NINE-IN-A-ROW star Scott Nisbet today told Mark Warburton it is vital he retains a Scottish contingent in his team next season – so the new signings understand what playing for Rangers is all about.

Warburton has strengthened his Gers squad significantly since winning the Ladbrokes Championship last season by bringing in Joey Barton, Matt Crooks, Jordan Rossiter and Josh Windass.

And the former Brentford boss has also been linked with moves for veteran Queens Park Rangers defender Clint Hill, Croatian internationalist Niko Kranjcar and Walsall striker Tom Bradshaw in the close season.

Nisbet played for the Glasgow giants at a time when many of the biggest names in football were signed for multi-million pound transfer fees – including Terry Butcher, Ray Wilkins and Chris Woods – during what became known as “the Graeme Souness Revolution”.

However, the former defender reckons the home-grown players at that time were every bit as important to the success which the Light Blues enjoyed both domestically and in Europe.

The man who scored a famous deflected goal in a 2-1 win over Brugge at Ibrox as Walter Smith’s side went undefeated in the first ever Champions League back in the 1992/93 season believes having Scots in the team remains vital.

Now running the Lanzarote Soccer School in the Princess Yaiza Hotel in Playa Blanca, Nisbet has urged Warburton not to fill his side entirely with players from his homeland and overseas imports.

“The foreign players who came to Rangers when I was there often didn’t realise how big a club it was,” he said. “It isn’t just that they dominate domestically and have huge crowds either. Rangers is a worldwide brand.

“I am based over in Lanzarote now and there are Rangers bars out here. The same is true in Cyprus, Spain, anywhere you go in the world.

“I am a great believer that if you leave Rangers you are taking a step backwards. You don’t get another club like Rangers. The same is true at Celtic. Celtic are a massive club domestically and worldwide.”

Nisbet added: “I can remember when Mark Walters joined Rangers back in 1987. We were staying at the Maybury Hotel in Edinburgh before playing Hearts at Tynecastle and I was sharing a room with him. We got chatting about the game.

"Mark was the first high-profile black player to move to Scotland. I told him: ‘You’ll have to watch yourself if we get a corner at The Shed’. Sure enough, the first corner we got there the following day he had bananas thrown at him by Hearts fans on the terraces.

“At half-time we got back into the dressing room and the first thing Mark said was: ‘Nisy! You were right!’ I burst out laughing. Then he said: ‘Does somebody else want to take the corners?’ We all cried out: ‘No thanks!’

“But my point is that the Scottish lads were able to take the players who arrived from England and other countries and explain to them what is required and what to expect. It is important to have that at a club.”

The capture of a high-profile English player like Barton, who helped Burnley win the Sky Bet Championship last season and was named in the PFA Team of the Year, has brought back memories of a bygone era for many Rangers supporters.

But there was one crucial difference to the 1990s and 2000s – the one-time Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Marseille man was brought in for free on a Bosman.

Warburton has spent little over £1 million on players since arriving last summer – and the majority of his outlay was on Michael O’Halloran who arrived from St. Johnstone for a £500,000 fee back in January.

Rangers, who underwent a change of regime at the end of last season, have been operating at a loss after years of turmoil at boardroom level and unrest in the stands and relying on interest-free loans from wealthy benefactors to stay afloat.

Nisbet, though, believes the sensible signing policy is the correct way for his former employers to go given the serious and well-documented financial difficulties they have experienced in recent years.

“Mark Warburton has done a marvellous job,” he said. “When he walks out that tunnel and sees 50,000 people in the stands he must pinch himself. It must be a dream job for him.

“Fans expect success at Rangers and he has delivered that. Sure, the Scottish Cup final was unfortunate, the team didn’t play at all well. But I believe that next season they can step up a level – and go for title number 55!

“The problem in Scottish football at the minute is that Rangers haven’t been a force in it for the last five years. That has hurt the game big style. It will be good to see them back involved next season.

“But too often in the past Rangers bought players for millions of pounds who only played 10 or 15 games and then left having pocketed a lot of money. Players were coming to Rangers for a quick pay day.

“There was crazy money getting splashed around. At the end of the day, that’s what cost Rangers and led to all their financial troubles. They have to take a different approach now and are doing so.”