Kris Boyd has pinpointed the key issue facing Philippe Clement and Rangers this season: the Belgian manager doesn’t yet know his best team.
Despite strengthening the squad with nine new signings over the summer, Clement has been unable to establish a settled starting XI due to injuries, suspensions, and underwhelming performances.
Rangers’ start to the season has been far from ideal. After seven league matches, they trail Celtic by five points at the top of the Premiership.
To compound matters, their Europa League campaign has taken a hit. After a promising 2-0 away win at Lyon on matchday one, they were dealt a heavy blow at Ibrox, losing 4-1 in the return fixture, leaving their European hopes in jeopardy.
Boyd, a former Rangers striker, believes the club’s recruitment policy in recent years has been more focused on quantity than quality, and this is once again proving to be a stumbling block.
Speaking on The Warm-Up, William Hill SPFL’s weekly preview show, Boyd said: “Listen, it’s hard for me to sit here and say, in terms of it’s a project, I don’t think Rangers Football Club should ever be a project.
“There were a lot of changes over the summer. This has been one of Rangers’ problems for a number of years now. I don’t think that the recruitment policy, the players that have been brought in, have improved the eleven as such.
“We’re now in October, I couldn’t name Rangers’ best eleven right now, and I don’t think Philippe Clement can either, hence the reason he’s changing players every week.”
In addition to assessing Rangers’ problems, Boyd reluctantly praised Celtic winger Nicolas Kuhn as the standout player of the season so far.
The German winger, who initially struggled to make an impact after his £3million transfer from Rapid Vienna in January, has found his stride this season, contributing six goals and eight assists in 11 appearances across all competitions.
Boyd added: “He might have started a bit slowly (last season), but there were still glimpses there where you thought to yourself, there might be something there. It was just putting it all together, but I mean this season I think he’s been outstanding.”
Rangers will need to resolve their ongoing issues quickly if they are to mount a serious challenge both domestically and in Europe this season.