Rangers’ recent struggles at home have prompted former talisman Kris Boyd to urge the incoming ownership group to bring in more leaders to the squad.
With San Francisco 49ers Enterprises close to finalising a deal to take control of the club, Boyd believes Rangers need five or six strong characters in their dressing room to overcome the fear factor that appears to be gripping the team at Ibrox.
The Light Blues have been in disarray lately, with a series of disappointing results leaving them 16 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
They were also defeated in the League Cup final by their Glasgow rivals, and were shockingly eliminated from the Scottish Cup by second-tier Queen’s Park.
Boyd, speaking to Sky Sports, highlighted the glaring difference between Rangers’ performances at home and away.
Despite improvements on the road, where they have managed to secure vital points including coming from two goals down to defeat Kilmarnock last Wednesday, the Ibrox side has faltered on their own turf, suffering three consecutive home defeats for the first time in well over a decade.
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“I still think five or six leaders on the pitch are needed," said Boyd.
“When you come off the back of big European games or Celtic games, it's the other games or those away from Ibrox where you need your leaders to stand up.
“The worrying thing for Rangers right now is that they seem to have corrected that away form, but at Ibrox, the players look terrified. They're scared to get on the ball and make things happen.”
He went on to explain: “Rangers need to get leaders in that dressing room that not only do things properly every single day at the training ground, but also on the pitch as well.
“It's not all rosy and free flowing football. Sometimes you need to just dig in. This season especially, there has been a lot of games when as soon as things have got tough, a lot of players have been nowhere to be seen. Rangers need to get a few experience leaders on the pitch.”
He said: “In terms of Celtic's dominance, the players they've got and the money they have in the bank, the manager they've got is key to the way they perform.
“When Ange Postecoglou left, people asked where Celtic were going to go. I said at the time that Celtic were getting an upgrade on their manager, and Brendan Rodgers has come in to Scottish football and picked up where he left off the last time. Some of the players have improved, the team's evolved and has more control of games and scoring more goals, causing more problems.
"So Rangers are a long way off them, on and off the field. But it's not like in England where you've got five or six teams you still have to beat after a takeover. Rangers only have Celtic to beat and they've already done that this season. But they need to find consistency against the rest."
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As the takeover edges closer, Boyd expressed cautious optimism about the changes to come.
“I think everyone over the last few weeks has expected that news to come,” he stated.
“When it got to the stage when the news broke a couple of weeks ago and everyone was talking about it, there was an excitement from the Rangers fans, and the expectation of new people coming in and hoping to get Rangers back to the top of Scottish football.”
He added that the 49ers Enterprises, who have overseen the success of Leeds United’s rise to the English Premier League, must instil a long-term vision for Rangers.
He continued: “There’s no doubt when you see the way they’ve done it with Leeds, they are on the verge of being promoted to the Premier League. They will look to kick on again next season.
“There’s a real structure, they’ll need to put a structure in place that allows Rangers not just to flourish short term but also long term as well.”
Boyd concluded by urging the new owners to create stability at Ibrox, something Rangers fans have been craving for years.
“We’ve seen it in recent times where short term Rangers have been able to get a kick or a lift out of a new manager coming in or something new happening around the place, and then it slips back to what it’s been for a number of years now,” he bemoaned.
“So, I think from Rangers fans’ point of view, they’ll be hoping that the new owners can come in, take control, put a proper structure in place that allows the football club to flourish short term and long term on the pitch because, as I said, for a number of years, it’s not been good enough.”
