08 Sep 2025 11:03:25
EHL, Stevie following on from your posts about homegrown players.
Can I just say I 100% agree that this scenario would be the ideal one but their is a major issue that does not arise in most other countries.
We are Rangers a club like no other in Scotland a nation like no other.
Most clubs don't want to do business with Rangers and those that do impose what I like to call a Rangers tax.
So unless we get Bosman deals like Soutar, Barron, Jack, Cameron it does not make economic sense to buy homegrown.
That unfortunately is the sad indictment of Scottish football.
08 Sep 2025 11:26:11
Asathor we are willing to waste or pay "Rangers tax" of £4.5m on Cortes, £4.5m on Dio, £4.5m on Yilmaz, £5m on Danilo. Why not just pay Mwell £4.5m for Miller or Aberdeen £4.5m for Ferguson? These clubs would have done business had we offered these fees and would have been better value for us.
08 Sep 2025 12:34:03
Asa.
Looking at our defence, we have a potential starting line up made up of 4 loanees, with only 1 being realistic permanent signing.
In loan fees we have spent £5.2m on those four players, who will also cost the club c£3.8m in salaries.
In addition we've spent £3m on Fernandez.
So we've invested £12m this year to secure one permanent signing in the defence, to have one recognised LB, one recognised LCB (who we've yet to see play) and 2 players who have made high profile errors and who the majority would rather see sent back to their parent club.
Off the top of my head, this window we've seen Johnston (£2.5m), Penrice (£2m), Mulligan (Free), McKenna (Free), Mackenzie (Free) all move.
Personally I'd rather have seen this type of player signed to strengthen our squad and see the money we've wasted spent on one or two permanent signings that make our starting defense much stronger.
I'm afraid that we're on the wrong path, and it's only leading one way.
08 Sep 2025 12:35:07
Diomande for 4.5m was a very good buy, Hopefully Cortes kicks on in Spain this season, highly rated a couple of years ago and still only 21 year old, Yilmaz and Danilo problems was injures.
08 Sep 2025 12:38:46
Totally agree with EHL regarding lack of homegrown players. It's embarrassing that again we can't name a full squad. It's been a sad problem since we came back up with manager after manager ignoring talent here with obsession in English lower leagues doig, fergi, hickey, johnson etc. Yes many may not be starters but look at the amount of other poor backups we've spent money on. Since Warburton we've signed over 10players almost every year showing those we've signed were no better than any homegrown or academy kids we could have put on the bench and may even have developed.
08 Sep 2025 11:43:49
Ed for some reason again I can't see the tab for create new post?
{Ed033's Note - There's one at the right hand side of the page
08 Sep 2025 12:19:24
Yeah Asa I don't really go for that myself mate, the Rangers tax has been about for a while now and although I believe it to be a thing 10 years ago or more rather, I don't see it As a thing now. More likely to be a Celtic tax as we've been that far behind them financially that they'd be more appealing to sell to than us.
What we need to remember is that the best bud finanacialt will be accepted by a selling club in Scotland so if for example Motherwell with miller, we match the bud of Italians it would be accepted and then upto player. Motherwell do t care where miller went asking as they get maximum value.
As above poster stated, miller over Cortes, shanks over Danilo, Johnston over max Aaron's, Doug over Yilmaz, so on and so on,
We're playing over inflated fees and wages for European and English imports and they're letting us down for one reason. Or another.
If we bought local wed inow what we're getting and the player knows what to expect etc
We'd also be supporting the local economy of football. The clubs would then incest in themselves and the league would be stronger.
We should absolutely do more of this.
The talent is here if we just open our eyes. And like Ehl it's a different type of talent you're buying. x might not be the technical passers etc might be more battlers but football is about winning and we haven't been doing that so perhaps we need to look again at what we have in our doorstep instead of the fancy foreign names and the skills they have to offer as they aremt what they're made out to be mate.
08 Sep 2025 12:49:53
Who would we prefer? Dio for £4.5m or Lewis Ferguson for £4.5m?
Lewis Ferguson all day long, he would be our captain now.
08 Sep 2025 13:00:39
Where are we next summer with our current back line? There will be a World Cup in North America. Players and agents on duty and then extended breaks after the event next summer. We could be pitched into early European qualifiers if Thelwells vision of hitting the ground running doesnt't materialise soon. I stand with what EHL stated opportunities have been lost in that window.
08 Sep 2025 13:04:42
EhL again agree and said a few times really wanted Mulligan signed
When you say we're on wrong path and it's leading one way?
08 Sep 2025 13:20:08
If we didn't sign john souttar i suspect he'd also be popping up on people's lists of players we've missed out on.
08 Sep 2025 13:24:07
We can never ever give up at signing home grown players! Walter always had a back bone of Scottish players ?✌️.
08 Sep 2025 13:24:46
You make a good point EHL.
08 Sep 2025 13:28:58
Those clubs are entitled to impose a Rangers tax as you call it as we play in the same league, we would be effectively making that side weaker and our side stronger, that's the price we have to pay. Adding all these loan signings for defence I think is madness as we will be left without a defence yet again for next season and have to start all over again.
08 Sep 2025 13:47:53
Tried to like that post twice Ehl it makes so much sense. We could potentially have had this season, I fbwe signed when had the chance or else this summer with the lesser rated players, a team of
Butland (Kelly)
Johnston (mulligan)
Souttar ( porteous)
Cornelius ( Katic)
Doig / Taylor (meghoma)
Raskin ( the boy from Sunderland/ hibs)
Ferguson (Cameron)
Miller (Diomande)
Antman (Curtis)
Miovski (Bowie) ( shankland)
Gassama (Moore)
That squad looks far superior to what we have now and it was achievable by not being snobbish towards our own backyard.
08 Sep 2025 14:06:59
100% agree EHL i'd have rather signed every one of those guts than the ones we have brought in and i reckon with a good bit of playing time we would have managed to see on for profit if required this English market has to stop just because it worked a couple of times doesn't mean we go there all the time. Far too common now for promising young scottish lads to be ignored and ending up elswhere only for their performances and value to improve. We were heading slightly in right direction with Koppen promising one scottish guy every season he had the right idea.
08 Sep 2025 14:37:02
Dio definitely worth 4.5mill imo. worryingly tho my star danilo is fully fit and is looking absolutely honking. Empty shirt. Will makena big loss on him.
08 Sep 2025 14:38:23
Mulligan should have been signed, wasn't fussy on McKenna and especially Mackenzie.
08 Sep 2025 14:54:53
Stevie the fundamental flaw in your superior team is these players wanting to sign for us. It's been mentioned many times Miller wouldn't have signed for us. Doig also probably wouldn't have signed. Ferguson has flourished at Bologna and I'm putting that down to a better level of coaching in Italy can you say for sure if he came to us he would have developed into the player he is becoming?
08 Sep 2025 15:21:40
EHL, that's one of the best posts I've seen in a while. When you factor in that our one permanent defender signing has been signed as a squad filler by the looks of it, it's poor decision making by the club. Add in we've spent £8-£10 million on a completely unproven striker whilst we only have one recognised left back, who is 19 and on loan, it's very poor. There is a snobbery around signing Scottish players and players from our league and it's a big mistake imho.
08 Sep 2025 15:26:51
Brilliant post Ehl.
08 Sep 2025 15:32:33
There's a handful of them that would improve us and guess what their too expensive and play in far better leagues or have bigger clubs looking at them. It's well known that Lennon Miller wanted a move abroad cause he'll get better over in Italy and it's well known we enquired about him with Koppen and the wanted 8 million plus addons, Ferguson was knocked back by the brilliant Gerrard (sarcasm) and I also think he wanted to go abroad. Still going on about Shankland when he scored 9 goals in 43 games whilst Dessers scored 29 in 55 games, both same age nut Dessers is too old so explain that one. And Mulligan is a midfielder, not a defender like some people think he is.
08 Sep 2025 16:04:03
G4 nobody can say for sure anything mate. U know that.
As for miller and Doig, if we went in for Doig at hibs he would have more than likely came to us imo and that of many others.
If we went in for miller we'd have got an answer of that u and I don't know what it would've been.
It's a basic team mate to put across the point.
If u want to take Doig away there's Taylor, penrice,
If u want to take miller out the point that's fine but it still stands up with or without him.
08 Sep 2025 16:18:17
Why do people keep mentioning miller? Miller didn't want to sign for Rangers so it's pointless putting him in this ?♂️.
Stevie the answer would have been no mate.
Mulligan yes should have been signed mckenzie no but penrice should have been signed. Doig IMO would have were to Italy as well not us.
08 Sep 2025 16:21:49
Fair enough Stevie mate it's a fair point you make that nobody really knows if a player will sign.
08 Sep 2025 17:08:38
I think penrice and Milligan would have been worth signing. Agree on those.
Every time I watch Ferguson I feel we dodged a bullet not signing him. I know he has been getting praise in Italy but looks a very limited footballer.
Lennon Miller was not ready to play for either us or them as he does not have consistency in his game. So I think it was the right decision to go to Italy. Boy was well advised and think he will have a better career dodging the old firm.
08 Sep 2025 17:13:42
Storm taking that on board mate I can accept that, throw Stuart Armstrong in there instead of miller.
Stronger team and squad.
08 Sep 2025 17:14:09
Likely the reason IF some don't want to come is down to our bad record with homegrown players. Until we sign them and use them there is no confidence in coming. Same with academy players. Bringing in others teams boys to put on our bench ahead of them only puts players off. Whereas the more Curtis and Rice are even just on the bench creates a buzz and belief among them.
08 Sep 2025 18:04:19
Tommy, Lennon miller walks into our 11 mate.
08 Sep 2025 18:52:21
Doesnt really explain thelwell passing up on mulligan when deal was apparently all agreed stupid if you ask me showed his hand too early
I bet he would have rejected cameron too if he hadnt already signed.
08 Sep 2025 19:48:15
I agree forever
Apparently the word is he is "pleasantly surprised " with Cameron.
Tells me he had no intention of giving him his chance or probably never watched him.