Not long after Pedro Caixinha was first presented to Dave King and the Rangers board as a managerial candidate, Google must have been consulted.

The story goes that former Rangers midfielder, turned agent, Pedro Mendes, was the one to initially put forward the Portuguese coach for the vacancy at Ibrox back in March 2017. Mendes surely came equipped with Caixinha’s CV, so unknown was the former Santos Laguna and Al-Gharafa coach. Whoever first presented Steven Gerrard as a potential Rangers manager didn’t have the same issue.

13,000 fans turned up to Ibrox, filling the bottom tier of the famous old stadium’s main stand, to welcome Gerrard as the club’s new coach two weeks ago. It was an illustration of the excitement felt on the blue side of Glasgow over the appointment of the former England and Liverpool captain. With that excitement comes expectation.

Of course, expectation is heaped on the shoulders of every Rangers manager, such is the stature of the club. They might have fallen on tougher times in recent years, but this is a club that still expects, at the very least, to challenge. Even by this yardstick, though, the pressure dial will be cranked up on Gerrard. That comes with being one of the most recognisable names in the British game.

Realistically or not, Gerrard is charged with restoring Rangers as a force. They talk about ‘going for 55’ at Ibrox, a reference to their record haul of Scottish league titles, a tally which currently stands at 54. Making it to 55 is viewed as the golden carrot motivating everyone at the club to keep going, no matter how far off such an achievement might appear right now.

A second successive third place finish, confirmed by Sunday’s remarkable 5-5 draw with Hibernian, paints the picture of an underachieving team. Rangers boast the second biggest wage bill in the country, by quite some distance, yet that isn’t matched by their performances over the past two seasons.

Resources have been wasted at Rangers in recent years, but most critically time has been wasted. Financial meltdown should have allowed Rangers to build from the ground up. A spell in the lower leagues should have given them time to recalibrate things. Look at the way Juventus made the most of their top flight banishment, establishing the foundations for an era of dominance. The circumstances were entirely different, but Rangers were presented with a similar opportunity. That’s an opportunity that they have so far spurned.

They can’t afford to waste any more time, or money for that matter. Rangers are still counting the cost of a wasteful summer last year, when around £8m was splurged on a host of players who made little or no impact at the club. Carlos Pena, who cost €3m, was sent out on loan after just six months. Striker Eduardo Herrera, who cost €1.7m, has scored just twice for Rangers this season. Bruno Alves, most likely the highest paid player at the club, could be offloaded this summer.

Between Gerrard and director of football, Mark Allan, a fire sale must be orchestrated at Ibrox this summer, with only a handful of players worthy of their place at the club. The problem is there may not be the funds to replace those unworthy of a place at the club. Rangers, as things stand, are dependant on loans and share issues. It’s not yet known how much Gerrard and Allan will be given to spend this summer. “We don't put figures on that because we can’t,” said King.