Mark Allen brought some invaluable signings to Rangers during his time at Ibrox but he also made some big blunders.
For every Steven Davis and Allan McGregor, there has been a Kyle Lafferty and Eros Grezda.
However, there have also been mistakes in failing to land potential targets – one of which is now more prevalent than ever. Last summer, Steven Gerrard came close to a reunion with Martin Skrtel.
The 6 foot 3 brute of a defender played with Gerrard for Liverpool but the Gers failed to get a deal over the line.
The 104 cap centre-back revealed that his agent had been in talks with Rangers as the Glaswegian outfit attempted to tie down a man who was previously on £60k a week at Atalanta.
Speaking last summer, he told Slovakian media (via The Daily Record): “My agent made interviews with Basaksehir, Fenerbahce, Parma, Olympiacos and Glasgow Rangers. But I can’t say anything more for now.”
However, it was Istanbul Baseksehir that he joined as Allen failed to convince him to come to Scotland.
What’s progressed at Rangers in recent weeks, however, determines that it may have been a mistake to not push harder and bring him to the Light Blues.
Rangers’ defence has been far from stable in recent matches, conceding two in the first half of their Europa League tie with Braga at home, but a catalogue of errors have followed since. Whether it was James Tavernier against Hearts or Connor Goldson versus Hamilton, individual mistakes have cost Gerrard’s men dearly.
They lost both of those games but Nikola Katic against St Johnstone and George Edmundson in Tynecastle have also been guilty this season.
Tweeting on Wednesday evening, journalist Jordan Campbell noted the following: “It is difficult to explain how good players can make such glaring errors.”
Indeed it is rather baffling, especially when you consider someone like Goldson has been linked to Leeds and Fulham in England’s Championship.
How Rangers could do with a player like Skrtel, a man possessing a great deal of experience throughout the game. Now aged 35, the big Slovak even won Liverpool’s Player of the Year in 2012.
Gerrard knows him well too. After all, no player has played more games alongside Skrtel in his entire career than the current Rangers boss – 215 matches and 16,983 minutes of football.
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If any manager could get the best out of him it would surely be the former Liverpool midfielder. His ex-teammate has a pass success rate north of 89% this term, bringing an element of calmness to Baseksehir that Rangers could do with.
Furthermore, he’s dribbled past just 0.3 times per outing in the Turkish Super Lig. Unlike players like Goldson and Tavernier, he is no pushover. Rangers’ backline may have been better off with Skrtel among it.
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