Steven Gerrard has his hands completely tied…

After we brought you the latest transfer news from Ibrox yesterday, as we cited ourselves to near-universal agreement, the names being linked with a move to Govan really don’t sound like the stuff Steven Gerrard needs to launch a credible assault at the title.

A few fans have some hopes for the likes of Greg Stewart and Jake Hastie in our shirts, but frankly we don’t share that enthusiasm.

We discussed in a recent entry how Steven Gerrard’s name had surprisingly failed to manifest itself into a ‘marquee’ signing, a seriously respectable acquisition which would light up the SPL. Well, if the names being linked are anything to go by, not even the rumour mill can muster up a shiny name or two.

While Wigan’s Nick Powell is no slouch, and Greg Stewart has not disgraced himself at Pittodrie by any means, there’s a lack of really frightening incomings being mooted. We know our budget isn’t what it is at Parkhead, and that Celtic do hold a Scottish monopoly on the best players coming into the SPL or switching from their midtable SPL team.

But is Uche Ikpeazu really the kind of striker to take Rangers forward? Sure, he absolutely demolished Joe Worrall last year at Ibrox, but that is hardly a barometer for success, and being stronger than a patchy defender who’s had an up and down season at best is not really enough.

Is there a horrible feeling that these honest, hardworking and honourable players are the best we can do now, and we just can’t attract the calibre of player we’d need to stop the increasingly inevitable 10IAR?

To do that will take something more than Jake Hastie.

It feels right now like Rangers are hoovering up the ‘better’ midtable players, and not even the best ones. And whenever in the past we were linked with the very best ones we simply never got them. Kenny McLean, Scott Allan, Jamie Walker, John McGinn – all of these slipped through our fingers and the one that will always irk is that of Allan.

Meanwhile, sure, Jordan Jones has potential but not much more than Ryan Kent, frankly. Which, we suppose, is no bad thing but he, like the rest of the incoming or potential incoming, just don’t look like they are of the stuff to threaten the monopoly Celtic presently have.

Rangers need to be challenging for the title. This maiden season showed Steven Gerrard has potential but has made many errors too. But no matter how good or bad he is, at the base level he needs the players to take Rangers from the best of the rest to a peer of Celtic.

And we’d have to say John Souttar is unlikely to elevate us to that.