Rangers limped to another lame defeat against Celtic with Philippe Clement having more on his plate than trying to fix his goal shy forward line.
The manager saw the transfer window shut still having holes in his squad but at least has the prospect of returning to Ibrox just around the corner.
One of the problems at Parkhead was the worrying lack of fight that Rangers showed with James Tavernier coughing up another worrying display against Daizen Maeda – you would think he’d know how to play him by now as his early season struggles continue.
Rangers lack of leaders on display against Celtic again
As captain, he has consistently been the poster boy for failure since Rangers return to the Premiership and is damned by the comparisons to leaders past with one expressing his concern at the sight of his rudderless team.
Barry Ferguson was exactly the type of captain that other players would run through brick walls for, you could also count his poor Old Firm displays on one hand.
He was a leader by voice and by example on the pitch.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Ferguson gave Philippe Clement some words of advice:
“I said when we were talking about the end of the (transfer) window last week, they need a bit of experience in there,” he added.
“Guys who manage on the pitch. It’s so important speaking on the pitch and you need two, three, four players doing that. It’s not just about the captain.
“I was captain of the team but I also had four or five teammates who wouldn’t shut up on the pitch. I’m being serious and it’s so important. You need communication, you need to sometimes give people a kick up the backside, you need to let them know ‘listen we need to get our finger out here, this is not good enough’.
“I don’t see enough of that. Is it the modern day game? Well I seen Callum McGregor do it and he’s not a ranter or raver, but I seen him a couple of times at the start of the game because I thought Celtic didn’t start the game particularly well.
“But they got a grip of it, so yeah Rangers need players in there to certainly help this team.”
How Rangers can help solve leadership problem with free agents
Ferguson is right, Nicolas Raskin might be that player one day or Connor Barron, however, they aren’t there yet and need leadership from the senior players in the team.
John Souttar doesn’t come across as the vocal type despite captaining Hearts at a young age and Robin Propper should have a long, hard look at himself after his performance at Parkhead with his experience as Twente skipper.
Then you have Ianis Hagi, a player who has worn the armband for his country sitting at home, a player who has always spoken with maturity and determination.
Two birds with one stone would help.
Rangers need a number six and in Steven Alzate, Kevin Strootman and Davy Klaassen, there are three midfielders with experience and quality who are available for free.
As the Gers boss said, there are too many problems to fix them all at once, but fixing the mentality might just be the biggest task on his hands.
