Derek Johnstone: Andy Halliday and Jason Holt deals prove Mark Warburton has eye on long-term rebuilding job at Rangers

It has been a productive few weeks for Mark Warburton, as he has signed Maciej Gostomski and Harry Forrester and agreed deals for Matt Crooks and Josh Windass on pre-contracts.

He has now seen Holt and Halliday commit their futures to the club for the next four years and I am sure there will be more deals being done before the end of the transfer window.

If you are playing well, like Jason and Andy are, then they will be attracting interest from other managers and Rangers have now moved to ensure they are here for the long haul.

Mark is trying to build a team and he can’t afford people coming in and taking his best players away so Rangers they are giving contract extensions to the players who that deserve them extensions to their contracts.

You have to earn the right to a new deal at Rangers and Holt and Halliday, and McKay if he signs, have certainly done that. The fans will certainly be happy with this news.

Now, if a club does come in and wants to buy them, they will have to put serious money on the table for Rangers to even think about it because they have got the security of an extra couple of years on their contracts.

It is good business all round and I would think that a few more players, if they keep playing the way they are, will be given new deals as well.

We will have to see what other business Mark does this month and in the summer, but there is no doubt that Holt, Halliday and McKay will play a big part in the Premiership next season, if Rangers get there of course.

Jason has played in the top flight with Hearts and, while Halliday and McKay haven’t played at that level, they are more than capable of making the step up and being successful. If they continue to improve, they could be an integral part of the side next season.

Mark obviously sees them as crucial members of his squad and I am sure he will be delighted to have got these deals done and dusted and see the players commit themselves to Rangers.

He will now turn his attentions to bringing in other players to strengthen the squad for the second half of this season and next term.

The manager is well aware of what is needed and there will be more signings this month, I would imagine.

Bids have been made for Brentford midfielder Toumani Diagouraga and Michael O’Halloran of St Johnstone, and it is good to see Rangers looking to do their business early in the window if they can. But, as soon as clubs know Rangers are interested, the price goes up a bit.

If we could get Diagouraga in, that would make the team a bit more solid, because if there is one criticism, if you like, of this side it is that they lose soft goals at times.

At Rangers, if you have one holding midfielder, if he is clever enough, he should be able to do the job well.

That is one area that Mark will be looking at and he knows Diagouraga well from his time at Brentford.

We need someone who is solid and strong in the middle of the park, someone that can go and pick up and track runners and provide a bit of protection to the centre-backs.

At the other end of the park, we need players who can do something a bit different and who can offer a different threat. I would like to see a bigger striker, someone who will give us an alternative approach and be more of a focal point up front.

That is obviously not O’Halloran’s game but he would be another really good option across the front three and it would be a great deal to get done if we can clinch it in January. He has been one of the stand-out players in the Premiership this season and the fans would have been impressed with him when we played St Johnstone at Ibrox in the League Cup as well.

He is a very good forward and, if you can get that kind of player in during the January window, then I think that’s brilliant. you have won a watch.

Mark will have sent Frank McParland out to watch a lot of games and a lot of players and they will have a list that they are working through. Like any club, Rangers want to get players as cheap as possible.

Clubs don’t want to give their best players away, so it is unlikely you will get players after making your first offer. Every player has their price, though.

St Johnstone know that O’Halloran still has time on his deal but it is about when they can get top dollar for him.

When he is playing well and interest is high, that is when you can make the most money.

They will hold on for as much as they can, and rightly so, because every club wants the best deal for them. We will see if Rangers go back in with another bid.

We were originally talking about Mark bringing in two or three this window, but if he could do more deals than that then that would be great and put Rangers in really good shape.

Hibs draw would be ideal for Ibrox men

MARK WARBURTON will always say that it doesn’t matter what other teams do, it is all about Rangers. And that is true.

But I am sure the management, the players and the fans will take an interest in the Falkirk v Hibernian game on Sunday as second takes on third in the Championship.

Someone asked me during the week what the best result would be from Rangers’ point of view and I reckon it is a draw. Both of them dropping two points would suit us.

Then, as long as we win on Saturday against Livingston, we would then be five points clear of both of them. When you consider the goal difference, it would be like a six-point lead.

The most important thing is that Rangers do their job first at Ibrox and then we will see how the game on Sunday goes. It could be a cracking game and Rangers will want to know how these two teams are playing.

Mark will always say in public that he doesn’t mind who wins, as long as Rangers win, and that is fine. Rangers beating Livingston is the most important thing this weekend.

I think the manager, players and fans would be quite happy if it was a draw on Sunday, though.

No reason Waghorn can’t slam home 40!

MARTYN WAGHORN became the first striker in Britain to hit 25 goals this season as he scored a hat-trick against Cowdenbeath last weekend and it is a terrific achievement.

He would have known when he signed for Rangers that with the players we have and the league we are in that he would get plenty of chances to score.

It doesn’t matter what level you are at, scoring goals is scoring goals. It is the hardest thing in the game to do and that is why strikers are worth their weight in gold.

Martyn can play wide on the left and score, wide on the right and score and obviously through the middle and score.

The one thing that I really like is his attitude. He works his socks off. He is a team player first and foremost.

If he can square the ball for a tap-in, he will do that. Some strikers would always say ‘I am a striker, I am shooting and I don’t care who is in the middle’. They are blinkered at times.

But Martyn is different in that respect and he is a really hard-working, industrious forward and the kind of player that Mark Warburton likes.

I scored 41 goals in 1978, which included two for Scotland, and that was my best total for a season. I think he can beat that without batting an eyelid.

If he keeps playing as well, his team-mates keep creating the chances and he can stay fit, there are plenty more to come from Martyn. There is no reason why he can’t get 40-plus this season.