There are plenty of issues for Nils Koppen to solve in the summer with a Rangers team that seems to keep throwing up more questions than answers.
It is a Rangers squad without much depth, or players who simply aren’t good enough, then there are those who are good players, but haven’t been able to adapt to the SPFL.
A prime example is underachiever Nedim Bajrami, who has looked reliable enough in Europe and performed well against Celtic too – that he didn’t get off the bench against Dundee tells its own story though.
Midfield is one of three areas of concern, as Rangers manager, Barry Ferguson has inherited depth that sees Bailey Rice as the only backup option to Nicolas Raskin, Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande.
It isn’t just short of quality either, there is a very specific type of player that has long been debated as something that Rangers need, but Koppen pulled the plug on last summer.
Roger Hannah names problem Rangers need to address
Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard on Monday 31st of March, Roger Hannah has explained one key problem that could be fixed with the right signing:
“I couldn’t tell you the last time Rangers controlled a game, at home or away, under Barry Ferguson or under Philippe Clement.
“They don’t seem to have the players capable of doing that. You know, in the past, you might have seen a team come to Ibrox, Rangers are two up, but they control the ball, they control the tempo of the game, they limit the chances of the opposition. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
“They don’t seem to have the players capable of closing out a game when they’re ahead, or giving themselves that foothold in the start where they can build momentum and score a goal.
“As you say, when they charge back in a game, as they did at Dens on Saturday night, you can almost hear the bugles wailing in the stand and everyone charging forward. There is no control in any aspect of their play.”
Who Rangers could sign to solve midfield problem
John Lundstram tried but struggled to adapt from being a box-to-box midfielder his whole career with Raskin still learning his trade as a tempo setter, despite his man of the match performance for Belgium.
Against Dundee, Raskin was pushed slightly further forward when Rice came on for Barron and it paid off, it was Raskin’s outside of the foot pass that set Tom Lawrence up for Rangers’ equaliser.
Raskin loves nothing better than to play on the front foot, to drive forward at every opportunity which makes him better suited to being a six in a double pivot, rather than being on his own.
The ideal partner? Dejan Ljubicic.
At 6ft 2inches tall, the Austrian has the physicality to cope with the Scottish game, however, after spending the last four years in Germany in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, he also has the technical ability.
In the top flight, he played mainly as a defensive midfielder who is also capable of dropping into defence, the sort of quality that could be useful in Europe for a manager wanting to change shape without making any substitutes.
This season though, Ljubicic has played in a more advanced role for Koln and has eight goal contributions in 25 appearances.
A midfield three of Ljubicic, Raskin and Diomande is perfectly balanced, it would also allow Raskin and Diomande to do what they do best with the former Steven Gerrard target doing what he does best and pull the strings from in front of the defence.
If Rangers want more control in midfield, Ljubicic is the obvious choice.
How much would he cost? Nothing, his contract with Koln is up in the summer.
