Amad and Itten's post-Rangers success underlines Beale's transfer task

Diallo departed having shown the odd flash of inspiration but the dark shadow cast by him being posted missing in the Parkhead maelstrom seemed to linger longest in the collective memory. 

Itten also left with a Rangers career unfulfilled, even if he did have his moments. A fine display and strike in the Europa League against Lech Poznan and a memorable header against Motherwell was imperative to winning the club's 55th title.

As listicles sprang up in the wake of widespread criticism about Ross Wilson's performance, both were heavily cited as among the sporting director's failures in the transfer market.

And yet, if the Rangers Review was to report Michael Beale had his eye on a target man from the Swiss top flight who had scored 18 and assisted 11 in 31 appearances, as Itten has done, most would be anticipating a signing of note.

Similarly, Diallo has 12 goals and four assists in the testing English Championship. Given a lot of trust by manager Tony Mowbray, he's thrived in the second tier where he's just been nominated for the Young Player of the Year award.

It would be revisionist to ignore that Itten had a lumbering, slightly clumsy, Bambi on-ice vibe in his overall play while Diallo looked easily intimidated by roughhouse treatment from Scottish defenders. Despite this perception, both are clearly good players given what they've done since, certainly better than their form at Ibrox suggested they were.

So what does this tell us? Should these players be on a target list? 

No, but their improvement serves to show just how hard finding a natural Rangers starter is.

They need to be good at football, of course. They need to be able to handle pressure, that goes without saying. They need to have the mental toughness to survive when a win's expected, a draw's a disaster and a loss is a catastrophe. That's just the playing and mentality side.

There's the not-insignificant factor of the mercurial, bizarre Glasgow weather. A strange dialect of English that some find impenetrable and the very different attitude to food and drink compared to a Mediterranean country, for example.

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When it comes to tackling these issues head-on, the club is a very different beast to what it was in the 80s and 90s when foreigners were expected to acclimatise to the idiosyncracies of Scottish culture on their own. For every Jorg Albertz who was found in Walter Smith's local pub puffing on a fat cigar and slowly sipping a pint of lager, there were countless others who couldn't adapt. Player Liason officer Katy Lamont and her support staff ensure arrivals have a tangible support system to live their lives as smoothly as possible. From setting up bank accounts, registering with doctors and arranging property viewings nobody is left to wither on the vine.

But it still happens. Players are only human, and like any of us are prone to difficult life events affecting their work. Any one of these elements outlined can lead to failure in the short term, which in turn can trigger something much more dramatic. A slow start can be terminal. Few players have had the Borna Barisic, John Lundstram or Mark Hateley turnarounds because seldom are they given the time. At Rangers, you have to seize the day - the club won't wait for the jersey to fit as the demands are just too high.

It's promising to see the winter window signings Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin look so readily adapted to life at the club. Michael Beale had his part to play in this, urging his senior players to get around the duo and welcome them into the group. Cantwell in particular looks like a settled young man, aware he's now at a huge club that plays a brand of football suited to his game.

More such talent will be needed. While quality can now largely be measured by the data used to track potential signings, what can't be measured on a spreadsheet are the intangibles.

Do they need the move and the challenge? Can they cope with the physical scrutiny of the Scottish game? Do they understand the media glare? Are they willing to accept the compromises that living quietly in Glasgow demands?

It's something Beale likes to feel out for himself, in person: "I am someone that likes to sit in front of players and have a conversation about where they are going and making sure we are on the same page because I think that helps. I need to see how they fit in with the group.

"I think the evidence in that is the two boys that came in January, they have come in and settled well into the country, the team and the style of football. We had a lot of conversations prior to them signing."

Having worked under Steven Gerrard, the manager knows the pressures of the job, as well as anyone and clearly, he has to sense a player will welcome the often painful, testing journey to success. The rebuild that will take place at the end of the season needs to be forensic in its application exactly because it isn't just talent that's required to be a successful Rangers player.

As Richard Gough famously said: "At most clubs, you're only as good as your last game... at Rangers, you're only as good as your last pass."

Beale will need to target players who hear that quote and want to meet the challenge head-on because as Diallo and Itten show, you can get things wrong while getting them right. And this summer at Rangers, there will be no room for failure.