THE young gun or an old head? The returning Ranger or a new man in town?

It is the dilemma Mark Warburton faces as he prepares to hand out the captain’s armband this summer.

The position of skipper is currently vacant at Ibrox following the departure of Lee McCulloch at the end of the season and, arguably only Lee Wallace aside, there are few outstanding candidates amongst those that remain from last term.

It is likely to mean one of Warburton’s summer signings will be given the honour, and tasked with leading Rangers into the Premiership at the second time of asking.

Of those to arrive at Ibrox so far, Danny Wilson is the obvious man to turn to and the former Hearts captain has spoken enthusiastically about what it would mean to be given the armband.

With a move for midfielder John Eustace, a player and a man Warburton rates highly, still in the pipeline and more new arrivals expected in the coming weeks, it is by no means certain that Wilson will get the nod.

But former Light Blues leader Craig Paterson, who guided Rangers to League Cup success in 1984, is confident the 23-year-old is up to the task.

“Danny done the job at Hearts last year very well and he is someone who knows the club, knows what is expected of him and will be looking to play a big part for Rangers next season,” Paterson told SportTimes.

“Mark obviously knows Eustace and people who have played with him and the kind of influence he can have around a club.

“If he was to come in, it would leave Mark in a good position. It is down to what the manager thinks.

“If he was looking longer term, he might go with Danny. He might be looking at this year and thinking ‘let’s just get out the Championship’ so if Eustace is only there for a year then he might be the man to lead the team.

“I think it is 50-50. It will be down to what Mark sees as the priority. Is it building for the future or just getting back to the Premiership this season?”

Whoever is handed the armband by Warburton in the coming weeks, they will join an illustrious list of men who have lead Rangers on the park.

It would be a unique honour for Wilson who, at 23, would be the youngest skipper since the Dick Advocaat era when Barry Ferguson replaced Lorenzo Amoruso as the Little General’s on-field lieutenant aged just 22.

But Paterson insists Wilson’s lack of years shouldn’t count against him when Warburton sits down to consider his options.

He said: “It is down to the kind of influence you have in the dressing room and on the park.

“Barry was still young but he bossed things on the park. Some people prefer a midfielder to be captain because you can influence the game more, others prefer a defender because they can see the game in front of them.

“I don’t think age matters. It is the old cliché, if you are good enough then you are old enough.

“Danny could fulfil the role no problem at all. It didn’t faze him when he was first thrown into the Rangers team. It is a big test to play for Rangers.

“I don’t know what Mark is thinking but I don’t think Danny’s age will be held against him.

“The manager will assess what the guys have to offer, how the players react to them, and then make a decision.”

The deliberations over who to name as captain is just one item on a lengthy to-do list for Warburton as he prepares for his first campaign at Ibrox.

He inherited a squad short of numbers, low in quality and still reeling from their Championship failures last season when he was appointed boss alongside assistant David Weir.

He has problems to solve right across the pitch, and Paterson knows everyone at Ibrox will have to stand up and be counted this term.

He said: “Rangers never hit the kind of form I expected them to with the players they had at their disposal last season.

“I thought the edge they would have over the rest of the teams in the Championship was their ability to score goals but, for whatever reason, they never found a partnership or a player that caught fire up front. That became a big problem.

“The new manager will be looking for players to come in and stand up and be counted at the back, in the middle of the park, and up front scoring goals.

“Even if you are not the captain, you can have an influence on those around you by performing. The more of that type of player he has the better.”

With Wilson, Rob Kiernan and Wes Foderingham on board already this summer, Warburton has made a solid start to the sizeable rebuilding job he faced ahead of the big kick-off.

Rangers will start their campaign with a Petrofac Training Cup tie against Hibernian in a fortnight and more new faces will be required as the Light Blues bid to fire out of the traps.

Paterson said: “You want to have as strong a squad as possible to cover for injuries, suspensions and a loss of form.

“Over the next couple of weeks, I think there will be a lot of work done in terms of bolstering the squad with the kind of players the manager believes can win the Championship.

“It is vital for Rangers this season and they do need more players if they are to give themselves the best chance of success.”