Michael Beale must spend Rangers cash on striker succession plan and avoid costly goalkeeper mistake - Barry Ferguson

The hard work starts now for Michael Beale as he begins a Rangers revamp.

When James Sands was sent back to the USA a couple of days ago with his loan deal cancelled early, it was a sure sign the manager is already planning for what comes next following the cup final defeat against Celtic. And that’s exactly what the fans will want to see too because, like me, they’re sick and tired of watching their team have to settle for second best. Big changes are needed this summer and very possibly plenty of them.

But before he rushes into making any big decisions it might be an idea for him to take a deep breath and stop to think things through. And then ask Allan McGregor to come into his office for a serious conversation. Because when you look at the big picture facing Beale and Rangers this summer, replacing their No.1 keeper doesn’t have to be anywhere near the top of the priority list. In fact, I’d go as far as to say, it could end up becoming a very costly mistake for a whole number of reasons.

First and foremost, the whole point in making changes is surely to improve the quality of the current starting XI. And the more I see of Greegsy in goals this season, the more I worry that any new arrival might end up being a downgrade from what they’ve already got.

I know Greegsy’s not getting any younger and a lot of supporters think his time is up. But I wonder what game they were watching at the weekend when McGregor was rolling back the years again. He certainly didn’t look past it to me, the way he was throwing himself around and racing out of his box to bail out his defenders.

Just as importantly, you can see the fire and desire to be a winner, to bark orders and organise team-mates, still burns inside him as brightly as