It is a question this site posed
only a few weeks ago.
With Mark Warburton’s Rangers
side building nicely, with a glut of new signings making their way to Ibrox,
the one missing cog was a recognised goalscorer. Yes, Wigan Athletic’s Martyn
Waghorn was snatched up in a double deal alongside the Latics’ right-back James
Tavernier, but the man who once cost Leicester
£3M had never been a renowned goal-getter.
And while he has grabbed a couple since his arrival at Ibrox, Waghorn has shown
a lot of profligacy too, and is eminently not the prolific striker Rangers fans
are looking for.
But, and here is the crux of the
argument; in three competitive matches, Rangers have managed twelve goals.
6+3+3 = 12. Without having a proper goalscorer the Ibrox men have still been
something beyond menacing in front of goal.
Here is a list of every
goalscorer:
Andy Halliday, Lee Wallace,
Martyn Waghorn, James Tavernier, Dean Shiels, David Templeton and Kenny Miller.
In other words, goals from all
over the team; from defence, through midfield, all the way up to attack.
And the amusing thing is
Warburton wants more clinical attacking. Despite averaging four goals a game the
manager is far from happy with what he sees as a lack of conviction in the box.
Ironically it is not hard to see
why – 25 shots on Friday, 10 on target, and three goals. It is wasteful. But
the proof of the pudding is the fact that a dozen goals have gone in with the
season barely even begun and it forces the possibility Rangers do not even need
a dedicated finisher.
The contrary argument is that a
consistent striker would lap up those 25 shots and score many more of them than
the three goals attained; but does that even matter?
Yes, it would be nice to score 10
goals every match, but let us be realistic; that is not going to happen!
Nathan Oduwa has been heavily
linked with a loan move north, and there were (false) rumblings that a
significant bid had been made for Wednesday’s Stevie May, plus more that their
rivals United had received a six-figure bid for Jamie Murphy, but the question
now lies as to whether Rangers need a reliable striker in the way perhaps
perceived prior to a ball being kicked in anger.
Next season? Absolutely. For now?
Maybe not as urgently as first thought.