ALEX McLeish issued the first rallying call of the forthcoming season last night when he urged his revamped Rangers to compensate for a lack of depth in the squad by showing the sort of spirit and determination which was absent from last season's campaign.
As he unveiled Nacho Novo, his sixth signing of the close season, the Rangers manager also said he would like to sign two more players before the club travelled to a training base in Austria later this month.
McLeish has stolen a march on Martin O'Neill, his counterpart at Celtic, who has yet to make any signings and has lost Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby.
However, the Rangers manager's need is greater than O'Neill's, given that the Ibrox club disposed of eight first-team regulars after Celtic won the Bank of Scotland Premierleague and Tennent's Scottish Cup and reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals while McLeish's team won nothing.
Dado Prso, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Alex Rae, Marvin Andrews, Novo and Dragan Mladenovic, whose work permit was granted yesterday by the department of employment, have been introduced to offset the release of Michael Mols, Ronald and Frank de Boer, Christian Nerlinger, Emerson, Nuno Capucho, Henning Berg, and Egil Ostenstad.
''It will be tight again this year because we still have a few young lads in the squad,'' McLeish acknowledged, optimistic that Chris Burke and Alan Hutton will have benefited from their accelerated development last year.
''This season I think we have a stronger depth of talent and hopefully we can keep our key players injury free.''
McLeish may yet be faced with a fresh flurry of exits. Mikel Arteta remains in
Glasgow awaiting news that his transfer to Real Sociedad has been completed, while Craig Moore's future remains uncertain. He has apparently been relieved of the captaincy as a consequence of his criticism of the club's direction.
McLeish has refused to clarify Moore's situation and made no comment on reports that Michael Ball would also be sold to prevent Rangers from having to give Everton a (pounds) 500,000 payment in accordance with their (pounds) 6m deal.
Instead, he concentrated on those who have committed themselves to the Rangers and challenged them to atone for the failures of their predecessors. ''We had a lot of catching up to do on Celtic, never better illustrated than last season,'' said McLeish, ''I want to see better character and desire and I want to see a determination among the players.
''Things went against us last season but at times we did not show enough character. We have some new blood and I have identified that character in them.''
None more so than his most recent recruit, who has signed a four-year deal. Novo smiled his way through yesterday's press conference as the manager made light of one of his reasons for joining the club at Celtic's expense. ''Mikel [Arteta] is my best friend,'' was met with silence before the manager reassured him: ''You can still keep in touch.''
Novo's 25 goals for Dundee last season affords him a justifiable claim for a starting place alongside Prso but, much to his manager's pleasure, he said he will have to prove himself having illuminated Stark's Park and Dens en route to Ibrox.
''That proves he has what we are looking for,'' said McLeish. ''A lot of players come away with the old line that they have nothing to prove, but I suggest that good players keep proving themselves over and over.''
Meanwhile, Celtic are one of four clubs expected to table an official offer for Marek Heinz, the Czech Republic forward.
Martin O'Neill, who will oversee the start of pre-season training at Celtic Park today, has targeted the 26-year-old who he impressed as part of the Czech squad which reached the semi-finals of Euro 2004. Banik Ostrava are willing to sell their prize asset for (pounds) 1.7m and are in the process of finalising his departure.
Jakub Kahoun, their general manager, said: ''Celtic, Spartak Moscow, Sporting Lisbon, and Borussia Monchengladbach are interested in making offers. We are awaiting official written confirmation.''
Heinz, who scored 18 goals for Banik last season, said Celtic and Sporting Lisbon were his favoured clubs. ''I'd like to go to Celtic, why not? It's a good team and a great club with great fans,'' he said.
The player, who scored against Latvia and Germany in Euro 2004, claimed he would be equally happy to fill a striking role or a deeper-lying midfield position. Celtic are seeking reinforcements in both areas with Henrik Larsson having joined Barcelona and O'Neill keen to add extra flair to his midfield.
While Celtic's pursuit of Heinz is set to rumble on, their interest in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink appears to be ending. Reports from Qatar have claimed the 32-year-old Dutch striker will agree a one-year contract with Al-Rayyan.
Celtic have also said they had received no contact from Norwich City about a possible transfer for Joos Valgaeren.
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