Rangers Close In On A Premier League Defence With Marquee Duo | OneFootball

In 2007, Walter Smith made two significant signings which changed the landscape of Scottish football. On his return to Ibrox, the great man signed David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu. Regulars will know that we have mentioned this many, many times, especially as a reference point to how it should be at Rangers.

The point was, though, that these two defenders were Premier League. They were Aston Villa and Everton, and they knew the level. They were top quality, and Walter was well aware of them. He knew only too well the quality that they could bring in, and how stable they could make Rangers’ rearguard, especially coming off the back of the Paul Le Guen era, which was a shambles at the back, to say the least.

Today, we are linked very closely with both Wolves’ Nasser Djiga and, of course, Leicester’s Conor Coady. Both of these are indeed Premier League level. Djiga has not quite been officially confirmed, but is certainly a massive step up from Robin Propper. In fact, to be honest, a scarecrow is a massive step up from Robin Propper, but that’s beside the point.

This lad, Djiga, has 14 appearances in the Champions League for a must-win team in the form of Red Star Belgrade, and he also has, admittedly, a modest amount of Premier League experience. He is worth £10 million and is clearly a decent stopper, to say the least.

Now, if we add Conor Coady to the mix—if Rangers can secure him—we are finally talking about much closer to a Rangers-level defence. As things stand, it’s Leon King, Ben Davies, Robin Propper, and the perennially injured John Souttar. Unless, of course, we count the new boy, Emmanuel Fernandez.

There are slim signs in there of some progress, but it’s nowhere near enough. But add Fernandez, as we’ve mentioned. Add Djiga. Furthermore, add Coady. Suddenly, Rangers have a whole Premier League defence in there. A much stronger rearguard. Much more like what we need to progress.

Would it be Weir and Ehiogu? We don’t know. We can’t really compare. But we do know the standard that we need. And guys like these are much closer to it than, bless them, Ben Davies or, indeed, Leon King.

It would be a good sign. Because every team, every great team, is based on its defence. You have to start there. Walter Smith knew it. He truly knew it. That’s why we were so hard to beat under his tutelage.

Maybe Russell Martin can have the same impact.