By Frank McAvennie

15th Oct, 2023 | 6:00am

McAvennie rips into Rangers new signings as savage verdict issued - 'I can't believe it'

Frank McAvennie has claimed Rangers won’t challenge Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title this season after failing to replace their outgoing stars with enough quality.

The former Celtic and West Ham striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the exits of Fashion Sakala, Antonio Colak, Scott Arfield and Glen Kamara have left the Gers without any “fire or passion”.

Michael Beale, who was sacked earlier this month after a poor start to this season, was allowed to make wholesale changes to the Rangers squad during the summer window.

He brought in no fewer than nine new faces, while 15 first-teamers were allowed to leave Ibrox.

Rangers are now seven points adrift of rivals Celtic despite winning 3-0 against St Mirren under interim boss Steven Davis on Sunday (8 October).

The Glasgow giants finished seven points adrift of the Hoops in the 2022-23 campaign and ended the season without a trophy.

McAvennie told Football Insider: “I can’t see Rangers challenging Celtic.

“Even when Celtic had so many injuries, they went to Ibrox and beat them.

“I just can’t see it.

“At the moment, they’re just not good enough.

“I just don’t see any fire or passion in the team. When Celtic are playing badly, they’re still chasing the ball down trying to get it back.

“Maybe Steven Davis and Alex Rae will install that back into them and help them get their act together.

“They’ve got no pace in the side, either. They’ve got rid of Sakala, they’ve got rid of Colak – who scored a lot of goals.

“And I can’t believe they got rid of Arfield and Kamara in midfield. That’s four good players.

“They’ve not replaced them with anyone near as good as them.

“That’s where the problem has been.”

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