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Why Rangers Need Some New Faces And Soon

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The 2010/11 season ended on a high for Rangers.  In addition to winning their 54th league title, the club was taken over by businessman Craig Whyte, who purchased the club for £1 from previous owner David Murray.  The deal was completed so cheaply because Rangers had accumulated a debt and Lloyds bank had effectively taken over the club to control it.  Whyte now controls the debt, and the club appear to be in a stronger financial position.

Despite this, Rangers have had a testing summer.  Even before Whyte completed his purchase of the club, various board members had voiced their objections to his proposals for the club.  After the season had finished, Whyte removed those board members, who did not go quietly.  Former chairman Alastair Johnston again voiced his concerns about Whyte, and although CEO Martin Bain resigned, he has threatened to sue the club.

On the positive side, Rangers have been working on improving their scouting network, lead by former players Neil Murray and John Brown, and contact has been made with other former players to alert Rangers to talented players in their own countries.  Another former player, Gordon Smith, has been appointed as director of football.  The former SFA Chief Executive will be involved in negotiations with players and this is the area that Rangers really need to get working on.

While Lloyds bank was in charge, Rangers operated on an extremely limited budget.  Although they signed Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic for £4million last summer, they were able to do so only after Kevin Thomson (£2million) and Danny Wilson (£2million) had been sold.

Rangers have re-signed Sasa Papac, David Weir, David Healy and Salim Kerkar to new one year deals, but have so far failed to bring in any new faces to bolster the first team squad.  New manager Ally McCoist has money to spend on new players this summer, but it’s been a struggle for Rangers so far.

of his contract with Hearts, but owner Vladimir Romanov has slapped a £3million price tag on the Scotland international, while Rangers value the player at less than £1million.

As things stand, Rangers can still select the same starting eleven that hammered Kilmarnock on the final day of last season, but with the start of the SPL season just three weeks away, and a deadline to register players for the Champions League qualifiers imminent, Rangers really need to make a splash in the transfer market soon.

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