GRAEME Souness brought his reputation as a fearsome football warrior with him when he walked up the marble staircase at Ibrox to revolutionise our game back in April 1986.

But what really induced a fear factor in the Ibrox dressing room was the calibre of player he was able to attract to the club.

Much has changed in the intervening 32 years, of course. Back then, English clubs were still in the throes of a ban from European competition; now they can command TV billions without even having the slightest possibility of getting there. But Ian Durrant, now Dumbarton assistant manager, drew a comparison with those heady days when asked to consider the arrival of Steven Gerrard amid much fanfare in similar circumstances last week. As much store is put on the tone set by initial signings such as Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Colin West, it is equally true that no fewer than 15 members of the Ibrox squad which had finished fifth the previous season shown the door within days.

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“Steven is a great addition to the Scottish game,” said Durrant, speaking at the Back Onside celebrity golf day in aid of mental health work in Scotland. “You think about what Graeme Souness did in terms of bringing in the type of players that he attracted. Steven will be hoping that he now gets the backing of the board to bring in the calibre of player that will allow him to challenge Celtic.

“It wasn’t so much that there was a fear factor amongst the players when Graeme joined,” the former midfielder added. “It was more seeing the calibre of player that was signing. That kept you on your toes.

“When Souness came in, he said in his first meeting with the players that there was going to be a complete overhaul,” the Dumbarton assistant added. “Within a week of him joining, 15 players left the club. That showed you the scale of what he wanted to do. He saw an open sheet and said that, if you wanted to play, you needed to perform. He set a standard that you had to meet.

“Maybe Rangers have too many players in their squad now. You see pictures of them sitting in the Main Stand. Steven will go in and I’m sure he’s got ideas. Players at Rangers right now will be worried about their jobs because the team needs an overhaul, again. After a year, we are talking about another overhaul. It’s quite sad in a way, but that’s the way it is with a new manager going into the club with new ideas”

As much cash as Souness had to play with back then, he nonetheless knew it had to be used wisely. That is another part of the equation which Gerrard must get right this summer, after the huge sums which the club could ill afford which frittered away in recent seasons by his predecessors Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha on the likes of Joey Barton and Carlos Pena. “When Graeme came into Rangers, he spent the money that was available to him wisely,” Durrant said. “His first three signings were Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Colin West. All of them above six foot tall. They were physical and they came in and made a difference.”

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Clinching qualification for European football in midweek will put a starter’s pistol on Gerrard’s recruitment plans, but Durrant reckons that is for the best, regardless of the embarrassment against Progres Niederkorn last season. “The good thing is that, now they have qualified for the Europa League, they are at it right away,” said Durrant. “The recruitment has to be bang, now. Rangers will need to play three qualifiers to get into it, so it will be an early start. But I think that is a good thing. You want to play in Europe and Steven will want that. He’ll want to do something in Europe because his track record there is second to none.”

There are differing reports about how much of Dave King’s money Gerrard will have at his disposal but Durrant for one is sure that the former England midfielder will have been given assurances, while having Gary McAllister alongside him will help him adjust. “It’s not as if Steven is going to go into something like this blind,” said Durrant. “ His eyes will be wide open and I’m sure he’ll be working with Mark Allen right now identifying players.

“Gary knows Scotland,” Durrant added. “He’s a Rangers fan. He’ll give pointers. Steven will be going into a whole new thing. I know he’s been at Liverpool, but it’s a whole new thing at Rangers and every little will help him. The gap is there for everyone to see and the job for everyone - Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs - is to catch Celtic. If you look at the individual matches this season, you would say it’s been Hibs who have pushed Celtic the closest.”