Michael Beale pledged to build a brand new Rangers and banish the regrets which have marred their barren season.
The Light Blues boss watched his side sign off this campaign with a 3-0 win over St Mirren in Paisley to finish seven points adrift of champions Celtic. A double from Fashion Sakala and Antonio Colak did little to alter Bale's belief that second best will never be acceptable under his watch as he outlined his blueprint for success after a watershed afternoon against the Buddies.
He said: "When you come second it’s last in Glasgow. We need to have a look at ourselves, set standards, have a good pre-season then see where it goes one game at a time. Of late our form has been very good. Since November if I’m right we’ve only dropped eight points.
"We’ve made mistakes where we’ve had chances to change the outcome of games and it’s been in our hands so we have to seize the moment and have no regrets. We’re waiting for one or two things to be signed off then we’ll hopefully see a new team come together."
Beale revealed he's been working around the clock to secure recruitments and there was also a barbed remark laced with sarcasm that he's at a club which has become 'broken'.
He said: "Everything is broken at Rangers so I’m looking forward to mending it. That’s the perception, I’m not sure if that’s true but our record was a strong one and we’ll be adding to a very good team.
"Probably the last five or six weeks have been the busiest I’ve been. I’m not shocked by anything in the job. I was used to it here before but there’s added responsibility and it’s me managing other areas doing recruitment so it’s been busy. I’m glad the end of the season is here. We’ve got over 90 points which we haven’t done too often in the last 15 or 20 years."
Beale was delighted to have his strikers back on scoring form and he also revealed Sakala's car pool with Ridvan Yilmaz is paying dividends on and off the pitch.
He said: "Barring a moment of lapse of concentration (against Hearts) on Wednesday the split has been good in terms of performances and results. It’s always difficult to come here – they’re resolute defensively. Stephen Robinson has them organised and with their good home form we felt we’d have to have lots of possession and be patient.
"We tried something new with Rabbi Matondo and Fashion playing high and wide. Ridvan and Fashion share a car into training which is quite a strange combination.
"They brought their friendship onto the pitch. I thought it was a great pass from Ridvan and I think he has shown real promise. He’s returned from injury and I thought he did well. A mention for John Souttar who has knocked three games out and been outstanding. We’ve not had him all season. I’m pleased for Antonio to score at the end. Set pieces are what we want to pride ourselves on and we’ve scored from one."
There were also words of praise from Beale for Colak who he insists must avoid spells on the treatment table in order to make a consistent impact for his team.
He said: "He needs to stay fit. Since I came in he was injured a couple of times and he’s not been able to move. In that position you want to be sharp and alert and at his best he is that. Away to Hibs was the only time he’s been fully fit and he was fantastic.
"At other times we’ve had to look for alternatives and Fashion has had to play as a striker when he’s more of a wide player. He’s been hugely effective in my time here. There will be more forwards coming in. We’re losing Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos.
"It’s so important we recruit and Tony is also here. We want him to have a good pre-season. Last year going into the season as a fan looking on from the outside he was fantastic but I’ve not seen that for different reasons"
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