Philippe Clement taking Rangers transfer stock as boss reaches halfway point on road to January masterplan

He's been making a list and checking it twice but Philippe Clement insists it’s still far too early to decide which of his Rangers players have been naughty and nice.

With the festive season approaching, the Ibrox gaffer is preparing for the January sales. But before he can start work on his transfer window wishlist he must first finish running the rule over his existing squad. He said: “How long have I been here now? Five weeks? It is still five weeks at least until January so I am only halfway on the journey to really make good decisions around that.

“There are a few players I didn’t even see yet on the pitch to play games or who have trained two or three times in the five weeks. To make a clear opinion about all the squad, it is not realistic to do it now for the moment. Of course we have ideas and we have talked about that and we are looking at things as a club because there is also an imbalance to the squad. In some positions we’ve a lot of players and in others some not.

“Those are things to look towards for January and the rest. It is going to be very interesting in the next five weeks how all the players
will perform.”

One player who has certainly impressed Clement is Ross McCausland who this week agreed terms on a deal which will tie him to his boyhood heroes until 2027. “Clearly I’m happy about that,” said Clement. “I’ve talked the last couple of weeks and said this is a young talent, he comes out of the academy here, he’s a fan of Rangers, all his family are.

“He’s done good things with the minutes he has played. He works hard in training, he’s somebody who wants to become better.

“He made a good international debut so I think (his new contract) is an important thing. And I think it’s an important signal