With the ridiculous embargo now
lifted and all new signings fully registered, Rangers manager Ally McCoist has
a significant dilemma. That dilemma’s name is Lee McCulloch.
McCulloch, or “Jig” as
he is better known, is club captain and has been at Ibrox for well over 6
years. A flexible utility player, Jig has occupied just about every slot in the
first team at one point or another in his time in Govan, and no fan would deny
the man has been a pretty good servant overall for the club.
However, while he may be club
captain, it is a strong argument that he is no longer the player he once was. Aged
35, it is pretty obvious that he is the elder statesman of the team, and while
he is certainly a role model for younger players, the debate fans have is
whether he should still be in the first XI.
His versatility certainly proved
useful during the transfer ban, for while the club had signed many good
players, it was merely allowed to register those signed from other Scottish
clubs as trialists and could play them in 3 matches each. Players signed from
clubs outside Scotland
could not be registered as trialists and were prohibited from putting on the
jersey in any context.
Ultimately this meant prior to
the 1st of September the only new signings that were able to feature were Nicky
Law, Jon Daly, Cammy Bell and Nicky Clark. The latter two only played once,
while the former two were able to play the full 3 matches.
In short this left the first team
requiring most of the squad from last year, and McCulloch certainly came in
handy. Debate raged over him or Cribari, or him or Faure (who has had a fine
start to 2013/2014) but either way Jig featured in every match bar a solitary
suspension for the visit of Brechin at Ibrox.
However, his presence in the team
is remaining a huge area of contention for the majority of supporters. While as
a man McCulloch is tremendously popular among the fanbase, even his most ardent
admirers are not entirely convinced he is the best selection choice for any
position.
This season he has mostly
featured in defence, and while the team has barely been tested in that area,
young Frenchman Faure and new signing Bilel Mohsni appear to be the favoured
pairing at the back in the eyes of fans given Faure’s sparkling start to this
competitive campaign and Mohsni’s excellent showings in pre-season. With Kyle
McCausland also in rare form at right back defensively and left back sown up by
Lee Wallace (with Foster and Smith also on the books) it seems the rearguard’s
armoury is pretty rigid.
So the continued selection of
McCulloch there would be a very curious decision given unlike aforementioned 6
players it is not his favoured position.
So, then we move to midfield.
McCulloch has never been much more than a stop-gap in the centre, and now Black
has hit form alongside Law and MacLeod, with Honduran international Arnold
Peralta ready to hit the ground running central midfield is clearly well
endowed.
McCulloch is well-known as a
winger during certain spells of his career, but Rangers have Barrie McKay,
David Templeton, Fraser Aird and arguably Crawford and Shiels. Again, the wide
berths are not a position requiring emergency utility.
Finally we have McCulloch’s
arguably most natural position. Up front. He scored a hat-trick in the
demolition of East Fife and was named MOTM but
Rangers also have last season’s top scorer Andy Little, the increasingly
impressive Jon Daly, 40 goals for QotS man Nicky Clark and aforementioned
Shiels.
Is there any place for McCulloch
ahead of these younger models?
Lee McCulloch is club captain. He
is also on a very handsome wage, and given his elder years by football’s
standards that wage is a big drain on Rangers’ resources.
Does who he is give McCulloch
immunity to ever being dropped? With the bright new captures Rangers have made
this summer is there a slot still waiting with Jig’s name on it regardless of
his form? Based on the East Fife result the
man can still score, but is he the player fans want up front or are preferences
with the likes of Clark and Daly?
If, however, he returns to
defence in the next match V Arbroath at Ibrox it does beg the question of why
McCoist signed Mohsni. While the fans wanted the big Tunisian signed up, it was
presumably on the basis McCoist would select him.
It remains a conundrum and McCoist’s
selections this season with a full squad to choose from will make for
fascinating viewing.