It is the middle of August, Rangers have spent heavily, and Derek McInnes still has no senior left-back and no left winger.
That is the situation surveyed by former Gers midfielder Andy Halliday, as he took aim squarely at the men who built it.
Halliday has blasted Rangers recruitment, criticising the department for presiding over a squad he considers badly imbalanced at this stage of the window, now four competitive games into the season.
Hours after the Europa League exit, his criticism landed on very dry ground.
Rangers’ recruitment has become the story of the summer at Ibrox. Not the manager, not the owners, but the process that has delivered nine new players without delivering a balanced team, or any real hope
With the Light Blues out of Europe’s second tier, drawing and losing their opening two Premiership fixtures, and now facing a Conference League play-off to salvage continental football, the question of who is responsible is an increasing point of contention.
Rangers recruitment. Nine in, still gaps everywhere
The raw numbers are not the problem.
Rangers have signed nine players this summer, BBC Sport Scotland reports, and chairman Andrew Cavenagh said on Monday that he expected “three to five more” while “a number will possibly go out”.
This position was covered by Read Rangers when the chairman’s promise of further Rangers signings first emerged.
The shape of the spending is where Halliday’s complaint bites.
Mohamed Diomande was sold to Turkish club Corum on Wednesday, thinning the midfield the club had spent most of the window stocking. The one signing that would have addressed a glaring problem – quality out wide – fell between Thursday night and Friday morning.
Rangers withdrew from a proposed move for PSV winger Couhaib Driouech, with the truth behind the failed Couhaib Driouech transfer emerging on Friday.
At left-back, the fix is still unconfirmed. Rangers have agreed a loan deal with a buy option for AEK Athens full-back James Penrice, and hopefully there is a positive conclusion to that one.
With the window open until early September, Rangers recruitment has a fortnight to answer Halliday’s charge.
A left winger, a striker and a confirmed left-back is only around half of the business required. Even if those players arrive, doubts remain on the setup they would be joining.
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