Trial and error: Finding the money for signings is a stumbling block for Rangers

ALLY McCoist declared Murray Park a trialist-free zone on Friday. Given the volume of player traffic in and out of the Rangers training facility over the past month, that situation was an oddity.

Indian players Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua came and went, then there was Dutchman Luigi Bruins and the Bosnian international striker Zlatan Muslimovic, as well as American teenager Jamael. Yet for all the comings and goings, the worrying aspect for the Rangers boss is the paucity of those staying. While the scouring of bargain bins means that quality is limited to begin with, the club’s financial constraints have rendered it impossible to hang on to those who have piqued his interest.

The highly-rated Honduran midfielder Jorge Claros eventually left last week, frustrated when a contract failed to materialise, while Estonian full-back Enar Jaager impressed but also became fed up waiting for owner Craig Whyte to find the money needed to turn talk of a £5,000-a-week deal into a reality. With the clock ticking to the close of the transfer window, there is sympathy not only for McCoist but the players as well.

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“We have seen some new faces, with the trialists,” said summer signing Dorin Goian. “A couple of them had one or two training sessions with us, but it is not a problem for us, to be honest we don’t think who will leave or who will come. We only think about training and preparing for games.”

But he says the situation is far from ideal for the club and the trialists when targets are given such a limited time to impress.

“It’s hard for them because it’s not easy for a player to sometimes travel far by plane and after those flights come here to train and do their best. There are many players staying here only one or two days. In that short time it’s impossible to show something, especially if you are tired maybe.

“For these players who come it’s difficult. It’s better if you go to a trial to stay at least one week and make some friends. It’s much easier also then for the manager to decide.”

Goian is speaking from experience, having struggled to make an impression in his one and only loan spell. “Yeah, at the beginning [of his career, in 2004]. I remember I was playing for Bacau and I went on a trial to Guingamp in France. I stayed with them for two weeks. To be honest, my French [wasn’t good]. It was difficult because I was staying alone in my [hotel] room, speaking with nobody. This is life.

“I didn’t sign in the end, but maybe it was better because six months later I joined Steaua Bucharest and the rest is history. Maybe I wouldn’t be here at Rangers.”

Guingamp’s loss was Steaua Bucharest’s gain and that is what worries McCoist now. With the likes of Claros and Jaager looking like they may slip from his grasp, he now has to try to quickly offload failed summer signings Juanma Ortiz and Alejandro Bedoya in a bid to free up wages or identify even cheaper targets who can pass muster on the pitch as well as gain the approval of Whyte when it comes to balancing the books.

Yet with every hour that passes, the risks to McCoist’s reputation grow. Already being asked to justify his signing record due to the inability of Ortiz, Bedoya and Matt McKay to supply the required attacking threat, he says there have been successes, with the likes of Goian, Carlos Bocanegra and Lee Wallace all making a regular contribution.

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“I think we brought in seven players. I would hazard a guess that everyone in this room – maybe you are more optimistic than me – but you wouldn’t think I’d be signing seven players to go into my team. You maybe sign them hoping that four get into your team.

“We could sit here and give each other 20 players over the last two years who have come to the Old Firm and it hasn’t worked out. That’s life, that’s the territory. I keep saying, the Old Firm is a hard place to play. There’s a graveyard out there with gravestones of hundreds and hundreds of players who have not been able to play at the Old Firm. And it will get bigger. I’m realistic enough to know that every signing won’t be a success.”

But with every penny a prisoner and the club’s future still unsure, he admits there is less room for manoeuvre these days.

“The stakes are higher because of a) the finances and b) the [squad] numbers. I think that goes without saying. I just think if you can keep your head above the water with signings and have more positive ones than negative ones then you’ll do all right. I know the risks you take and the gamble you take when you bring singings in. I think in all honesty I have to be happy with the signings that have come in.

“And I can assure every Rangers fan I will not bring any player to this club that I don’t think can play in the team or certainly benefit the squad.”

This time last year, the gamble was on El Hadji Diouf. And McCoist insists the impact of the January signings had a huge bearing in Rangers winning the title.

“Absolutely massive. It might sound crazy because they didn’t play an awful lot but I just think the influence they had was massive. I thought it we did some great business there. I’m not saying we wouldn’t have won the title but it really, really helped us.

“[Diouf] was a terrific signing. He came in like a whirlwind, a tornado and I don’t think he has stopped spinning yet. It was a great experience.”

Come Wednesday morning, when McCoist sits down to assess the worth of this month’s dealings, he will be relieved if he can say the same thing.