Craig Moore fears Rangers don’t have a dressing-room culture fit for success.
And the ex-Ibrox captain reckons a recruitment rethink is required to get the players needed to return them to the top rank. Philippe Clement’s men trail Celtic and Aberdeen by nine points after just 10 league outings. That’s left the credibility of manager and players on thin ice ahead of today’s semi-final with Motherwell and a Europa League trip to face Olympiakos.
Moore enjoyed a trophy-laden career under Walter Smith, Dick Advocaat and Alex McLeish. He wasn’t spared seasons of struggle, too, including when 17 points behind Celtic in 2003-04. However, bad times never lasted long thanks to big personalities who hauled Rangers through. Moore is concerned there are no such types among the current crop. The Aussie said: “At Rangers, time isn’t your friend. It’s about winning games and trophies.
“So you need players ready-made who can hit the ground running, are able to win games even when not at their best. The DNA and the profile in terms of the recruitment probably needs to be revisited.
“You can go on about technical ability. I’m going with character – all day long. That’s my starting point. I experienced the winning and the losing but it wasn’t so much the ability and more that the mindset was so strong to be able to get through it. There will always be a lot of noise and you have to learn how to cope.”
Moore suspected this campaign would be a “rollercoaster” but underestimated how bad the dips would be. He insists players need to be dug out for flopping.
Moore added: “I came in to Richard Gough who oversaw the dressing room. Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist, Stuart McCall, Ian Ferguson, the list went on. It’s being brave enough to say to your team-mates: ‘This isn’t good enough’ if people aren’t performing.”
Gers head for Greece hoping to add to wins over Malmo and FCSB. Moore was a teenager in Smith’s squad that lost 2-0 in a fiery Champions League qualifier at AEK Athens in 1995. Eight years later he skippered McLeish’s side to a 1-1 draw away to Panathinaikos. He said: “The first time in Athens, the atmosphere was incredible. Coming off the bus, bottles were thrown at us. It can be hostile and you need to shut that out.”
● Craig Moore was speaking as he helped launch Mr Singh’s India dine-at-home retail range, on sale at Costco.