New Rangers transfer priority emerges after what Clement said against St Johnstone
12/02/2024 07:00 AM
Rangers made hard work of the win against St Johnstone with Philippe Clement still struggling to get a proper domestic tune out of his side.
The squad is in better health, however, the manager still has a few obvious issues that he needs to solve ahead of the transfer window opening in January.
A season ending – 4-6 months – injury for Neraysho Kasanwirjo means that Rangers are short of cover at right back and centre half with the problem compounded by an incident at McDiarmid Park.
Rangers centre-half issue becomes January transfer priority
Speaking in his post match press conference, Clement explained the half-time substitution of Robin Propper as he continues to struggle with the Scottish Premiership:
"Yes, he got a knock on his knee in the first-half and he was struggling with that," explained Clement.
"And he’s also sick after the game [on Thursday], so he felt really bad. And Leon is ready, we know. So I was in doubt already to start with Leon or not today. We will make rotation also in those positions, that it won't be the same centre-back every time."
With no Kasanwirjo, Clement is down to three senior central defenders and none of them have ever been able to play 50-60 games a season.
Why centre-half is now an immediate area of concern
Four times now Propper hasn't made it out of the dressing room after half-time.
Centre-halves are supposed to be made of sterner stuff and yet Clement is having to rely on an injury prone 36-year old to bail out the player signed in the summer to be John Souttar's partner.
It is the one position that shouldn't need to be rotated too. Connor Goldson barely missed a game for six seasons, it doesn't make sense why Rangers can't find a consistent pairing and stick with it.
The list of signings needed in January seems to lengthen by the week and a new central defender who isn't a project, isn't a loan signing, and who doesn't have a questionable injury history, must be a priority.
The scary thing is, Clement and Rangers are now relying on John Souttar to be fit for every game, a concept that wouldn’t have been remotely considered even a year ago.
