It might sound strange to suggest that Rangers are close to being a good team under Philippe Clement, but the evidence is there – if you look hard enough.
Ibrox has been a fortress, the Light Blues are eighth in the Europa League table and the manager has been unlucky not to win the last two domestic trophies.
Yes, winning is all that matters, but football is a game of small margins with a lack of squad depth one of the biggest issues holding Rangers back.
Rangers priority position for January transfer window
To put it another way, Rangers are a good team, however, they have a very poor squad.
Rest Vaclav Cerny and the team is considerably weaker.
The same applies if Nicolas Raskin is unavailable and there is no escaping the impact that John Souttar’s injury has had on the defence.
Hamza Igamane and Danilo can be rotated, but the difference when Cyriel Dessers plays is night and day.
The other position that suffers from a lack of options is No.8, the role currently occupied by Mohamed Diomande.
The Ivory Coast international has seen a return to form of late, the issue though, is when he is having an off day or needs to be rotated – who comes in?
Kieran Dowell? Connor Barron?
Neither are remotely suitable in terms of ball carrying, linking play in the final third, passing or the ability to evade pressure.
It is a position that Nils Koppen must address.
Who should Rangers target to fill problem role?
The problem is, players like Dowell and Jose Cifuentes are still on the payroll and both will need to be moved on.
If someone can be persuaded to take them off Rangers’ hands, a return for Darius Olaru should be top of the technical director’s shopping list.
Available for £4.2m, the Romanian international was first linked in the same summer as Nicolas Raskin and is at war with FCSB.
A very public falling out seems certain to end in one way, with the 26-year old departing.
With 15 goals and seven assists in 30 games this season, Olaru has proven quality and could be deployed either in a deeper role or in the attacking midfield position.
Either way, what he would bring, is more quality than Philippe Clement currently has available.
