IT is all in the planning. It is the fail to prepare, prepare to fail mantra that can be the difference between winning and losing when the stakes are as high.

Rangers have gambled this season. Come the summer, the Ibrox board will have to count the cost and decide for themselves if it was worth the risk.

The cyclical nature of football – of form, of squads, of winners and losers – is nothing new and there is a sense that Rangers are coming to the end of a phase under Steven Gerrard.

It is one that has, of course, been historic and successful, to a point at least, so far. As it stands, Rangers are more likely than not to add to the sought-after 55 with another Premiership title this term.

Back-to-back league crowns would be a significant achievement for Gerrard and his squad, but it would surely be the last that they will win together, if indeed they get over the line come May.

At the end of what will be his fourth campaign as manager, the next rebuild could be just as significant as Gerrard’s first as Rangers face up to the potential scenario of several high-profile exits.

That work will be funded, in part, by the banking of Champions League money if Rangers can retain their title and bank a £30million jackpot as a bonus for winning 56.

But money will also have to be generated from within and this is where the strategy of buy low, sell high comes into play and must come to the fore.

It is one that Rangers have spoken about for some time. At the AGM last year, deputy chairman John Bennett described player trading as one of the ‘four pillars’ of the club.

It is easier said than done, however. For all the talk, Rangers can only be judged on their actions and it is clear that a risk has been taken in the pursuit of that European pot of gold.

Gerrard would voice his frustration with Rangers’ transfer strategy in the aftermath of the defeat to Sparta Prague last month and he insisted that ‘big money’ needed to be invested to compete, even at a Europa League level where his side have impressed in recent seasons.

Gerrard had hinted at such a stance previously, but those pointed comments – as he stated that Rangers hadn’t ‘spent a penny’ in the last two windows – were intriguing.

Part of the problem, though, is that Rangers haven’t made significant money in the market and therefore the funds have not been there to be reinvested in a group that could have done with a freshen up in areas ahead of the new campaign.

Timing is everything for a club that must operate such a model and Rangers may have missed the prime moment for a handful of their most valuable assets this summer.

Connor Goldson is a case in point. As he kept his cards close to his chest with a poker face answer regarding his contract on Wednesday, supporters read into what he didn’t say rather than what he did.

Gerrard appeared hopeful that the 28-year-old would put pen-to-paper on an extension earlier in the season. Several weeks on, there is no ink to be dried as Goldson stated he hadn’t ‘heard anything’ and ‘couldn't tell you where it’s at’.

If the Englishman wishes to run down his deal and search for a bumper payday south of the border – a move which Goldson will surely earn given his fine form for Rangers over so long – then that is entirely his right and prerogative.

But, if he does leave on a Bosman next summer, it would be a failing of Rangers’ transfer model to allow an asset worth several million pounds to walk away for free.

No matter how highly he is regarded and how solid a servant he has been, losing an English player in his prime years to a club south of the border would be poor business.

Rangers have avoided that fate with Glen Kamara after he agreed a new four-year deal last month. That is basically money in the bank for the champions and there will surely be sustained interest in Kamara in the coming windows.

Rangers will be able to command a hefty fee for the Finnish internationalist, but their bargaining position will be significantly weaker when Alfredo Morelos enters the final year of his Ibrox contract.

Like Morelos, Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo, Ryan Jack, Filip Helander and Juninho Bacuna are also only tied down until 2023 and Rangers will need to cash in if extensions are not signed in many cases.

Time will tell whether Allan McGregor and Steven Davis choose to play beyond next summer, while Jon McLaughlin, Leon Balogun and Scott Arfield will also become free agents at the end of the current campaign.

It all points to a period of defining decisions. If Rangers are to master the model and trade effectively, then the next two windows carry both risk and reward for Gerrard and sporting director Ross Wilson.

It is unrealistic to expect the current corps of investors to continue funding Rangers’ transfer activities and not see any money recouped by the football department. The time has come for Rangers to be self-sustaining and self-sufficient.

Cash was front-loaded to close the gap to Celtic and allow Gerrard’s side to overtake their Old Firm rivals but the allegation of standing still was always going to be made if Rangers didn’t go again and go bigger in the transfer market to really emphasise their superiority.

With no sales once again this season, it is no surprise that business has been limited and the issue now is that likely fees for their prized assets will reduce 12 months down the line from when it was expected that one or two would move on.

Rangers are banking on Champions League money in more ways than one and this season appears to be a final push from the current evolution of Gerrard’s side.

The end of the cycle looks to be approaching. The coming months will determine what Rangers’ ambitions are for the next era at Ibrox.