn't be adding to the squad unless the player was of sufficient quality. The only real addition has been Davis (Dailly and Alexander just replaced departing back-up players) and Davis is a good player.

We have got to remeber that too. Good point caller

Just remeber the diddies PLG bought, then you'll mabe think this last 24 hours ain tthat bad. But still very shoddy.

[Frankie 505]

Other targets could have been lined up and the deals didn't work out. We just don't know what went on behind the scenes.

Or maybe the other available players were not of the quality Walter wanted. He said along we wouldn't be adding to the squad unless the player was of sufficient quality. The only real addition has been Davis (Dailly and Alexander just replaced departing back-up players) and Davis is a good player.

Come on IB.

Why would they be targets if they weren't of the quality Walter wanted? We should have lists of suitable players and ensure they are all keen to come to Glasgow.

[Bear 25]

Other targets could have been lined up and the deals didn't work out. We just don't know what went on behind the scenes.

Or maybe the other available players were not of the quality Walter wanted. He said along we wouldn't be adding to the squad unless the player was of sufficient quality. The only real addition has been Davis (Dailly and Alexander just replaced departing back-up players) and Davis is a good player.

Come on IB.

Why would they be targets if they weren't of the quality Walter wanted? We should have lists of suitable players and ensure they are all keen to come to Glasgow.

This is it!!

This is the first thing that should have been said when we first spied the lad,

Martin Bain.... "Would you consider coming to Scotland to play for Rangers?"

Italian...."No"

Bain "Thank you and good luck"

If i can work that out then surely a man on a huge salary should??? <_<

[Ibroxblue 122]

Other targets could have been lined up and the deals didn't work out. We just don't know what went on behind the scenes.

Or maybe the other available players were not of the quality Walter wanted. He said along we wouldn't be adding to the squad unless the player was of sufficient quality. The only real addition has been Davis (Dailly and Alexander just replaced departing back-up players) and Davis is a good player.

Come on IB.

Why would they be targets if they weren't of the quality Walter wanted? We should have lists of suitable players and ensure they are all keen to come to Glasgow.

I didn't say there were "targets" who weren't of the quality Walter wanted.