Stuart McCall's nearest and dearest knew what his reaction would be in the event of Rangers calling. Drop everything. Now 10 days into the job and confronted by his third and most difficult match, a barrage of advice from those friends and family has landed. Drop everyone. Two dismal draws against relegation candidates Livingston and Alloa, stretching the winless run to five matches, has damned the playing provision at Ibrox now operating under their third manager of a sorry season that McCall was hired to rescue. He has not been short of suggestions aimed at helping him carry out that brief picked up from Kenny McDowall. ‘I’ve got family and a lot of friends who are Rangers supporters and, if it was up to them, they wouldn’t have a team out there because everyone would be dropped,’ said McCall. ‘If you speak to supporters, they are so frustrated and disappointed. Stuart McCall has encountered a tricky start to his spell as Rangers manager . ‘You speak to one fan who wouldn’t have him in, and another who wouldn’t have him in, and so on. Kenny tried all different permutations up front with our five strikers. It’s the same with the backline and the midfield. ‘People have said it to me: “I wouldn’t have him, him or him in the team”. But that would leave us with about two players and I can’t flood the team with youngsters. My job is to get the best formula — a winning formula. We’ve got time to do it and it’s what I’m striving to do.’ The emergency work on a squad ravaged by a confidence slump is required for many reasons and some can be traced back to the recruitment — on bumper contracts — of several top-flight players who have failed to live up to being Rangers players even at a lower level. But McCall believes that a more recent explanation for the disarray in his inheritance, which includes four unfit Newcastle loan men, is that their direct competitors for promotion — and today’s opponents Hibernian — were able to be clever in January. Rangers, meanwhile, were chaotic. Hibs have won their past seven games in all competitions since deadline day, reached the Scottish Cup semi-final and are now unbeaten in 15 matches — a streak of results that stuttering Rangers have at no stage looked capable of stringing together. McCall joked that if his family and friends had their way that everybody would be dropped . McCall noted: ‘The key thing for them was the January transfer window when they managed to keep their best young player, Scott Allan, while we had to sell Lewis Macleod, who was ours. On top of that, they were able to add five players. ‘I remember saying to Alan Stubbs at the time what a great piece of business it was to bring in Keith Watson from Dundee United because he’s a really solid Premiership player. Fraser Fyvie, Tomas Cerny, Franck Dja Djedje and Martin Boyle have really strengthened their squad. ‘While they were doing that, Rangers brought in five players from Newcastle and only one of them has been able to play a part. Alan had a clean sweep of his playing staff last summer. It took them time to gel but right now they have energy and confidence and they are hungry as well. So this will be a big challenge for us.’ McCall dug into the reserve reaches of the squad to promote the impressive 18-year-old Tom Walsh. A dozen years his elder, Dean Shiels completed a game for only the second time this season. As McCall seeks that winning formula, he has a frustrated and often frustrating figure offering to be an intriguing ingredient today on a return to Easter Road. ‘I spoke to Dean before we picked him for the Alloa game,’ said McCall. ‘I don’ t know why he’s only had four starts this season. Obviously, there are reasons and Dean will be a big part of that. But he did well the other night for a rare 90 minutes. ‘Everyone is in the same boat — when you get an opportunity, you have to grab it. You’ve got to show that you want to be out there, in training and games. New boss McCall takes charge of a Rangers training session . ‘I know there are players here who want to be in my team. It’s OK being willing and wanting to do it. But there’s a big difference between that and actually producing. ‘Next season, Rangers need young, hungry players. Of course, you need to balance it with experience. But I’d like to have energy and vibrance in the team next season.’ Darren McGregor, having met the appearance stipulations on his contract, will be back for another season. He can bid to be as energetic and vibrant as McCall wishes but it is defensive fortitude that the boyhood Hibernian supporter will be determined to bring today to a Rangers team that have lost their past three to the capital club. The 29-year-old has filled in at right-back — rather than his favoured centre-half slot — too often this season but refuses to blame that adjustment for personal form that he admits has fallen below standard. ‘I’ve been disappointed with how I’ve played,’ conceded McGregor. ‘I need to take accountability as a defender. Rangers have limped to unconvincing draws against Livingston and Alloa under McCall . ‘We’ve conceded too many goals. I’ve played the majority of our games, so I need to say that I could have done better in certain aspects. ‘Everyone knows that I’m not a natural right-back. But I’d rather play in that position than be in the stand. ‘To be fair to the previous manager and this manager, their hands have been forced a bit of the time because of injuries. ‘But I can’t keep going over old ground. The nine games coming up are the most important of the season. I’m looking at this period as a sort of mini-league in itself. ‘It will be time for reflection, finger-pointing and talking about where it went wrong in the summer. But we have to be positive and think that, as long as we get up, in years to come that will be forgotten about. ‘I want my first season at Rangers to be capped with promotion. I don’t want it to be a failure, which it currently is. ‘To come back next season as a Premiership player would be special. We all know what the fans expect and the prestige of playing for this club. We’ve fallen short of that this year but, if we can get up, it will put some light on an otherwise dark season.’
Stuart McCall has endured a tricky start to spell as Rangers manager . Rangers have limped to draws against Livingston and Alloa . McCall joked that everybody would be dropped if his friends had their way .