Kris Boyd offers Rangers reality check on Mikey Moore

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

Moore is keen to take on the challenge of heading to Glasgow and it is a deal that is expected to be completed, even if there is work still to do.
It is one that is creating some excitement but Boyd has offered some realism. The former Rangers striker reckons the pressures of moving on loan to either half of the Old Firm makes it very different to heading out further down the food chain in England, which tends to be the norm for young players down south.
He said: 'Moore's a young boy who'll be looking for an opportunity to kick on but there's a little bit of a risk attached to a first loan move.
'He's shown in any opportunities he's had at Tottenham that he has a chance.
'But it can be difficult because a lot of Premier League players in England who go out on loan go to a level where they've got time to adapt, whether it's the Championship or other teams who don't have to play under the same pressure as [[Rangers]] and Celtic have."
Russell Martin has repeatedly vowed that his squad will look different by the time the transfer window closes and you get the feeling there is plenty movement still to be done.
That includes out the way and last season's two main strikers, Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane, could both be on the way out with interest in their services from the continent.
Boyd would like to see that situation resolved quickly given it is one of the most important areas of any team.
"The Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane situation needs to be addressed one way or another," he insisted.
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'Everybody needs clarity on that pretty quickly.
'The league starts on Saturday and your two most important players on the pitch are your goalkeeper and your number nine.
'Rangers are no further forward as to who their number nine is - the top goalscorer from last season is still being linked with moves away, he's not played a lot of football, and he's still got a level of fitness to get to.
'For me, there's still no guarantee who's going to be that number nine for Rangers.
'If Mikey Moore is to come in, it's a big ask for him to come in and be Rangers' number nine and lead the attack.
'But Russell Martin will say he does need reinforcements in the forward area."
Martin's first competitive game brought a positive result, beating Panathinaikos 2-0 in Champions League qualifying. But his team were not fully convincing and had the help of a red card for visiting defender Georgios Vagiannidis.
Boyd reckons there is plenty of work to be done to get to where the new manager wants, especially with the expansive style of play he is attempting to implement.
The pundit added: "If you go on last week's performance against Panathinaikos, there's still a bit of work to be done for Rangers.
'With Russell Martin coming in and implementing a new style, it's not going to be fixed overnight and there's no doubt there were going to be some teething problems and that's going to be the case for a number of weeks.
'When you're coming in and you want to implement the style of play that he wants, you're going to make mistakes.
'There's going to be scary moments within the games."