BARRY FERGUSON has urged Rangers to back Giovanni van Bronckhorst in January warning the club that Celtic could run away with the title.

The gap is currently seven points after the Ibrox outfit lost to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park last weekend.

Both clubs face their final match before the World Cup break on Saturday and then the transfer window will open in January.

And Ferguson has reinforced just how important this period will be for his former club.

He told the Daily Record: "So if, as it now seems, they are going to stand by my old team-mate, it’s about time they gave him some proper backing in January and the best possible chance at turning this campaign around before it really collapses.

"There’s just no getting away from the fact that recruitment hasn’t been good enough. Antonio Colak apart, we’ve yet to see any of the other summer signings make an impact and they can’t afford a repeat of that when the winter transfer window opens in seven weeks’ time.

"I’m not saying they need to burst the bank but they have to make sure the new faces coming in improve the starting XI and give both the punters and the players the lift they’re crying out for. Gio is the one taking the flak right now but he’s not solely responsible for the signings.

"If the board decides to persist with the manager, then they owe it to him to provide the tools that can help get this team back on track. Mind you, perhaps the reason why they’ve decided to stick by Gio is down to money.

"To remove the gaffer, they’d have to pay both him and his backroom staff off and that might be a costly business. Given the fact the club is only just back in the black as this week’s accounts showed, that would be a bitter pill to swallow.

"Rangers have finally got their house in order when it comes to the financials. The £5.9million profit recorded in the year up to June 30 was good news after a decade of losses.

"There should be another set of bumper figures in next year’s report, which will include the sums generated by the big-money sales of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, plus this term’s Champions League windfall. But my concern is over what comes next."

He continued: "Celtic have guys like Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Reilly and wee Kyogo who could all be sold on for a tidy profit in the years to come. The Parkhead paymasters have got the buy-them-cheap-sell-them-high act worked out to a fine art now, while Rangers are only just getting their player trading model up and running.

"They’ve done well to raise some serious sums from Nathan Patterson, Aribo and Bassey but looking at the current squad, I’m struggling to see where the next big sale is coming from.

"Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos - the club’s most valuable assets a couple of years back - are heading into the final six months of their contracts while James Tavernier, Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic are all now round about the 30 mark when values start to nosedive.

"Malik Tillman is still a Bayern Munich player but will Rangers decide to take up the option they have for the American? Leon King and Ridvan Yilmaz are talented youngsters but both need time and games to prove their potential.

"So this brings us back to January. It’s not just vital for Gio that Rangers make a success of this upcoming window, but the club too if they are to avoid falling behind Celtic in the financial arms race. They’re already lagging in this year’s title battle after Sunday, which was obviously a dreadful result."

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