Kris Boyd says Rangers need a massive rebuild to stop Celtic’s juggernaut.
The ex-Ibrox striker has no doubts a major recruitment drive is needed in the summer by boss Michael Beale. Currently 13 points behind the champions elect, Boyd’s former side have been unable to keep pace with their city rivals. Despite a reasonable record since his arrival to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst, defeats to Ange Postecoglou’s side and Aberdeen this month have widened the deficit at the top of the Premiership and underlined the size of the task facing the Light Blues’ manager.
Defeat in the Viaplay Cup Final was another bitter blow and Boyd is adamant it is going to take strong work in the transfer market to turn the Glasgow tide. Prior to the loss at Pittodrie, Beale suggested that perhaps only Alfredo Morelos and Allan McGregor would be leaving from those who individuals who featured against St Mirren 10 days ago. Victory over Celtic in Sunday’s Hampden return in the Scottish Cup semi-final would naturally offer a big lift to the club, but Boyd isn’t sure it’ll change much in terms of the summer requirements.
He said: “It’s a massive game for both clubs. For obvious reasons. Celtic are looking at it that if they can win this it will be another Treble in the bag.
“And Rangers are looking at it and thinking they need to stop Celtic. There’s no doubt that it doesn’t really change much for me in terms of Rangers going forward.
“It would be great to get your hands on that Scottish Cup, but it’s a massive rebuild, it’s a massive summer of recruitment for Rangers. You look at the players who are out of contract and I think, if you’re going to topple Celtic, you’re going to have to get better quality in certain areas of the pitch.
“When you look at every Old Firm game, if you win it, the mood changes. That’s what it does because it means so much to so many people in their lives.
“Does it change it? It would obviously help, but nothing changes in that it is a massive summer of recruitment for Rangers.”
Boyd continued: “We’ve seen the two players that Beale has been able to bring in so far in Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell and, if you can add bits of quality around them, you could see them going up a level as well. There is no doubt Rangers will be searching the world to try and find players to go in and make a difference because they are going to need three or four at least to, over the course of a season, go with Celtic.
“You would have to say Rangers and Celtic are miles ahead of the rest and, if you do drop points, it is very difficult to claw them back because you can’t see any of the other teams taking points.
“That’s where the improvement has been for Rangers until Sunday. You can look at them and yes they have lost to Celtic, but Rangers under Beale have been really good. But they have just come up against a juggernaut in terms of Celtic that’s been difficult to stop.”
Raskin and Cantwell were Beale’s two captures of the January window and have impressed. Malik Tillman’s loan move from Bayern Munich has been a reasonable success, but an outlay of £5 million is needed to turn that into a permanent deal.
The American has yet to sparkle against Celtic and Boyd says that is key when it comes to any new arrivals at Rangers. He continued: “I know how he feels. I had it myself in terms of you go into the bigger games as such and it didn’t really happen for you.
“When you look at Tillman, he’s definitely someone who, when Rangers are playing really well, he’s playing really well. But, when the going gets tough, you can sometimes be scratching your head and thinking: Where is he?
“There’s no doubt he’s a talented footballer. Whether it’s the way Rangers have been playing, to try and get him on the ball more, or it’s something else. I think when you look at the game (against Aberdeen), Rangers had lots of the ball, but in and around that 18-yard box, somebody just shoot.
“It was like they were trying to walk the ball into the net. Looking at it, that’s the way Tillman plays. It’s finding the best way to get a performance out of him. But at the same time the team is more important and, if he doesn’t fit in the way the team wants to play to get that result, then he might find himself missing out on the bigger games.
“You look at Rangers and Celtic and they are that far ahead of the rest that Sunday at Pittodrie is a pretty freak result, isn’t it?
“In terms of Aberdeen, it’s seven years since they were able to beat Rangers at Pittodrie. They should be ashamed of that themselves, however, they enjoyed their night.
“When you look at Rangers, you would expect them to beat the rest, but what happens every single year is that you are judged on finishing above Celtic, winning cups ahead of Celtic. If you do that, you will get all the plaudits and accolades that come with it. If you don’t, you get the criticism that comes with it and you have to deal with it.
“That’s life of being part of either half of the Old Firm that is not winning. There has been plenty of performances this season where Rangers have had rave reviews and rightly so, but there’s also been performances where they are going to get criticised.”
**Kris Boyd spoke at his annual Charity Golf Day at Turnberry. The Boyd charity raises funds and awareness for mental health.
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