Rangers have faced significant criticism for their recruitment strategy in recent years, with a persistent failure to deliver trophies causing frustration among supporters and pundits alike.
Philippe Clement was the last manager to lift silverware at Ibrox, winning the League Cup in 2024, while the Scottish Premiership title has not been at Rangers since Steven Gerrard’s 2020/21 campaign.
Managerial appointments have compounded the problem, with Michael Beale, Danny Rohl, and Russell Martin all failing to secure silverware during their respective tenures at the club.
A well-worn route from the English Championship to Ibrox has rarely proven successful, with Kieran Dowell serving as one of the most prominent examples of that troubling trend.
Dowell arrived from Norwich City on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, having won a league title and played Premier League football with the Canaries, making him appear an exciting addition on paper.
Despite registering 12 goals and six assists in 75 appearances at Carrow Road, the English attacking midfielder could not replicate that form in Scotland, lacking the physical intensity the Premiership demands.
His time at Ibrox ended with just three goals in 39 appearances across all competitions before he departed for Hull City in January 2026 for a nominal fee, a move that confirmed his Rangers career as a failure.
Rangers nonetheless returned to the English market this summer, signing former Sunderland captain Dan Neil on a free transfer after his contract with the Premier League club expired at the end of July.
Neil had most recently featured in the Championship on loan at Ipswich Town, and his arrival raised eyebrows given how similar previous recruits such as Dowell, Joe Rothwell, Max Aarons, and Todd Cantwell had fared.
The early signs were not encouraging, as Neil delivered underwhelming displays in both legs of the Europa League play-off defeat to Jagiellonia and was an unused substitute for the subsequent Premiership loss to Hibernian.
Those performances quickly drew comparisons among supporters to Dowell and Rothwell, with concerns emerging that Neil lacked the mobility and physicality to thrive under Derek McInnes in Scotland.
However, the 24-year-old has since shown a marked improvement, adjusting his positioning off the ball and demonstrating greater defensive awareness in more recent outings for the Light Blues.
His numbers against Aberdeen and Motherwell highlight the positive trajectory, with his defensive contributions rising from four to eleven across those two matches as he grew increasingly comfortable in his surroundings.
Neil also impressed in the Conference League ties against Jablonec, winning five of his nine ground duels while not being dribbled past on a single occasion across both legs.
Across his first three Premiership appearances, Neil has won 56% of his ground duels and 60% of his aerial duels, statistics that demonstrate a player who has adapted to the physical demands of Scottish football.
That physical test was precisely where Dowell fell short throughout his 18 months at Ibrox, making Neil’s growing competence in that area all the more significant for Rangers supporters watching closely.
After a dominant display against Aberdeen, in which he won five of his seven ground duels, Neil now looks firmly established as an undroppable figure as Derek McInnes plots the club’s next run of fixtures.