I like a lot of what I’ve seen of Mark Warburton so far as Rangers manager.

The guy appears genuine, insightful, and devoted to the task of building the club up. Warburton also has Rangers playing a brand of football that, barring the odd mishap and moments of over-egged stuff, is pleasing on the eye.

Of course, all this flummery is beside the point. In terms of the long-term project, the jury on Warburton must remain out.

Where will Rangers be under their manager one year, 18 months, two years from now? Things can capitulate remarkably quickly in football.

If Warburton cannot elevate the club to serious Ladbrokes Premiership title contention, and land some silverware over the medium term, then all the current, glossy press about him will count for little.

Nothing has changed in this regard. A Rangers team leading the Scottish Championship – which is the level of the old English third division of my childhood – is not such a big deal. It is the summer of 2016 onwards that will reveal the true worth – or not – of Warburton’s value to the club.

So his current dealings in the transfer market are intriguing. Into Rangers have come Josh Windass and Matt Crooks, brought by Warburton from Accrington Stanley, a club which currently lies seventh in the fourth tier of English football.

Is this the sort of squad-building that, as Dave King has assured, will open “the doorway to Europe” for Rangers next season?

Among King’s various, sometimes chaotic statements, getting Rangers as quickly as possible “back to the top” and into European football has remained the goal. So some Rangers fans are intrigued by the prospect of such modest signings as Windass and Crooks coming to the club, bearing that ambition in mind.

Of course, it could all be absolutely fine. Warburton may, in fact, be a near-genius in sourcing lower league players in England with skill and potential, and making them work for Rangers.

The Rangers manager may also be of the opinion – with some justification – that the Premiership in Scotland is not a world removed from the second, third, or even fourth tier in England, and that he is not asking players like Windass and Crooks to make such a great leap.

Let’s be honest about it: grafting Andy Halliday was let go by both Middlesbrough and Bradford City, but he is a key component for Rangers.

James Tavernier had never really settled at any English lower league club, and had done loan stints at Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham and Bristol City, before Warburton took him from Wigan Athletic.

The blunt truth is, while starring for Rangers in their current setting, players like Halliday and Tavernier may be distinctly plodding in wider British terms.

The question is, can Warburton take these players, as well as Windass and Crooks, and forge a forceful Rangers future around them, never mind the here and now?

I had always believed – though I may have been wrong – that what Warburton was doing was creating a strong Rangers team for the years ahead.

This current Rangers team is night and day compared to this time last season. But will the same be said this time next year? In other words, is Warburton just dealing in short-term aims – getting into the Premiership, then consolidating a mid-table finish in May 2017 – or is there a longer-term aspect to his work?

Some fans hold reservations, amid all these lower league signings arriving at Rangers, that it will not be enough. Such experiences as the 3-1 home defeat to St Johnstone in the League Cup at Ibrox in September only feed this anxiety.

It may be that some serious summer investment in this Rangers team, over and above the creative, cheap scouring currently going on, will make the team ready for King’s “doorway to Europe”.

The Rangers fans are being asked to make their own leap of faith in Warburton and, it must be said, many of them hold a very refreshing perspective on it all.

A lot of fans are saying: ‘We are where we are…let’s be patient and rebuild.’ In contrast to some old Rangers FC accusations, there is a distinct lack of hubris about it all. After all their pain, they want to see Rangers thrive, and are heartily backing Warburton.

In my business, we routinely slag off supporters for their impatience. I don’t see how we can take these same supporters to task for giving their coach and their club some breathing space.