MARK WARBURTON admits it’s proving nearly impossible to recruit a quality centre-half.
The Rangers boss has called for a touch of realism among supporters calling for his team’s defence to be strengthened.
Clint Hill started in central defence for the Light Blues yesterday, but signing a 37-year-old free transfer man hasn’t been universally popular.
Warburton said: “Someone stopped me in the street the other day to say they wanted to see us sign a 6ft 4in centre half, who could read the game, could head the ball, was technically sound, and could spray passes everywhere.
“I said ‘give us £25m and we’ll go and buy one’.
“There’s a reason that type of player is in the English Premier League earning 150 grand a week.
“So we won’t go out to get a player who just replicates what we’ve got and won’t give us anything new.
“Players that meet the remit we’ve set down are not easy to get hold of.”
However, Warburton is delighted to have secured promising young players from down south – even if they don’t stay for too long.
Joe Dodoo, Jordan Rossiter, Matt Crooks and Josh Windass have been persuaded to further their careers with Rangers.
Warburton accepts that some of the players will be using a stint in Scotland as a stepping stone to the English Premier League.
He went on: “Our job is to create value for the club.
“The board need to look at the balance sheet and our job is to make sure things are in a healthy financial position.
“We do that by recruiting well and by developing players well.”
Warburton is set to shuffle the pack when his men face Peterhead in the League Cup in Tuesday night.
He said: “We won’t make wholesale changes but we’ll use the squad.
“We won’t view it, though, as a weakened side.
“We’ve got options, especially in midfield. We’ve almost got two players for every position now.
“And a guy like Lee Hodson is a great acquisition.
“We’ve seen by the way he trains that he’s so steady.
“As an old Spurs fan, he reminds me of a Steve Perryman type.”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe