Michael Beale insists his squad was never going to gel with a click of the fingers but his new signings will come good in time.
The Rangers manager goes into the clash with Celtic under pressure to get a mood-changing result after an indifferent start to the season and suffering a 5-1 battering in the second-leg Champions League qualifier against PSV Eindhoven.
With nine new signings this summer and 13 major departures, there's no doubt Beale has been backed to sculpt the squad in his own image.
And while it's yet to spark to life so far, with the three strikers Danilo, Cyriel Dessers and Abdallah Sima coming in for criticism for failing to make a major impact, Beale insists it's been an expected part of the long-term squad-building process.
He said: “In the last two league games we’ve had six different goalscorers so I don’t really see what everyone else sees. We’re looking for players to build relationships and get used to our style of football. The leagues they come from are different. You see it in the Premier League. You don’t just click your finger and because someone has played in Serie A, it’ll work in Scotland. They’ve got to find their way.
"If you look at the names we lost in the summer, we don’t even have a reference point of a partnership from last season. Even Rabbi Matondo and Kemar Roofe, who scored for us last week, didn’t really play last year. So in the final third, we’re trying to put things together. Sima has scored a couple, Danilo has scored a couple, Sam Lammers got our first goal of the season, Dessers has a couple plus assists. Kemar Roofe has come in and scored. Tom Lawrence looks like after the break, he’ll be right there. Overall, our squad is in a better place, it just has to come together a little bit. That’s just time, it doesn’t happen in a click of the fingers."
One existing Rangers player who must feel like a new signing is Roofe, finally fully fit after recovering from a hip problem that required surgery. The striker made only six appearances last term in a season blighted by injury. There's little doubt that a physically sharp Roofe is a special player at Scottish Premiership level, and his return is very much part of Beale's thinking.
“Kemar’s goals per game ratio is up there with anyone’s in the Premiership currently," he said “He doesn’t have to play as a main striker, he can play with them like he did with Alfredo Morelos. He did it last week with Cyriel and scored a goal probably only Kemar could score in our squad.
“He and Lawrence were signed by the club as starters but haven’t been able to do that. I think we’ve got two excellent players who will change the dynamics of the team. It’s been frustrating waiting for these guys but they have the sort of quality that you wait for.”
Neither of Glasgow's big two come into this derby clash in good form with Brendan Rodgers' side failing to score in their last two domestic games against Kilmarnock and St Johnstone. Celtic are going through an unlikely revolution despite winning the treble last year under Ange Postecoglou and have made ten signings as they look to reshape the squad in their new manager's image.
“Both teams are a bit in transition," admitted Beale. "Maybe ours even more so because we lost most of our front players over the summer. We brought new ones in and it’s still early in their time. To be top of the table would be a nice position to be in going into the international break.
“That was always the aim. If we go into it in front, it would be a good start to the season. Then we’ll have to work really hard for two weeks because we have five games in 15 days including Europe and a cup quarter-final. Time for a big reflection will be on Monday morning when we come out of the Celtic game. We’ll really assess our pre-season and our work up to this point.
“We can’t spend the millions and buy the ‘now’ players. We have to build. We expect domestically to compete for every trophy.
He added: “It’s a big game on Sunday and if we come out of it in a good place, what we wanted and what we expected are probably aligned domestically. It’s important we’re a strong team in Scotland before we’re a strong European team. We have to get that in the right order."
