Gary McAllister has hinted at an exciting change to how Rangers will approach the January transfer window, as captured by RangersTV.
The Gers assistant manager handled Friday morning’s press conference duties in Steven Gerrard’s absence, ahead of Sunday’s trip to Motherwell.
Most questions didn’t relate to the Fir Park showdown, but instead to the club’s successful qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League the previous evening.
Steven Gerrard had previously asserted that the plan for January would be to trim the Rangers squad rather than adding to it [Scottish Herald]. Yet, McAllister has recognised that European progression and injury concerns may bring about a change of tack.
“I feel that prior to the last week or so, we’ve had very few injuries, so there have been too many people being disappointed and not actually making the eighteen,” he said, as captured by RangersTV.
“You always sort of factor in injuries and we’ve had a clean bill of health – touch wood we can continue to get that luck. But there have been a few injuries recently so our thinking may have to change, because we need some more bodies around, yeah.”
Verdict
It’s a very interesting response from McAllister, suggesting that even though we’re only just over a fortnight away from the transfer window, that the club’s approach isn’t yet set in stone.
For the 1-1 draw against Young Boys, both Steven Davis and Filip Helander were absentees, while Jordan Jones is yet to make his comeback from injury, and Ryan Jack is set for a one-match ban during the knockout stages after his dismissal.
It seems these issues with key players has led to a realisation that perhaps the squad isn’t as well-stocked as previously thought. For the last two games, in particular, the bench has certainly looked a little weak.
Perhaps, some players who continue to struggle for any kind of involvement, such as Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy, will still be moved on, but given this change of thought, they may now be replaced by players deemed as upgrades.
