Antonio Colak is ripe for Rangers transfer as switch in philosophy makes him an obstacle to Michael Beale progress

He's the right guy in the wrong movie. The leading man cast in a straight-up thriller, then sidelined by a new director intent on delivering something altogether more complex, nuanced and creatively challenging.

News that Rangers are looking to offload summer signing Antonio Colak, a penalty-box predator who scored 14 goals in his first 16 games for the Ibrox outfit, may strike some as odd. Clubs are not, as a rule, in such a rush to discard that sort of production potential.

But Rangers did more than just change gaffers when they brought in Michael Beale to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst last November. From the moment they lured their former assistant manager back to Glasgow, they were signing off on a complete change in the team’s footballing philosophy. And Colak, as game and enthusiastic a professional as you’ll find, simply can’t deliver what Beale wants from his No. 9. Not to the levels required by a Rangers boss whose tactical approach places extreme demands on his front three.

So, sure, the stats might tell you that, by discarding the 29-year-old, Beale would be losing guaranteed goals. But that misses the point. Because a 20-goal man in one system can just as easily be an obstacle to progress in another.

Looking again at all 17 he’s scored for the club, a far from awful return in a season disrupted by injury, Colak’s prowess as a finisher – someone who will bang ’em in at a fair clip for AN Other Club, in due course – is clear.

It’s also obvious the Croat was especially suited to the more structured approach of Van Bronckhorst, who asked his centre forward to get in the box, get on the end of things and get in among the goals. Not nearly as simple as it sounds. But all standard enough, in terms of