MARK Warburton has pleaded for his Rangers new boys to be given time to find their feet in Scotland.
The Ibrox boss made 11 signings this summer but the influx has not gone as smoothly as the Englishman had hoped for, with his side spilling half of the 24 points available to them so far.
There have been small signs of improvement of late, however.
Since shipping five goals in a nightmare Old Firm defeat to Celtic, Warburton’s men have recorded three clean sheets out of four.
And Niko Kranjcar – one of the new faces who was expected to help Gers launch a title push when he checked into Ibrox back in July – appears to be inching his way towards fitness after a sluggish start to his Light Blues career.
But Warburton reckons it could still be a while yet before his team fully gel. He said: “I listen to some of the commentaries from the Premier League down south and the top Championship clubs down south when they talk about Spanish players or other players coming in and taking six to nine months to come in and settle down.
“I remember Erik Lamela coming to Spurs and people saying it took him 12 months to settle in and now he’s producing a fantastic level of football.
“The expectation here at Rangers is such that players are expected to deliver immediately, and it takes time.
“It’s a different culture, different demands, different responsibilities at the club.
“We’ve got to be a little bit patient with them, but as I say the expectation from the fans is quite rightly always there. They’ve got to recognise it and try to respond that bit quicker.
“David Weir always said to me that you can get booed off at half time when it is nil-nil at Rangers.
“It happened to us and you could see the players’ faces, but they have great experience and role models in the dressing room with the likes of Lee Wallace as skipper and Kenny Miller.
“They’ve been here and done it, they understand what the fans expect, what the crowd expects, and what we have to do.
“You’ve got people coming in and I’ve mentioned Clint Hill, the level he has played at and the number of games he has played, yet he is still shocked by the media interest, media speculation and media comments.
“It does take some getting used to, so I think we need to give the boys as much space as possible.”
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