Glasgow Rangers return from the international break with a new manager and, hopefully, with a newfound confidence following the dreadful Michael Beale reign.
Philippe Clement was announced as the new manager of the Ibrox side last weekend and the Belgian will need to use all his tactical acumen and managerial nous to get a tune out of some of these players.
With four domestic titles to his name during spells at Genk and Club Brugge, while also managing one of the biggest clubs in France, AS Monaco, the 49-year-old was a strong candidate for the role and the club will hope to begin the new era with a bang against Hibernian this weekend.
Beale signed nine new players for the Light Blues during his summer rebuild, yet not all of them appear up to the pressures of dethroning Celtic and returning to the summit of the Scottish game.
Sam Lammers cost £3m, yet he has scored only once in 16 matches, while £6m arrival Danilo has seen injury problems derail his impact at the Gers, and Clement must work closely with these new arrivals and try and bolster their confidence somehow.
It was the move for striker Cyriel Dessers, however, which has seen Beale’s transfer business come under scrutiny. The former Cremonese frontman arrived for a fee in the region of £4.5m, yet his performances have failed to live up to this vast transfer sum.
How has Cyriel Dessers performed for Rangers?
The 28-year-old scored six Serie A goals last season for Cremonese and Beale earmarked him as one of his main transfer targets as he looked to overhaul his attacking options following the departures of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, while Antonio Colak was sold to Parma.
£4.5m was a lot to pay for a player who is going to turn 29 in December, and the evidence of his performances so far suggests that the move has not worked out.
Across 15 games for the Light Blues so far this term, the Nigerian international has scored just three goals, while also grabbing three assists, and it is far from the return expected.
Indeed, his statistics when compared to the Rangers squad as a whole during the current league campaign are extremely underwhelming.
He ranks in a lowly ninth spot for goals and assists (one), while also ranking fourth for shots per game (2.3), first for big chances missed (six) and seventh for key passes per game (1.1), clearly suggesting that he is not having a significant impact on the pitch.
Clement will hope a new manager and a fresh playing style will benefit the former Feyenoord striker. Dessers needs to hit the ground running over the coming weeks otherwise his Gers career could be over before it even gets going.
This big spending on centre-forwards in recent years has not led to much success and, considering the volume of players the club has sold for peanuts or released for free who would be better options than Dessers, the transfer business has been poor.
Once such player was Ryan Hardie, who left the club in 2019 under Steven Gerrard and has since enjoyed a goalscoring spree down south.
What happened to Ryan Hardie?
The striker emerged through the academy to make his debut for the Gers during the 2014/15 season, as the club were trying to battle back to the Scottish Premiership.
A couple of goals signified some potential, and he then spent two loan spells at Raith Rovers, scoring 14 goals in just 34 games for the Kirkcaldy side, and he returned to the Light Blues full of confidence that perhaps he could make an impact in the first team.
Despite the Gers struggling throughout the 2017/18 campaign, Hardie made seven league appearances for the club, failing to score, and the future looked bright, especially having spent the second half of the term on loan at Livingston, helping them secure promotion to the top flight.
Gerrard sent him back out to Livi during 2018/19 and, while he netted seven times, this was not enough to convince the manager he was wanted ahead of the next campaign, as he departed for Blackpool in 2019.
It has been his stint on the South coast with Plymouth Argyle however that has seen the 26-year-old return to prominence, scoring 54 times in 176 appearances and he has shone in the Championship this season.
How has Ryan Hardie performed this season for Plymouth?
The Scot helped the club gain promotion to the Championship and this season, he already has more goals and assists than Dessers, registering eight goal contributions altogether.
His performances when compared to the rest of the Plymouth squad have also been excellent. Hardie is currently ranked first for goals and assists across the first team (eight) whilst also ranking second for shots on target per game (1.6) and shots per game (3.3) along with ranking first for big chances missed (five).
This indicates that he could have added more goals to his tally had he been more clinical with the opportunities that fell his way this season.
However, these displays have been wonderful, and it certainly looks as though the former Gers starlet is finally showcasing the vast potential he once demonstrated in flashes at Ibrox.
The fact he is outperforming Dessers in a challenging league in England is a testament to just how poorly the club have conducted their business over the previous few years.
Of course, an academy graduate making it as a regular first team player is extremely rare, yet Hardie was barely offered a chance by Gerrard, despite showing flashes of quality in the Scottish top flight.
176
54
39
15
34
14
17
3
17
2
12
1
He may not have been the answer for the current squad, but the fact he has scored over half a century of goals since leaving Glasgow is proof that players can still shine despite being told they are not good enough for either of the Old Firm.
If Hardie continues his current run of form, there is no doubt there will be plenty of attention with regard to his availability and Plymouth could well make a stunning profit on the player.
For the Light Blues, it is a case of what might have been. Instead, they have spent millions of pounds signing strikers who have been unable to adjust to Premiership football, whilst one former centre-forward is shining away from Ibrox.