OPINION
There were high hopes that Rangers would compete with Celtic this season, but their Premiership tilt has fizzled out.
Steven Gerrard’s men are now 10 points behind Celtic and although they won the last Old Firm clash, it’s probably not going to make a difference to the title if they beat them again a week on Sunday.
Inconsistency has been the biggest enemy for Rangers this season and nowhere has that been more in evidence than in defence.
Gerrard has used Connor Goldson, Joe Worrall, Gareth McAuley and Nikola Katic this season, and there are still doubts as to who his best two are.
Goldson and Worrall have become the default pairing but Worrall is only at Ibrox on loan and could be leaving in the summer. Katic doesn’t seem to be trusted for some reason and McAuley is at the end of his career.
It means a new centre-back is needed and we think Mark Allen must re-ignite his failed winter bid for Millwall’s Jake Cooper.
The 6ft 6in colossus has reportedly been a long-term target for Rangers, with multiple bids reaching as high as £3million for him in the summer.
They couldn’t land him then but as recently as December it was stated that he was still on their radar.
And the Express report that he has a release clause that would be triggered if Millwall were relegated – they’re currently just one point off safety with eight games left.
Irrespective, he’s out of contract in 2020 and Millwall might be resigned to losing one of their best players in their last window to sell for a decent price.
We think Goldson and Cooper could be the rock that Gerrard can build a sustainable title bid on next season.