Every summer throws up the same wee debate at Ibrox: a shiny winger gets mentioned and folk immediately get excited. I get it. Wide players are fun, they sell hope, and they can win you games on their day. But the truth is, you still need a plan for where they actually fit.

Looking at the squad as it stands, it’s fair to ask a simple question: where would we play another winger? On the left, you’re already talking about Moore, Gassama, Matondo and Curtis. On the right, you’ve got Skov Olsen as your first pick and Antman as the next option. That’s before you even get into the fact that most modern systems want the wide men to do a serious shift without the ball as well.

Too many for two shirts

Do Rangers really need seven wingers for two positions? For me, no. Not unless you’re planning on playing with genuine width every week and rotating constantly across four competitions. Even then, the numbers start to look top-heavy.

The risk with hoarding wide options is it leaves you with a squad that looks exciting on paper but feels unbalanced in the areas that decide matches in the SPFL: winning your duels, defending transitions, and having someone up top who turns pressure into goals. You can have all the dribblers in the world, but if you’re light at centre-back or you don’t have enough up front, you end up chasing games the hard way.

Curtis has to be trusted

This is where the Curtis point lands. If you think the lad has something about him, then you’ve got to show it. Give him minutes on the right now, let him learn the role properly, and let him build an understanding with the full-back and the striker. That’s how you develop a player in your own environment, not by punting him out and hoping it clicks somewhere else.

And if the plan is that Moore moves on at some point, then it’s a neat pathway: Curtis can shift back over to the left and compete with Gassama, rather than being another name on a long list.

Fix the spine first

If you’re asking where the real strengthening is needed, it’s not hard to identify. Another centre-forward, a centre-back, and a right-back feels like the sensible shopping list. That’s the backbone. That’s what makes the rest of the team look better.

There’s also a bigger-picture question about the budget and how ambitious the club are going to be with turnover in the market. Fans will always speculate about what’s available, but whether the season’s spend gets pushed up is something we’ll only really see in the business done, not the noise around it.

Written by LAUDRUPHAGI: 19 January 2026

Tags: tactics