Rangers icon Graeme Souness has advised his former club against leaning into analytics in the final flurry of the transfer window.
The Light Blues are in the midst of a major rebuild as Derek McInnes attempts to get the club back on track with new recruits. Nine new faces have already come through the door at Ibrox this summer, and chairman Andrew Cavenagh has admitted he expects at least five more players to arrive.
PSV winger Couhaib Driouech is undergoing a medical ahead of his £7million switch to Glasgow, and McInnes has urged the club to replace crocked duo Youssef Chermiti and Tuur Rommens. The club are facing an injury crisis going into the Europa League third qualifying second leg clash with Jagiellonia Bialystok - as the Light Blues trail 2-1.
Souness on the limits of stats
But Souness has warned McInnes that he can't rely on stats to tell if a player will deal with the "enormous" pressure of playing for the Glasgow giants. Asked if he would sign a player based on the recommendation of analytics, Souness told the Sunday Post: "Not a chance. That would be a recipe be for disaster."
"Stats can be very confusing. There was a stat 10 or 12 years ago. (Pers) Mertesacker, who played for Arsenal as a centre-back had the most completed passes of all Premier League players is England."
"He was centre-half, playing for Arsenal, passing 10 yards there and 10 yards there. Of course, he's going to be the most successful passer of the ball. Stats can totally take you up the wrong road. You want to show the disappointment a player shows to his teammates for not doing what they should be doing."
"That disappointment he feels to conceding a goal. Disappointment if he doesn't do his job properly. Does he still want the ball at every opportunity after that If he makes a couple of misplaced passes? Is a striker still putting himself in with the chance of scoring a goal after a setback?"
Pressure of playing for Rangers
"When I first came to Rangers, I knew the strength of players on the football pitch because I'd played against many of them. That was a little insight. But then, of course, you meet them. I think it's called tapping up. Guilty. And then you find someone else to ask about them, maybe other team-mates at that football club."
"I think the pressure is enormous on all the players who come to play for Rangers or Celtic. If you finish second, you're deemed a failure. That's the price on the ticket."
No official return
Back in 2023, the 73-year-old held a sit down with former chief executive James Bisgrove and informal discussions were held over an official return to the side he starred for and managed in the the 1980s. Despite an agreement failing to come to fruition, murmurs of a return in an official capacity surfaced again last year following the American takeover.
But Souness has ruled out a formal return, stating: "I'm not interested. Those days are gone."
"I sleep at night. I'm 73, I have the most wonderful life. And you get reminders all the time about some really close pals dying recently. I hear of stories of former players getting dementia. I'm just going to make the most of what I've got left."
