"It is a very exciting time to be a part of this club and we want to keep pushing every single person involved at Rangers to play their part to be successful."
Those were Steven Gerrard 's words last December as he addressed his public at the club's AGM.
The Rangers boss was rightly bullish with his side already well on their way to the title as they wiped the floor with the competition domestically and remained unbeaten in Europe.
Fast forward 10 months - and while the joy of ending Celtic's dominance will never dissipate - there are clear signs the current side are struggling to replicate the feats of a season for the ages.
They remain top of the Premiership but the free-flowing football has been posted missing and consecutive Europa League defeats to Lyon and Sparta Prague has them up against it in Group A.
Gerrard has endeared himself to the Rangers support with his honesty and he certainly pulled no punches with his stark admission that a continued lack of investment will see the Ibrox side fall short.
The Liverpool icon has been a vocal supporter of the board but he has also played it straight when it comes to the harsh reality in which his side are operating under in the current climate.
Record Sport looks at his most illuminating admissions.
'Impact down the line'
Gerrard admitted the Champions League qualifying defeat to Malmo would likely have ramifications in terms of transfers.
While no big names left in the summer it remains a possibility they will at some point soon with the club also aiming to kick on with their player trading model.
He said: "I'm well aware of how this club works and if the right numbers land for our players we do have to recycle.
"Nothing has been said to me since the [Malmo] game in terms of being in a rush to do that, and nothing has changed in terms of me wanting to keep my best players here to give us the best chance of being successful moving forward.
"But I totally understand how the club works and how it runs, and if the right numbers land for one individual, or a couple of individuals, I know they will be considered above me.
"I'm not naive enough to think that the last two results won't have an impact somewhere down the line."
'Wouldn’t have been resistance'
Gerrard's first chance to reflect on a low-key transfer window was before his side's trip to St Johnstone on September 11.
He admitted he would have been powerless to stop his best players leaving if the right offer landed but was delighted that his core group that won the title by 25 points were able to go again.
He remarked: “I was well prepared for my phone going at any given moment if the right bid landed for a player and the board wanted to accept that, there wouldn’t have been any resistance as long as they were happy on their side.
“This club has had some real healthy bids for our players in the last two or three windows for our players. To be fair to the board, they’ve stayed strong in those situations because they’ve just fell short of our valuations, ie Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos.
“We had some bids for Nathan Patterson that were way off his valuation in this recent window.
“The reality is the valuations from me, Ross (Wilson) and the board collectively no one has hit those numbers but from a selfish point of view, I’m happy with that situation.”
'Not spent a penny'
While his first two musings were mild, Friday's declaration was a direct message that more is needed in the transfer market if he is to build upon a first title in a decade and two consecutive trips to the last 16 of the Europa League.
He said: "To compete with the teams we're playing against, we have to spend big money.
"In the last two transfer windows we haven't spent a penny.
"There has to be some realism there, we can't compete against these teams on their own patch without spending.
"There has to be some common sense when you're judging us from the outside."
