Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson faces the most important summer transfer window of his career to date as the Ibrox pressure begins to mount on the club’s recruitment.
Ever since Rangers secured 55, the club have failed to build on the squad with the damning statistic that seven of the 11 who started the weekend’s 2-1 League Cup Final defeat to Celtic started the same contest in 2019.
Both games had the same result, even if performances substantially differed.
That failure to properly infuse the Rangers starting XI with the requisite quality to challenge Celtic is a failure of the last three managers but also of the man in charge of recruitment.
Ross Wilson might be highly regarded in the game, heck he might even be highly regarded in the boardroom, but if the sporting director fails to do the business this summer then few will be able to defend his position.
Over the last three windows prior to the one just passed, Rangers have failed to sign the right players to improve the side with only two or three players in the last 18 months becoming regular features for the side.
Ross Wilson under pressure to deliver at Rangers
The less said about the January window of 2022 the better, with Aaron Ramsey and Amad Diallo failing to make the grade and Matuesz Zukowski barely even touching a ball.
This summer, between injuries galore, the bulk of the club’s signings have been unavailable with only Malik Tillman and Ben Davies appearing to pass the test as things stand.
Couple these moves with the retention of several veteran stars last season and an inability to manage the contract situations of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos and suddenly the pressure intensifies.
With several first-team players out of contract in the summer, and Rangers in dire need of a revamp, the pressure is on Ross Wilson to deliver after years of inconsistency.
If the ex-Southampton man fails to do so, then there will be continued criticism and much discussion over his role in the Ibrox boardroom.
Meanwhile, an ill-judged Rangers tweet has backfired amongst fans.