Steven Gerrard has come to Ibrox with a major job on his hands to catch up with cross-city rivals Celtic dominating Scottish football at present.
In the context of a Brendan Rodgers side who have won successive trebles, Gerrard has a real job on his hands to get his Rangers side to compete with Celtic, and maybe even guide them to a win in a derby.
No mater how tactically innovative Gerrard proves himself to be, there is just, at present, a huge golf in class between Celtic and Rangers. Aberdeen are another club who have good seasons, but cannot bridge the gap that has formed between themselves and Celtic.
Gerrard has made use of the loan market to bring in quality to Rangers, as well as utilising his connections to Liverpool. Whilst Gerrard likely had a good knowledge of the players he wanted to bring, he is probably just getting to grips with the quality of his Rangers squad, and deciding who is and who isn’t a part of his first team plans.
With that in mind, here are two players the Rangers manager has made a mistake by not already moving on…
Lee Hodson is not a player Rangers need.
At most, he adds depth, but they need cover of a better standard than the Englishman. The right-back is solid but unspectacular, he is prone to being beaten by pace and is not the best ball player.
With James Tavernier and Jon Flanagan now at the club, where the need is for Lee Hodson is hard to see when Gerrard has better quality at his disposal.
Valued at £225,000 by Transfermarkt, perhaps it is time Rangers cashed in on the flop. If Hodson has any ambition of first team football, he should move on.
Now Allan McGregor has joined the club, who is a vastly experienced goalkeeper with bags of experience at 36, it is hard to see why Jak Alnwick is still at the club.
The role of third choice keeper should not be bestowed upon a 25-year-old, who surely has ambitions of playing first team football.
Wes Foderingham and Allan McGregor both have far better experience than Alnwick, who has only tasted regular football at Port Vale. Gerrard should sell Alnwick, as he is surplus to requirements and wasting a wage.
