Rangers have one game left to save a season that started appallingly, got worse, got better and then got worse again.
After the league decider against Celtic didn’t go to plan, thoughts have already turned to the Scottish Cup final, the summer and of next season.
Philippe Clement has his work cut out given how many players are out of contract and how many could leave Ibrox for good, but the issue of what Rangers will be wearing seems to be confirmed.
Rangers latest kit leak inspired by Castore fan conversations
Castore have, up until now, been good at keeping their kits under wraps in recent seasons.
This year has seen the Footy Headlines site claim to have images of the home and away shirt already, although nothing has been confirmed.
The latest offering is something we have seen before in recent years and a nod to a colour that hit the headlines and the stands in the early 2000’s.
Castore signed with Rangers in 2020 as they looked to break into the football market in a big way.
Rangers were still involved in court proceedings due to various antecedent merchandise contracts, but Castore offered a new start and a way forward.
Shortly after the deal was announced, Tom Beahon, one of the brothers behind the brand, spoke to the Four Lads Had a Dream blog with one answer giving an insight into the latest kit inspiration:
“We have been inspired by the traditional kits but we will be using our own creativity and our own take on that in a modern way and we are really excited to release that to the fans and we are confident they are going to love it.
“In terms of orange, it is clearly a colour for the core fan base that is very important and I have had a number of conversations with people throughout Rangers and a consistent theme is the importance of this.
“Again, it would be remiss of us as a new partner whose number one objective is to make the fans proud not to include that.
“We want to be creative and intelligent in how we do it, but we think you guys are going to like what we have come up with on the orange front.”
Latest kit offering fails to hit the mark
How many fans Castore spoke to in spring 2020 is unclear considering the whole of the UK was in a Covid-19 inspired lockdown.
As with any business, they have carried out research based on what was successful in the past and we have seen both orange and lilac strips during the four years of the partnership.
The home tops have been more traditional with some of them featuring shades of successful shirts from Rangers previous history.
This kit might not be quite as universally approved as the 2022/23 orange strip that went down a storm, but the Rangers supporting kids will probably love it.
When a design is being compared to something that Queens Park or Morton have had, questions will always be asked though.
There is one good thing about this leaked Rangers third kit, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it.
