Current Squad and Likely Outgoings

ecossebear

Well-Known Member
So I have been looking through the squad to see quite the extent of the rebuild we have and it was quite eye opening! Including the 4 boys out on loan we have 37 players in our squad!! Even at 31 thats half a dozen too many. Of that 35 its as good as guaranteed that 10 of these will be gone (OOC or end of loan). A further 13 of these are players I would say absolutely need to go! Of the remaining 13 there are 8 of those players I would be open to offers for as they are just not good enough for where we want to be, are injury prone or we could cash in on. Taking that aside there are only 6 players I can say I would definitely keep. One of them is our goalie who I think will be gone, one is Sterling who can't stay fit and one is McAusland who should only ever be a squad player!

So yes maybe I need to be more circumspect in terms of players who I would sell if this were football manager and a big bid came in for Butland I'd have a squad of McCrorie, Sterling, Diamonde, Danilo and McAusland o_O

Goalkeepers
  • Jack Butland - Keep but will probaby be sold.
  • Robby McCrorie - Keep
  • Jon McLaughlin - Gone
Defenders
  • James Tavernier - Sell!
  • Connor Goldson - Sell!
  • Ben Davies - Sell!
  • John Souttar - Listen to offers
  • Leon King - Listen to offers
  • Leon Balogun - Likely Gone (should be)
  • Ridvan Yilmaz - Listen to offers (injury prone)
  • Borna Barisic - Gone
  • Dujon Sterling - Keep
  • Robbie Fraser - Keep but if not good enough now to replace Borna it says he’s not good enough.
Midfielders
  • John Lundstram - Gone
  • Ryan Jack - Gone
  • Todd Cantwell - Listen to offers
  • Nicolas Raskin - Listen to offers
  • Mohamed Diomandé - Probably only guarantee to be here
  • Kieran Dowell - Sell
  • Cole McKinnon - Loan out
  • Bailey Rice - Loan out
  • Alex Lowry - Sell
  • Oscar Cortes - Gone
  • Scott Wright - Sell!!
Forwards
  • Fábio Silva - Gone
  • Cyriel Dessers - Listen to offers
  • Tom Lawrence - Sell!!
  • Rabbi Matondo - Sell!
  • Ross McCausland - Keep (Squad player)
  • Zak Lovelace - Gone
  • Sima - Gone (because we can’t afford him!)
  • Kemar Roofe - Gone
  • Danilo - Keep

Loans
  • Kieran Wright - Gone
  • Sam Lammers - Sell!
  • Ianis Hagi - Listen to offers
  • Jose Cifuentes - Sell!
*edited to add players forgot about!
 
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I agree with everything you have said ,although I think Cortes will stay .as well as Danilo.
Jeez I forgot Danilo! Thats 36 players we have o_O, and definitely I want to see what the guy has over a full season.

I thought Cortes was confirmed he was going or was that just Silva? I would take him for another year on loan and see how he is recovering from injury. I wouldnt be risking spending money for him after such a bad injury though.
 
So I have been looking through the squad to see quite the extent of the rebuild we have and it was quite eye opening! Including the 4 boys out on loan we have 35 players in our squad!! Even at 31 thats half a dozen too many. Of that 35 its as good as guaranteed that 10 of these will be gone (OOC or end of loan). A further 12 of these are players I would say absolutely need to go! Of the remaining 13 there are 8 of those players I would be open to offers for as they are just not good enough for where we want to be, are injury prone or we could cash in on. Taking that aside there are only 5 players I can say I would definitely keep. One of them is our goalie who I think will be gone, one is Sterling who can't stay fit and one is McAusland who should only ever be a squad player!

So yes maybe I need to be more circumspect in terms of players who I would sell if this were football manager and a big bid came in for Butland I'd have a squad of McCrorie, Sterling, Diamonde and McAusland o_O

Goalkeepers
  • Jack Butland - Keep but will probaby be sold.
  • Robby McCrorie - Keep
  • Jon McLaughlin - Gone
Defenders
  • James Tavernier - Sell!
  • Connor Goldson - Sell!
  • Ben Davies - Sell!
  • John Souttar - Listen to offers
  • Leon King - Listen to offers
  • Leon Balogun - Likely Gone (should be)
  • Ridvan Yilmaz - Listen to offers (injury prone)
  • Borna Barisic - Gone
  • Dujon Sterling - Keep
  • Robbie Fraser - Keep but if not good enough now to replace Borna it says he’s not good enough.
Midfielders
  • John Lundstram - Gone
  • Ryan Jack - Gone
  • Todd Cantwell - Listen to offers
  • Nicolas Raskin - Listen to offers
  • Mohamed Diomandé - Probably only guarantee to be here
  • Kieran Dowell - Sell
  • Cole McKinnon - Loan out
  • Bailey Rice - Loan out
  • Alex Lowry - Sell
  • Oscar Cortes - Gone
Forwards
  • Fábio Silva - Gone
  • Cyriel Dessers - Listen to offers
  • Tom Lawrence - Sell!!
  • Rabbi Matondo - Sell!
  • Ross McCausland - Keep (Squad player)
  • Zak Lovelace - Gone
  • Sima - Gone (because we can’t afford him!)
  • Kemar Roofe - Gone

Loans
  • Kieran Wright - Gone
  • Sam Lammers - Sell!
  • Ianis Hagi - Listen to offers
  • Jose Cifuentes - Sell!
Scott Wright?
 
Correct on all counts.

I'd keep Cortes if we can get another loan, and I think I'd try to get Sima if we can make that deal work.

Big job on.
I'd love us to get Sima, and if we had more than a handful of players who should be at the club I'd be pulling out all the stops and spending up to £8-9m on him. But sadly between that and Diamonde that's probably our entire transfer budget on one player. Brighton will not want to loan him again and lose him for nothing next year when they can cash in on him in the summer. Although if he's still there towards the end of the transfer window and hasnt signed a new contract then maybe we could sneak in on another loan?
 
I'd love us to get Sima, and if we had more than a handful of players who should be at the club I'd be pulling out all the stops and spending up to £8-9m on him. But sadly between that and Diamonde that's probably our entire transfer budget on one player. Brighton will not want to loan him again and lose him for nothing next year when they can cash in on him in the summer. Although if he's still there towards the end of the transfer window and hasnt signed a new contract then maybe we could sneak in on another loan?

I think I've got a different viewpoint on Simas value than most other folk.

He's had a couple of failed / mediocre loans before us. At us he was impressive but it's the Scottish league. He also got a bad injury so missed a lot of games. He hasn't played a minute for them since signing.

I'm not sure that a good 6 months in Scotland should see Brighton in a position to make money on him.

I think I'd offer them what they paid and see where the chips fall.
 
I think I've got a different viewpoint on Simas value than most other folk.

He's had a couple of failed / mediocre loans before us. At us he was impressive but it's the Scottish league. He also got a bad injury so missed a lot of games. He hasn't played a minute for them since signing.

I'm not sure that a good 6 months in Scotland should see Brighton in a position to make money on him.

I think I'd offer them what they paid and see where the chips fall.
If we can him for a couple of million I’d be delighted. I think he offers a lot and could really thrive up here and go for big money in a few seasons like Aribo did. I just have reservations that a) Brighton don’t need the money and b) he’s an international player so even if he doesn’t go to a big league, the likes of Saudi could offer more than we will.
 
We need to face reality.

We will be costcutting while they throw serious money around.

We really had to win the title this year.

Its been an utter shambles to the end of the season.
I said exactly the same in an earlier thread. It was always a huge rebuilding exercise after the mess Beale left us in. That we were still in with a mathematical chance 4 nights before the end of the season is testament to the manager. We have players that give their all but are just clearly not good enough for us, and who we’ve spent far too much money on!


As a fanbase we have also got to be patient. The scum will start next season with a £50m head start and be overwhelming favourites for the treble. As much as we want to be staunch and demand only silverware. I would much rather sacrifice immediate success if I can see us building the foundations for the next ten years. Whatever we do we cannot have another episode like the Beale chapter.
 
So I have been looking through the squad to see quite the extent of the rebuild we have and it was quite eye opening! Including the 4 boys out on loan we have 37 players in our squad!! Even at 31 thats half a dozen too many. Of that 35 its as good as guaranteed that 10 of these will be gone (OOC or end of loan). A further 13 of these are players I would say absolutely need to go! Of the remaining 13 there are 8 of those players I would be open to offers for as they are just not good enough for where we want to be, are injury prone or we could cash in on. Taking that aside there are only 6 players I can say I would definitely keep. One of them is our goalie who I think will be gone, one is Sterling who can't stay fit and one is McAusland who should only ever be a squad player!

So yes maybe I need to be more circumspect in terms of players who I would sell if this were football manager and a big bid came in for Butland I'd have a squad of McCrorie, Sterling, Diamonde, Danilo and McAusland o_O

Goalkeepers
  • Jack Butland - Keep but will probaby be sold.
  • Robby McCrorie - Keep
  • Jon McLaughlin - Gone
Defenders
  • James Tavernier - Sell!
  • Connor Goldson - Sell!
  • Ben Davies - Sell!
  • John Souttar - Listen to offers
  • Leon King - Listen to offers
  • Leon Balogun - Likely Gone (should be)
  • Ridvan Yilmaz - Listen to offers (injury prone)
  • Borna Barisic - Gone
  • Dujon Sterling - Keep
  • Robbie Fraser - Keep but if not good enough now to replace Borna it says he’s not good enough.
Midfielders
  • John Lundstram - Gone
  • Ryan Jack - Gone
  • Todd Cantwell - Listen to offers
  • Nicolas Raskin - Listen to offers
  • Mohamed Diomandé - Probably only guarantee to be here
  • Kieran Dowell - Sell
  • Cole McKinnon - Loan out
  • Bailey Rice - Loan out
  • Alex Lowry - Sell
  • Oscar Cortes - Gone
  • Scott Wright - Sell!!
Forwards
  • Fábio Silva - Gone
  • Cyriel Dessers - Listen to offers
  • Tom Lawrence - Sell!!
  • Rabbi Matondo - Sell!
  • Ross McCausland - Keep (Squad player)
  • Zak Lovelace - Gone
  • Sima - Gone (because we can’t afford him!)
  • Kemar Roofe - Gone
  • Danilo - Keep

Loans
  • Kieran Wright - Gone
  • Sam Lammers - Sell!
  • Ianis Hagi - Listen to offers
  • Jose Cifuentes - Sell!
*edited to add players forgot about!
Wow that is some post..
While I would not disagree with most of your players to be booted out.
How to we the money to replace a full squad
 
Wow that is some post..
While I would not disagree with most of your players to be booted out.
How to we the money to replace a full squad
It’s scary and daunting. I think that’s more players out than we had in 2012 (if all the definite and should be definite leave). I had been arguing we could get by on half a dozen really quality additions but when I wrote that list down it was quite sobering! If an Arab country came in with a £bn transfer kitty it would be a huge ask to have such a turnaround and be successful. With a shoestring budget it’s horrifying!
 
Wow that is some post..
While I would not disagree with most of your players to be booted out.
How to we the money to replace a full squad
From players sales, like everybody else has to.

Realistically, with the size of the job the rebuild is, it'll take 3 transfers windows between now and the start of 25/26 to get it done if all goes well in recruitment.

Butland, Ridvan and Lammers should generate decent money, but obviously not for the size of the task we have ahead of us.

Years of mismanagement have left us in this state.
 
Just now yes. Ask me again after the first few friendlies and I’ll have shifted 180 to thinking we’re winning the quadruple :))
The scale of changes you are talking about will probably see us sacking the manager in October again. Our fans don’t have patience or understanding to incorporate that volume of players settling in.

It has to happen over a period of 2 or 3 transfer windows.
 
We need to face reality.

We will be costcutting while they throw serious money around.

We really had to win the title this year.

Its been an utter shambles to the end of the season.


We need to get our recruitment bang on and hope they don’t.

That’s what it comes down to. Extra money spent only leads to benefit if it’s spent correctly.
 
The scale of changes you are talking about will probably see us sacking the manager in October again. Our fans don’t have patience or understanding to incorporate that volume of players settling in.

It has to happen over a period of 2 or 3 transfer windows.
We need to absolutely priorities 6 quality new players that cost a bit and that we can expect 5/6 to be a success, particularly the two central defenders.

If we started the season with this team and the 4 starters were Butland level, would this be good enough?


Butland

RB* New New Yilmaz
New Diamande Cantwell*(or Sterling)
New Dessers Matondo

McRorie, Souttar, Raskin, Cantwell*, Fraser, Danilo, McAusland New Striker New Midfielder

Note *depicts your own personal choice for RB and whether that means Sterling or Cantwell in midfield. So there is absolutely no need for any Tav bashing or worshipping haha
 
if we can find buyers for

Tav
Goldson
Lawrence
Lammers
Cifu
Hagi
Davies
Dowell
Wright

Surely that got to bring in £10M to £15M ?
That coupled with the wage savings from

Roofe
Borna
Lundstram
Jack
McLaughlin
Balogun

That’s a good starting budget surely?

Still a huge turnover but we need to lose the 15 or so above and replace with 8 max
 
Whether Tav and/or Yilmaz stay, I’d be keeping Fraser and Devine. They cost us nothing in fees and wages (relatively), and both would be adequate back-ups to a first-choice fullback. Absolutely no point wasting what little cash we will have on two more fullbacks to sit on the bench most weeks.
 
We need to absolutely priorities 6 quality new players that cost a bit and that we can expect 5/6 to be a success, particularly the two central defenders.

If we started the season with this team and the 4 starters were Butland level, would this be good enough?


Butland

RB* New New Yilmaz
New Diamande Cantwell*(or Sterling)
New Dessers Matondo

McRorie, Souttar, Raskin, Cantwell*, Fraser, Danilo, McAusland New Striker New Midfielder

Note *depicts your own personal choice for RB and whether that means Sterling or Cantwell in midfield. So there is absolutely no need for any Tav bashing or worshipping haha
I think pretty much - I’d say a new CB, CM, RW and CF personally.
 
We need to absolutely priorities 6 quality new players that cost a bit and that we can expect 5/6 to be a success, particularly the two central defenders.

If we started the season with this team and the 4 starters were Butland level, would this be good enough?


Butland

RB* New New Yilmaz
New Diamande Cantwell*(or Sterling)
New Dessers Matondo

McRorie, Souttar, Raskin, Cantwell*, Fraser, Danilo, McAusland New Striker New Midfielder

Note *depicts your own personal choice for RB and whether that means Sterling or Cantwell in midfield. So there is absolutely no need for any Tav bashing or worshipping haha
If we go into next season with Dessers up top and relying on Matondo out wide, we’re as well not bothering.
 
Realistically I think we should punt Butland, Hagi, Matondo and Lammers for a start. Might not be popular but Butland is going to command big money which could help us rebuild.

People are scunnered with them but unless Saudi offer big money, Tav and Goldson will be here and rightly so. I can never get my head around the criticism. Two players who have been available for 99% of Rangers games in their careers, who still contribute, get more criticism than anyone else.

I think if we keep Ridvan and Sterling and they can both stay fit, we could be looking at Bassey type money (for Sterling).
 
I think pretty much - I’d say a new CB, CM, RW and CF personally.
Unless we get a Davie Weir in there I don’t think 1 CB is enough. Goldson should be let go while he’s on a relative high - he’s been a mainstay so many years and a likeable guy but his mistakes are creeping in more and more and his body is stating to fail him. Even if we kept him we can’t be sure he’d be good enough. Balogun is another who we can’t rely on because of injuries and Souttar completes the set. So if I have to pick one out of the three injury prone players who struggle at set pieces and have the occasional brain fart more often them we’d like then I’d I’ve Souttar. King is worth having around as back up but probably won’t ever be the level we need him to be. Davies just hasn’t fitted in and decent enough player but will be no more than a squad player. So we keep one of the injury prone players as back up so we can have a solid new CB pairing starting every game (none of the rotation that derailed SG’s first season!). CM RF are an absolute must so the only really change in our priorities is I’d sacrifice the forward for the defender. CF is then the 5 priority who can be cheaper, younger or ideally free
 
If we go into next season with Dessers up top and relying on Matondo out wide, we’re as well not bothering.

I have absolutely no idea why folk seem to think Matondo should be playing for us. Is it genuinely off the back of the goals against Celtic and Hibs?

He's been here for 2 years and has been injured as often as not and maybe turned in 3 or 4 good performances in that entire time.

Despite that he's one that folk regularly want to keep. It's really weird.
 
You’re absolutely off your head if you think we’re signing 25 players.

Probably better to do this rationally, and pick 8-10 that will go - because we’re not bringing in more than that in one go.
I listed them and against them I put will go and should go. In terms of who I think will certainly go:

Almost Certainly Gone
Jon McLaughlin - ooc
Leon Balogun -ooc
Borna Barisic - ooc
John Lundstram - ooc
Ryan Jack - ooc
Kieran Dowell - can see contract ripped up
Cole McKinnon - Loan
Bailey Rice - Loan or move elsewhere (supposeduly unhappy here and regrets his move)
Alex Lowry - Rumoured to be off, hasnt cut it anywhere
Oscar Cortes - Injury will stop us risking either permanent fee or loan fee IMO
Fábio Silva - We've confirmed he's off
Scott Wright - tried to offload him last season, will be easier to deal with last year of contract.
Zak Lovelace - ooc
Sima - Doubt we can afford
Kemar Roofe - ooc
Kieran Wright - ooc
Sam Lammers - almost certainly sold after his performance in Holland
Jose Cifuentes - almost certainly wont play another game for us


Large Chance Will Go (>50/50)
Butland - money will be too much
Leon King (loan)
Ianis Hagi - doesnt seem to have a place in the team
Todd Cantwell - seems a personality clash with the manager


So the realistic option is even worse! We have 23 players leaving including those we want to keep. We have pretty much had to keep 5 of the 8 from the backline this season, starting Tav and Goldson and relying on Matondo and Lawrence contributing!
 
You’re absolutely off your head if you think we’re signing 25 players.

Probably better to do this rationally, and pick 8-10 that will go - because we’re not bringing in more than that in one go.
Also note I never said we would bring in 25 players, I said I could see us moving on 25 players. Then circa 10 players in. We don't (or shouldnt!!) need a team of 37 players and so many of the guys leaving have contributed next to nothing all season.
 
You’re absolutely off your head if you think we’re signing 25 players.

Probably better to do this rationally, and pick 8-10 that will go - because we’re not bringing in more than that in one go.

Which is why I find it mental when people suggest the likes of Tav and Goldson should be first out.

Whether we like it or not, they're under contract and both do contribute. Granted it hasn't been Goldson's best season but bare in mind he didn't have a pre season.
 
Which is why I find it mental when people suggest the likes of Tav and Goldson should be first out.

Whether we like it or not, they're under contract and both do contribute. Granted it hasn't been Goldson's best season but bear in mind he didn't have a pre season.
The club needs a cultural change on every level, moreso than a tactical or leadership change, and you’re on here touting for Goldson and Tav to be the right hand side of our defence going into 2025?! :D

Clement won’t make Halloween if they two are still here - and rightly so.

And by all means, bookmark that.
 
Everyone in that squad should be available for transfer. The only ones that in my opinion are guaranteed to be here next season are Dujon and Diomande.

I think we should prioritise selling Hagi, Lammers, Yilmaz and Dessers. I believe we could get an average of 3m each for these.

Cantwell and Raskin are weird ones. Both good players but a poor attitude in one and inconsistency in the other. Both solvable issues, though I wouldn’t be too bothered seeing them go provided the fee was acceptable.

We will struggle to move on Lawrence, Davies, Matondo and Dowell. Poor players on huge wages.

Butland is our biggest asset at the moment and whilst I’d hate to lose him, we’re not in a position to be knocking back decent bids. Ideally we front load and go for the qualification gamble on the UCL, with his exit being a fallback.

Goes without saying that Tavernier and Goldson should be moved on. Fee isn’t all that important as saving the fortune they claim in wages is sufficient in itself, not to mention they’re finished at Rangers for many.

Make no mistake, this must be a ruthless summer and not another half baked rebuild like the last 2 years. Koppen HAS to get it spot on and him and the manager MUST be backed.
 
It only takes one window. Look at the poets in 2021, they were in free fall and we fancied ourselves for the next 2 years at least. They then signed Abada, Furuhashi, Juranovic, Giakoumakis and Starfelt in the summer for £20m. Vickers and Jota on loan as well as Hatate and Oriley for £3m in January.

They lucked out with an incredible hit rate albeit, but if the board and Koppen do their jobs this summer then why can’t we?
 
Everyone in that squad should be available for transfer. The only ones that in my opinion are guaranteed to be here next season are Dujon and Diomande.

I think we should prioritise selling Hagi, Lammers, Yilmaz and Dessers. I believe we could get an average of 3m each for these.

Cantwell and Raskin are weird ones. Both good players but a poor attitude in one and inconsistency in the other. Both solvable issues, though I wouldn’t be too bothered seeing them go provided the fee was acceptable.

We will struggle to move on Lawrence, Davies, Matondo and Dowell. Poor players on huge wages.

Butland is our biggest asset at the moment and whilst I’d hate to lose him, we’re not in a position to be knocking back decent bids. Ideally we front load and go for the qualification gamble on the UCL, with his exit being a fallback.

Goes without saying that Tavernier and Goldson should be moved on. Fee isn’t all that important as saving the fortune they claim in wages is sufficient in itself, not to mention they’re finished at Rangers for many.

Make no mistake, this must be a ruthless summer and not another half baked rebuild like the last 2 years. Koppen HAS to get it spot on and him and the manager MUST be backed.
I agree with 100% of what you say here. I said 25 out from a squad of 37!! We don’t need to buy 25 new players, 10 will be enough.

Gerrards first season he bought

Goldson - £3m
Barisic - £2.4m
Katic - £2.2m
Grezda - £2m
Murphy - £2m
Lafferty -£0.5m
Arfield - free
McGregor - free
Flannigan - free
Firth - free
McAuley - free
Kent - loan
Ejaria - loan
Coullibaly - loan
Sadiq - loan
Worral - loan

The total for them was £11.5m. Which is probably similar to what we will have this year. And it’s a strange parallel as looking at the list we’re almost in the same position again - need to spend the bulk of our money on the centre backs and a solid winger (hopefully this one will be better than Grezda!), some experienced free transfer players for backup, a first choice central midfielder then fill out the positions with loans (ideally with an option to buy). That can be done by selling every player I listed. Then for the likes of Yilmaz and Dessers that were different on your list I actually don’t disagree, it’s just I think they would be direct replacement players coming in one by one. Such is the state of this squad I said on an earlier post I actually think we could lose 10 of these players and be forced to play kids and we’d automatically be BETTER just for their absence.
 
So if I’m getting this right. You’d keep 6 of the squad and one of those because we’re committed to buy. So you’re suggesting we bring in possibly 19 players to make up a 25 man squad, or we we becoming a 5’s team?
 
So if I’m getting this right. You’d keep 6 of the squad and one of those because we’re committed to buy. So you’re suggesting we bring in possibly 19 players to make up a 25 man squad, or we we becoming a 5’s team?
 
So if I’m getting this right. You’d keep 6 of the squad and one of those because we’re committed to buy. So you’re suggesting we bring in possibly 19 players to make up a 25 man squad, or we we becoming a 5’s team?
Agreed.

I get the “listen to offers” adds some uncertainty. But there’s no chance we’re offloading anywhere near 75% of the first team squad (even if we wanted to).

Replacing the 6 out of contract and 3 loanee returns (if my calculations are accurate) will be a big enough job in itself and constitutes 9 signings required. 7 signings in the unlikely event we retain both Hagi and Lammers.

And that’s before we get into the scenario of accepting any bids for first-teamers comfortably under contract.

Does anyone realistically foresee 10+ signings coming in this window? Happy to stand corrected if it does happen but that’s a lot of groundwork to put in just to get to that point.

My gut feeling is this will take multiple windows to get to the level of squad that the gaffer wants. So we just have to work on a priority basis in the summer.
 
So if I’m getting this right. You’d keep 6 of the squad and one of those because we’re committed to buy. So you’re suggesting we bring in possibly 19 players to make up a 25 man squad, or we’re becoming a 5’s team?
 
We desperately need some new guys in midfield and CB’s which are not only decent players but actually have some character and aggression to them.

The sheer passiveness and indifference shown when things aren’t going our way, or when refs are being fucking idiots as normal, it needs sorted. There are too many walkovers in the team.
 
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