In among all the gushing praise (and that is just this site!) fans have been lavishing upon Mark Warburton and his Rangers Revolution, a small fact has barely been mentioned.
It is one of the most critical aspects of Warburton’s signing policy, and a key component of the ‘communication’ Warburton espouses with such extreme importance as to the fortunes of the Club:
His entire squad is British.
With the exception of German-born American midfielder Gedion Zelalem (and Brits have never truly seen Americans as ‘foreign’ in the way continental Europeans are), every single member of Mark Warburton’s tight-knit group is either Northern Irish, Scottish or English.
This is not anti-European continental xenophobia, far from it: in order to hit the ground running, Warburton evidently decided to make all new additions home-based, to allow more seamless integration and the lack of need to learn a new language and culture.
The core of Rangers’ first team is English and Scottish – the entire defence is English or Scottish, as with attack. The only exception, as mentioned, is our good friend from over the pond in Zelalem, whose English is completely impeccable – not surprising as he has lived in USA since he was 8.
Presumably next season (assuming promotion) Warburton may dabble in some slightly ‘pricier’ models from over the channel and beyond, with the core group already being fully blended and gelled – but for now his entire squad is British.
This hugely accounts for successful communication on the pitch, and the evident understanding players are cultivating with each other.
And the results justify this decision.