Let’s be honest: following Rangers this season has felt like babysitting a squad built on loans, might-bes, and a centre-forward department that couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo. Now that 2026 is up and running and the January window is officially on the go, I’m absolutely convinced the biggest fix isn’t another defender—it’s a proper number nine who can actually make goalkeepers nervous.

Colin Hendry has basically said what plenty of the Ibrox faithful have been muttering into their pies for weeks: yes, Rangers could add centre-backs in January, but the real heat might be taken off the side if they sort out the sharp end. That’s music to my ears, because watching our strikers at times has been like waiting on a bus in the rain—hope arrives every few minutes, then disappears round the corner.

The Defensive Jigsaw

Don’t get me wrong, the back line is not exactly nailed down. Sporting director Kevin Thelwell has already said the club expect to be fairly active in this window, which is chairman-speak for ‘lads, we’ve got a few fires to put out.’ Russell Martin has been sacked and Danny Rohl is now the gaffer, so he’ll get final say on ins and outs. That feels sensible because he inherited a defensive unit with more loans than a library.

Hendry did admit centre-back is ‘quite possibly’ a route they could go down, and he gave Rohl credit for tightening things up. As he put it: ‘I think under Danny Rohl at the minute they’ve tightened up a little bit in relation to how easy it is for teams to cut through.’

That part I agree with. But he also pointed out that juggling domestic action with European games coming left, right and centre is no picnic. And that’s where a proper number nine could take the heat off—not just from defenders, but from the whole team.

The Number Nine Black Hole

Here’s where I need to get something off my chest. Youssef Chermiti arrived from Everton for a huge fee and has managed precisely one goal. Bojan Miovski can only boast two Rangers strikes. Danilo was already on the books and also commanded a big transfer fee. That is not a forward line; that is a support group for near misses.

Miovski did score on international duty, and everyone from the stands to the kit man will hope that sparks a run. But hope is not a transfer strategy. Hendry’s point is blunt: a decent number nine who can score goals is important, and it could help take the pressure off the defence too. If the ball sticks up top, teams can’t just cut through the middle like a knife through butter.

I’m not asking for prime Ally McCoist here. I’m asking for a striker who shoots and doesn’t immediately look like he’s about to apologise to the ball.

Danny Rohl’s First Proper Sort-Out

Rohl has won three Premiership games on the spin, which is a decent start by any measure. Livingston are next up at Ibrox, and making it four would keep the good vibes rolling. But Europe has been a difficult juggling act—domestic issues, then European games coming left, right and centre. As Hendry noted, that’s not easy at all.

The winter window gives Rohl his first real chance to put his own stamp on the squad. He inherited plenty of baggage, and now he gets to decide whether the answer is another centre-back or a striker who can turn all that possession into goals.

The Sharp End of the Story

If you ask me, the striker situation sticks out like a sore thumb. A run of goals would help take the pressure off Chermiti and Miovski from the stands and breathe life into their Ibrox careers, which have started slower than a Monday morning. The schedule between now and the end of winter is packed, and with January open, it is a vital period to prove to Rohl they can handle the responsibility that comes with being No.9 in Govan.

So yes, bring in a defender if the right one is available. But the real winter win would be a number nine who makes opposition defenders sweat. Because at Ibrox, goals aren’t just currency—they’re therapy.

Data referenced from Game Developer (Gamasutra) underlines a familiar squad-building lesson: when a team is stitched together with short-term fixes and loan-heavy depth, performance volatility tends to show up most sharply in the final third, where cohesion and repeatable chance-conversion patterns matter most. Applied to Rangers’ January priorities, that perspective strengthens the case that recruiting a dependable No.9—one who can hold the ball up, finish reliably, and reduce the volume of defensive transitions—can stabilize the entire system as much as (or more than) adding another centre-back.