As Rangers meandered in the doldrums of SPFL Premiership obscurity, the managers that failed to make the grade were dogged by transfer inadequacies.

In Mark Warburton’s first summer as Rangers manager, he assembled a relatively cheap and hard-working squad that perfectly filled the remit of gaining promotion.

The next summer is when recruitment went badly wrong. Rangers looked to take a shortcut to the title by bringing in experienced signings like Philip Senderos, Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar that all ended awfully. Warburton’s team lost the identity he created in the first season and the end of his time as Rangers manager became inevitable.

Pedro Caixinha had one transfer window and the decisions taken spelt the end of his reign before the season had even started. Giving the manager such power to spend considerable millions of pounds on Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Peña was a disastrous policy failure. It was a huge waste of money during a time Rangers didn’t have the cash to burn. The risks attached to the transfers were never correctly weighed up.

Following the arrival of Mark Allen as Director of Football and Steven Gerrard as manager, there was a clear change of direction. A more professional approach was taken and more signings made sense. Not all worked: development loan signings like Ovie Ejaria and Lassana Coulibaly quickly fell away, squad fillers like Jon Flanagan and Kyle Lafferty failed to make an impact and money was wasted on a signing like Eros Grezda.

Regardless, Rangers formed a competent squad over a number of transfer windows. It wasn’t rushed and most signings seemed sensible. There was a sense of continuation of that competent and steady squad building during the early stages of Ross Wilson’s tenure. During recent windows that has faded away and reached it's nadir in January.

It was a window to consolidate power. The side sat comfortably at the top of the league and on good form but then watched Celtic start to address their man problem: squad depth.

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Instead of continuing with the model of sensible signings, Ross Wilson and Rangers pursued a boom or bust policy in January.

Putting the development signings of Zukowski and Sands aside, Rangers brought in Ramsey and Diallo to make an impact and win the team the league. In their own ways they were exciting signings, but they were fundamentally flawed.

They were essentially bust or boom. Diallo was either going to be the £35 million wonder-kid that no defender in the league could cope with, or he would be too raw and ill-fitted to the demands of a title race. Ramsey was either going to show his world-class talent and grab the league by the scruff of its neck, or he was going to be unfit and unable to make his mark until it was too late. There was no in-between - they weren’t just going to settle into the squad and contribute at a normal rate. Excellent or a waste. Title winners or title surrenders. Boom or bust.

Ultimately, it’s been a bust. Diallo featured in a few games then went into hiding. Ramsey is now contributing, but not until it is too late to win the main prize. The last nail in the coffin was starting to be hammered when Celtic won at Ibrox, Rangers needed difference-makers to arrest the post-break form in February and March.

The crucial question is - why have Rangers ended up back in a position where a high-risk transfer strategy is implemented? Why are we returning to signing upmarket versions of the failings seen under Warburton? Development loans and very talented but unfit players are not the hallmarks of a football department that is in control and has a vision. Both now feel like panic signings and that is extremely concerning.

In years gone by, there was virtually no football infrastructure, therefore the failings were understandable. This time, it is much more difficult to forgive. Despite a confidence issue at the moment, Rangers have a strong squad that just needed some additional competition and flexibility to implement van Bronckhorst’s style. Perhaps a loan with the option to buy in the summer or to even sense the threat from Celtic and realise a small investment in the squad was worthwhile. Instead, Rangers went for two high-risk loans with no possibility of them becoming permanent signings. Squad planning and building was abandoned in lieu of an overly-ambitious grab at the title.

Many fans were excited by the signings and it’s difficult not to see the positives of both signings on paper. Aaron Ramsey of Juventus and Manchester United’s next big hope are blockbuster signings, but it is for Ross Wilson and the scouting department to take the emotion out of it; there is a reason both aren’t playing in the EPL.

In the same way Warburton’s second summer and Caixinha’s only window defined their reigns, January of 2021-22 will be difficult to forget and the lessons from it should not be forgotten.

Now is the time to pause, reset and ask the big questions before the summer transfer window. Do Rangers continue to create the squads in the image of the manager they currently have? How prominent a role does Giovanni van Bronckhorst play in the recruitment and does the board trust his longevity at Rangers? Does Ross Wilson have the desire for a full rebuild at the club after falling from a position of strength? Does the club have the funds to rebuild and launch a title challenge or is next season a year of transition?

We have a long way to go before any of the above questions have an answer attached, but fans may start to demand a vision when season ticket renewal forms drop into email inboxes soon.