Bain preaches patience as Rangers look to rebuild

RANGERS chief executive Martin Bain has urged fans to be patient as manager Walter Smith prepares to rebuild his squad ahead of the new campaign.

Several players have already parted company with the Scottish champions, meaning a new-look side is set to defend the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title next term.

Nacho Novo and Steven Smith have joined Sporting Gijon and Norwich City respectively, while top goalscorer Kris Boyd has confirmed he will quit Rangers when his contract expires this summer.

Bain is well aware of the importance of filling the void left by key personnel and knows the Ibrox faithful are desperate to see new faces arrive sooner rather than later, after almost two years without buying a new player.

He insists supporters should place their trust in the hands of Smith who, along with his backroom staff of Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall, penned a new deal after weeks of uncertainty.

"Someone often said to me in life that you must always cover your down side," Bain said. "And when we looked at the situation that Walter and his colleagues were going to leave, as they were, the down side from that would have been enormous had they left at the end of the season.

"So it was extremely important that they stayed for another year as they are Rangers men and none of them had the desire to walk away from the club.

"But now the planning starts for the new season and we have already had discussions as to how we will approach it going forward.

"These discussions are never easy at this time as there is an expectation from people as to what our plans are.

"But it's all work in progress and like all transfer windows, things are not finalised until the last few weeks which is not ideal from a planning perspective. And with our squad being the way it is at this moment we need to really push that planning process along.

"Hopefully the fans will know that they have a management team in place that understands the football club and all we can do is ask for their patience because patience can be a great virtue in a transfer window. I am sure that the boys will rebuild wisely because rebuilding is what we have got to do."

Bain was speaking from Las Vegas and the 2010 North American Rangers Supporters Association (NARSA) Convention, where he has been joined chairman Alastair Johnston and Smith. He told www.rangerstv.tv: "I think it's the fact that the fans come from over the world that makes the NARSA Conventions so special. When we were picked up at the airport I think there had been a procession of fans coming in from Singapore to Hong Kong, Honolulu and even Russia.

"So in terms of our overseas supporters it's the pinnacle and the highlight of their season and the fact they can come out to Vegas to celebrate what was achieved last season is fantastic."