The terminology - be it a rebuild, a revamp or a refresh - ultimately matters little at Ibrox. The actions of Michael Beale will speak louder than his words.
The Rangers boss had to choose his phrases carefully in his first months in office. It was clear as soon as he walked back through the front door to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst that significant changes were needed and were coming but Beale couldn't rip it up and start again midway through the campaign.
Confidence had to be restored and momentum had to be built, games had to be won and silverware had to be lifted. Once again, the negatives have outweighed the positives for Rangers over the course and distance and Beale will accept his share of the responsibility in that regard.
He had to find a way to cajole an underperforming team and depleted squad through what remained of the season and there have been encouraging signs along the way. Now that the Englishman is nearly at the end, it is those moments he will look to build on going over the course of a defining summer.
In time, Beale will come to terms with the crushing lows of losing the League Cup final and Scottish Cup semi-final to Celtic. Once he has moved on, then he can move forward.
The narrative throughout the second half of the campaign has been the requirement for widespread changes at Ibrox. Recent weeks have seen that process played out at boardroom and executive level as new chairman John Bennett has overseen the exits of Ross Wilson, Stewart Robertson, Craig Mulholland and Andrew Dickson.
It will soon be Beale's turn. Soon, he will not need to keep his cards close to his chest or be wary about what meanings others take from his messages. Soon, Beale will get down to business.
"No, because I had 24 games to go until the end of the season," Beale said when asked about not calling it a 'rebuild' earlier in the season. "Come on boys, you have to manage a group of men and their agents hang on every word.
"In the main, our record of results is good. Certain games have really hurt us. In every one of those games, did we physically have the opportunity to turn the tide, to score or defend better? Yeah, we could. Did we use any of them? No, we never, so it’s blunt, it’s sharp, it’s horrible.
"The early part of this week, you can imagine what it was like for everybody – the despair. It’s a season when the group came back off huge emotion of the Scottish Cup and Europe. Then they get through against PSV. You can imagine where that emotion was but it ends with a new coach and a lot of uncertainty.
"I’m really clear on the vision. Obviously, it will become clearer as the summer moves on and we come back into pre-season and things are announced.
"But you’ve got to do things right by people. There are a lot of players in that dressing room that I’ve had wonderful experiences with. If I’m now having difficult conversations, it’s important I have those conversations in private.
"Then, when the decision has finally been made or it’s the right the moment to release it, you work with that player and the club to make sure it’s done in the correct way. It get that’s frustrating when I come and sit here but that’s how football works."
The conversations that Beale has had in front of the cameras have given supporters an insight into his plans and his prerogatives. The ones that have been held behind closed doors - like those that helped secure Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin in January - are more meaningful, though, and will shape Rangers' fortunes and Beale's future.
Beale spoke of the 'emotional' nature of the tough decisions that he has had to make as stalwarts of the side that he helped guide to title 55 and players that were so integral on the road to Seville have been informed that their Ibrox careers are over. He described himself as a 'very honest straight-shooter' and asked those under him to be the same to ensure everyone is on the same page heading into the summer and next season.
Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos both still have a part to play in the final five Premiership fixtures and contract offers have been made to 'one or two' of those who are in the final weeks of their deals. Once the outgoings have been signed off, the incomings will take priority at Ibrox.
"There is different things," Beale said. "There are the boys that are out of contract, there is the early part of the window and the boys that are out of contract next summer. As you say, it is a lot less.
"Hopefully we come out, in my ideal world and in my utopia, we come out of this window with players in the age range of Nico and Todd, that have got energy, that are in contract.
"And then we have got the nucleus of a squad, seven or eight players, that we know are going to be here and that we are excited to work with, that will bring energy into the building and that are excited to come and have their experience with Rangers.
"You start that cycle. And maybe at times in the next two or three years we have to be more decisive in moments when we have opportunities to maybe trade them. That’s it.
"I am really cool with everything. I understand this club, it is not like I came in with my eyes closed. I came in with my eyes really open.
"Did I think the season might end slightly better? Yeah, I did. Was it in our hands to? Yeah, and we failed.
"I think the margins are not huge. Everybody outside has got a different opinion, that’s fine. I get a chance to make a difference which the nice thing."
That was the case five years ago this week when Beale was appointed alongside Steven Gerrard. That summer saw the squad overhauled and the club transformed and Rangers are in a 'completely different place' in terms of potential recruits and wages after coming 'a long way' since the day that Beale first walked through the door.
He is excited at the challenge ahead but acknowledged that 'we are going to tear up a team that lost a semi-final narrowly 1-0 and probably shouldn’t have lost it. That is the reality.' It is indeed.
This week, John Hartson claimed that Celtic were 'light years' ahead of their Old Firm rivals, while Kenny Miller insisted there was no 'huge gap' across the city. When asked about the comments from both, Beale said: "It is interesting because it is who you follow isn’t it? Listen, I am aware of the noise.
"I try not to take too much of it. Everyone is rubbish when you lose and everyone is great when you win.
"I think my team are OK and I think with the right handling we will be better. If we are good enough? That will be determined in the future. Honestly, if anyone is writing us off then no problem."
