3 Worst Signings Rangers Have Completed In Recent Seasons Including Joey Barton

3 Worst Signings Rangers Have Completed In Recent Seasons

Although they are making progress back towards the summit of Scottish football having been demoted down to the fourth tier back in 2012, the topsy-turvy nature of this rise can often be defined by the sort of signings the club has made over the last five years.

Some have been expert, some lucky and some downright disastrous! Here we take a look at what are arguably the club’s three worst signings, all things considered, since their Premiership status was taken away from them, although in fairness the free signings they made in the first couple of years were pretty decent.

Rob Kiernan (Wigan Athletic, 2015/16)

This may seem harsh to some, but in the three years before this signing, Rangers had done relatively terrific things in bringing in Premiership quality players to the club for free, even though they were in the third and fourth tiers of Scottish football.

The fact that Rob Kiernan was their most expensive signing for some years then meant that much was expected of him but frankly, he never looked comfortable.

Despite appearing to be of second-tier quality in England, Kiernan was often the focus of frustration from fans at Ibrox due to mistakes he made at the back. Once the team was back at the top level, his place never looked fully secure.

Philippe Senderos (Grasshoppers, 2016/17)

Frankly, you could name five or six bad signings from this summer, easily the worst business done by the club in many a year and it was the beginning of the end of Mark Warburton.

Senderos was a disaster and never really ingratiated himself with the support either. His glory days at Arsenal looked to be well behind him when he joined Rangers, and so it proved.

Joey Barton (Burnley, 2016/17)

Another free transfer, fair enough, and one with supreme natural talent. In this case though, I remember very well watching the club’s first game of the season and Barton’s Ibrox debut and describing it all as a bit slow.

The Dad’s Army effect was taking shape that year at Rangers and Barton was one of the key people involved, though that is not what made him such a bad signing. His penchant for gambling, arguing with everyone he works with and eventually even arriving at Auchenhowie to take his coffee machine back, all serve to remind people of just what Barton is.

Although he always has a comment to make on everyone else in the game, Barton has caused problems wherever he has gone and it’s his signing which truly shows how inept Mark Warburton actually was.