Michael Beale will have done all his due diligence.
He’ll have sat down with every new Rangers signing and looked them in the eye – believing they have the mentality to play at Ibrox. He’ll have delved into their backgrounds, trying to get every shred of information. But the truth is, he will only discover if they can really cut it in this league come August 5 at Rugby Park. An away game at Kilmarnock, on a plastic pitch, with a 5.15pm kick-off. And absolutely no room for error.
That’s when Michael and the Rangers fans will get a better idea of players’ characters. Abdallah Sima is the latest addition after joining the club last week on loan from Brighton. And like a few of the new arrivals, there’s an element of the unknown about him. I’ve said before, Michael has earned supporters’ trust with his recruitment so far. So they have to roll with it. But the first four Premiership fixtures will probably tell us everything we need to know. None of the boys Michael has signed have set foot in Scottish football before. So it’ll be sink or swim time – and they have to deal with it.
After opening night in Ayrshire, it’s Livingston at home, a tough team to play against in front of 50,000 fans who will expect you to win. Then it’s a trip to Dingwall, a small stadium in the Highlands – again, a new experience for them. And next up, their first Old Firm fixture at Ibrox against Treble champions Celtic.
Even now, you’re thinking, Rangers MUST have nine points in the bag going into that match. That’s just life here. But these boys won’t have faced it at any stage of their career so far. Going to Kilmarnock will test them right away. Some of these boys will be asking: ‘Why are we playing on Astro in a top league’? Of course, Michael will have explained all of these challenges when signing them.
But how the new players deal with them will determine whether or not they will be good additions. And whether they’re mentally strong enough to win trophies for the club. You’ve got to overcome that if you want to be part of a successful Rangers team. That’s the nature of playing for this club. Where else in the UK do you actually start off under pressure? That’s what they’ve got here.
On arrival, they’re under pressure because Celtic won a Treble last season and Rangers finished empty handed. It’s not a case of: ‘We’re starting a new season, let’s see what it brings’. No. You need to win from the off. In every competition. The lad Sima, for example, has probably never felt that. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t got the right mentality. When I was at Hibs, there wasn’t that type of pressure. But I had it in me.
It’s just that they’ve not lived it yet. When I joined Rangers, I knew my levels had to go up. I wanted to win but to do that, I realised I had to be better. I had to be more disciplined, make more sacrifices. Just because they’ve not experienced it, doesn’t mean it’s not in them or they’re not built for it. But they have to show it.
And probably as early as that game at Rugby Park. They’ll learn quickly what it means to play for Rangers. There is so much at stake and every point dropped is a disaster in Glasgow. Beale has now signed two attacking players in Sima and Sam Lammers. How does anyone know if they’re going to score goals? We don’t, because there’s no real evidence to back it up.
When we re-signed Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock in my day, he was the all-time top Premiership scorer, so it was a no-brainer. You KNEW he’d get goals.
Even now, if you were bringing in Lawrence Shankland from Hearts, you could say quite confidently that he’d score 20 goals. But with guys coming from different leagues, at different stages of their careers, there is more risk.
Sima and Lammers have come off the back of poor seasons at relegated clubs. So you can’t say with any great belief that they’ll hit it off. There are question marks. And only the players themselves can answer them. Scottish boys, like Boyd or Shankland, would also know all about going to Kilmarnock on the opening day. The pressure involved, the necessity to win, how you can’t slip up.
It’s harder to explain that to a 22-year-old from Senegal who was in the French league last season. You can tell him and give him all the information. But until you live it, and you’re standing there before kick-off – or coming off the bench when the score is 1-1 – that’s when it hits you. You’ll only find out about the player’s mindset once he’s actually in the thick of it.
When Michael sat in front of them they’ll have told him they’re hungry and ready for the challenge. But only time will tell if they can handle it or not at Ibrox. You’ve got to live it, deal with it – and impact the club in a positive way, which helps the team be successful. Sima hasn’t made his mark in the UK yet so it’s a signing with potential. And Brighton still hope that potential can be realised back at the parent club. That’s why they haven’t negotiated a deal for Rangers to eventually sign him permanently.
Clearly, they hope it’s a loan move at a massive club, under real pressure to win, that can kickstart him and get him ready to play at Premier League level. That’s a positive for Rangers. If Brighton see Sima as part of their plans moving forward, that’s a good thing for Michael. There are no guarantees. But he’ll definitely know a lot more when that full-time whistle blows at Kilmarnock on August 5.
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