The talk among the thousands of fans who had ventured south was as much about two stars not involved as the 22 Rangers players who did feature in the 2-1 win over Blackpool.
Calvin Bassey sat out the sunshine friendly as his club record move to Ajax entered the final stages and Malik Tillman watched from the stands after completing his loan switch from Bayern Munich 24 hours earlier. But for Gio Van Bronckhorst the focus was very much on the park and his evolving side with under a fortnight to go until the season kicks off for real.
And for the boss there were signs by the seaside that the ripple effect from the recent transfer activity that has seen Joe Aribo's exit soon to be followed by Bassey. With Tillman, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo all coming in the way, it will be as calm as the Irish Sea lapping up on the sun-drenched Blackpool waterfront.
