IN THE absence of signings to send pulses racing, speculation can become a distracting pastime at this time of year. And those who frequent websites devoted to such tittle-tattle are currently being entertained by fans who claim to be in the know; from burger sellers outside Parkhead to chefs at Ibrox.

At least the burger seller has seen players arrive at Celtic to be paraded in recent weeks; the club having invested £4.4m to bring Scott Brown to the club and then return to Easter Road to sign Chris Killen on a Bosman. By comparison, the only verifiable news emanating from Ibrox of late was the revelation from new recruit Jean-Claude Darcheville that he is a right grumpy sod.

He has joined the right club. For the frustration of Rangers supporters is evidenced on the internet, in letters pages and on radio phone-ins. A trio of free transfers and a ridiculously low initial bid for Kilmarnock's Steven Naismith has seen both chairman Sir David Murray and chief executive Martin Bain come under attack for their perceived inactivity and lack of ambition.

The fact Celtic have now registered an interest in signing Naismith - some reports suggest a £2m bid is imminent - could be the final straw for many Rangers fans.

In such circumstances, there is more than a degree of wishful thinking about apocryphal tales from such as the Ibrox chef, who claimed to have made dinner for new signings Alan Smith, Pascal Feindouno, Paul Konchesky and Stephen Appiah after the quartet had enjoyed a day's golf at St Andrews.

When Walter Smith did go on record last week it wasn't to confirm such an unlikely scenario. Instead, it was to highlight the scale of the challenge he faces; what with Champions League qualifiers to be negotiated before the league begins and a new team to be constructed over the summer.

"Everybody has to work within certain limitations and the biggest problem with Rangers' budget is that we need a number of players to boost not only our first team, but our first team squad," explained Smith.

Effectively, the manager is attempting a juggling act with one hand tied behind his back, and the clock ticking.

Off-loading players increases his options on the recruitment front, but that is easier said than done.

The realities of football finance on these shores is that Rangers are well adrift of Premiership clubs, and even many Championship sides, when it comes to financial muscle.

However, criticism that Rangers have been inactive is wide of the mark. Bain was not in Florida last week to top up his tan. Both the chief executive and the manager were attending a fans' convention in the USA, but talks were also ongoing to sign DaMarcus Beasley, PSV Eindhoven's American winger.

Peter Lawwell, for one, knows Rangers are extremely busy in their attempts to bolster their playing staff - the Celtic chief executive's opinion being based on the fact you cannot work in such close proximity and in the same market without being aware of some of what the opposition are doing.

But wanting players and signing them are two very different things. Rangers wanted Scott Brown, but not at £4.4m and £25,000 a week in wages. Such is the balancing act for Smith, who clearly feels he needs several new players and has to stretch his budget to cover a significant recruitment drive rather than invest the majority in one key signing.

Still the Naismith situation is mystifying. Whether the Ibrox club's initial offer to Kilmarnock was £400,000 or £600,000, it is still nowhere near a reasonable starting point in any negotiations for the youthful striker.

Something close to £1.7m with add-ons might well have secured the signature of the 20-year-old. However, if Celtic's reported interest is genuine, can the Ibrox club afford to lose out to their rivals again? Because - his merits as a player to one side - Naismith has become something of a touchstone for the Rangers fans, who watched in frustration as their club lost the battle to sign Brown.

The bottom line, and one sometimes forgotten by supporters, is that the transfer window has only just opened. Smith, and indeed Bain and Murray, should be judged on their signings only when it closes at the end of August.

Martin O'Neill was renowned for leaving it late in the day in his transfer dealings while he was at Celtic. And Smith, as the grey hairs suggest, is hardly inexperienced in such matters.

However, the Rangers manager is burdened by a pressure fuelled by last season's travails and the inauspicious signings which preceded it.

Paul Le Guen's reign at Ibrox may have been brief, but the consequences will continue to be felt for a good while yet if Rangers can't get a return on the likes of Filip Sebo and Karl Svensson.

Smith knows he can't afford to blow any of his budget on strikers who can't score and defenders who look incapable of clearing their lines.

There may also be a couple of other factors at work at Ibrox this summer. Rangers will know whether they have made the group stages of the Champions League just before the transfer window closes. Success may trigger more spending; failure could curtail it.

Then there is the chairman's personal game plan. Murray has made it clear he is contemplating selling the club after two decades at the helm.

One wonders if he is working on his own equation. Will investing another X amount deliver Y if he sells? Or will he simply be spending more with little hope of recouping any extra?

Such are the imponderables. All Rangers fans can do is wait to see whether Smith can deliver.

And perhaps hope the chef at Ibrox does have some inside information.