A former Rangers star has voiced his concerns over the lack of leadership on display at Ibrox as call made for radical change.Ex-Rangers frontman Steven Naismith has questioned the mental strength of the current playing squad following a third straight defeat at Ibrox – admitting players need to shoulder more responsibility for their lacklustre displays.Barry Ferguson’s side slumped to another dismal 2-1 loss at home to Motherwell on Saturday, which left them sitting 16 points behind arch rivals Celtic. The Light Blues have endured a campaign to forget, with the Europa League now realistically their only remaining option to avoid finishing the season without silverware.However, Naismith isn’t convinced the current crop of players have another leaders among them to avoid such a fate as he highlighted one major problem when games aren’t going their way.Quizzed on whether the current group of players have to shoulder more responsibility and prove a point to supporters, Naismith responded: “I think they do, but I’m not sure that they’re capable of it. There are some in the squad that have got leadership skills and you see that, but I’m not sure there’s enough of them. “I’m not sure there’s enough of them that feel the pressure and deal with the pressure. The European games are suited to them because they can be in a secure block and there good players at the club, so when that space appears they make the right choice and have a calm finish. But when it is challenging and it’s 0-0 with 20 minutes to go at Ibrox and the fans are demanding… who’s still brave enough to make the right pass or take a shot at the right time? Not just pass off the opportunity.“That’s what the part the players need to do, grasp the opportunity. I think as a player at (one of) the Old Firm (clubs), one you need to deal with the pressure and get used to it, but secondly you need to see the opportunity and not get scared of it. I currently think too many are scared of that feeling.” Rangers are expected to carry out another major squad overhaul in the summer, but Naismith insists the main focus of the club should be focused on getting back to basics and rediscovering a knack of winning games on a weekly basis. He reckons his old side need to recruit more “ready-made” players who are capable of coping with the pressure and demands that comes with being a Rangers player.He added: “Listen, that will be for the coaching staff and the management structure at the club (to deal with), but you’re not sitting here writing all the players off. There’s players that have showed inconsistent good form at times. That’s something to work with, but as I said, that can’t be the main focus of the club.
“The main focus has to be competing and winning. The progression of players can happen on the side or in the background where there’s not as much pressure on them having to perform every week. So I think the investment side of it has to come and be put into players that are ready-made to deal with the pressure and have a leadership and a mentality of winning. That for me is the main thing that’s been missing.”
*Steven Naismith was promoting Premier Sports’ live and exclusive coverage of Hearts v Dundee on Friday from 7.15pm on Premier Sports 1. Watch Premier Sports via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV, STV Player and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription, and on the Premier Sports’ streaming platform.
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