Alan Hutton reckons the loud alarm bells ringing out at Rangers is down to the stunning start by Jimmy Thelin at Aberdeen.
Philippe Clement and his troops were downed at Pittodrie under the lights recently and find themselves trailing the men from the Granite City – along with rivals Celtic – by nine points at the Premiership summit after just 11 games. The former Ibrox defender reckons if it was just Brendan Rodgers’ men out in front, people wouldn’t accept the situation but would understand as they are a ‘different animal’ – but being so far behind the Dons has created major red flags.
The pundit believes the Belgian boss, despite spending a large sum of cash in the summer, still hasn’t got in the players he wanted. He reckons the current state of play in the league means it will be a very difficult task to bridge the gap as he set Clement a non-negotiable when it comes to the Premier Sports Cup and the Scottish Cup. They face rivals Celtic in the final at Hampden next month in the League Cup with their campaign to land the famous old trophy getting underway early next year.
Speaking to BestBettingSites.co.uk, Hutton explained: “What’s going on at Rangers? I think there’s been a huge shift at the club in terms of finances, and players coming in and out. The player trading model has not worked in recent years, contracts have been allowed to run down and they’ve lost a lot of experience. That being said, the manager has spent money. They’ve spent about £16million this summer but I don’t feel that he got the people in that he wanted.
“I thought he would probably want more experience within that squad, and he’s not been able to get it. It’s obviously taken time, he’s had that, but it’s still very inconsistent at the moment. Performances are very up and down. They’re so far behind in the league.
“If it was just Celtic, people wouldn’t accept it, but they would understand that they’re at a different level at this moment in time. Jimmy Thelin has come into Aberdeen and done the same thing, he’s got them flying. That’s why the red flags are out and the alarm bells are sounding at this moment in time.
“Rangers, where they are, even at board level, the stability is not there so there’s a huge turnaround within the club. Everything’s changing and I did feel sorry for the manager at times, because he had his hands tied behind his back, especially at the beginning of the season. Now we should be seeing signs that they’re moving forward and we’re still not seeing that.”
He continued: “Nobody would have wanted to see this situation. They’re nine points off Aberdeen and Celtic, so at the start of the season they want to compete for the league, simple as that, and both cup trophies. They want to have a good run in Europe. The league, to claw back nine points, it’s very difficult to bridge that gap against a very good Celtic team.
“Celtic are a different animal and Aberdeen have done exceptionally well, so you have to look at the other two trophies and think those are a must. Rangers, Celtic, these big clubs must win silverware, so that has to be a priority.
“They’re doing well in Europe, even though the Lyon defeat was a difficult one to take, but again, Lyon were an outstanding opponent, so you can’t really complain too much about it. Rangers are doing well in that competition, but they need to carry that form week in, week out in the league and they’ve not done that.
“The performances have been too inconsistent. The League Cup and the Scottish Cup are a must, but you just feel the league, the gap’s just getting too wide.”