Rangers transfer recruits will be baffled by pre-season stick but proper players will welcome the pressure - Barry Ferguson

I always had a special word of advice for any new signing, just moments before he ran out at Ibrox for the first time.

“You’ve got 10 minutes mate”. Or words to that effect. Sometimes I’d get a kind of startled, puzzled looking response. “Ten minutes? What are you talking about?” Trust me, 10 minutes later, no explanation was required. These guys might think they’ve seen and done it all in football but they soon realise there’s no bigger eye opener than your first introduction to the demands of playing in front of the Rangers fans.

I saw it for myself with a whole string of new arrivals who cost a right few bob and came from some huge clubs but who couldn’t get their head around why people were growling all around if the team hadn’t hit the ground running from kick-off. They’d walk into the dressing room at half time and say, ‘What’s the problem here, we’re drawing 0-0?’.

The smart ones worked it out pretty quickly. When you pull on that shirt you have to win – even if you’re playing tiddlywinks. It doesn’t matter. You have to be on the front foot, peppering the opposition goal.

You’re expected to come in 2-0 up. And if the fans aren’t happy then roll up your sleeves and do something about it. They’ve got every right to get on your back if you don’t.

The good players got it. But there were plenty of others who just couldn’t ever quite get to grips with it. How many? How long have you got? I used to suffer the same myself. If I wasn’t on it from kick-off I knew they’d soon be growling at me too.

So for the time being, I’ll reserve judgment on this summer’s new arrivals even if a few of them might already be scratching their heads and wondering why there’s been such a disgruntled reaction to a couple of home defeats in