Rangers My Club. Something Is Wrong!

I became a Rangers fan on the 10th February, 1963, the day I was born, simply because my parents were Scottish Protestants. Neither were football fans, but being of the same faith, my dad followed Rangers, and that was it! It was the way things were back then and, in fact, still are to this day. Protestants support Rangers; Catholics support Celtic. Sure, there will be a few exceptions, but I doubt it’s something they brag about!

According to research, one very famous fan did switch allegiance from Celtic to Rangers back in the day, and that was the famous Scottish 007, better known as Sean Connery, something that probably wouldn’t happen today!

I remember going to Tynecastle in Edinburgh in the 70s with Mum & Dad, when I was a young teenager, to watch Hearts v. Rangers, but I can’t find the game on record. I was at the Rangers v. Hibs match on December 30, 1995, when Paul Gascoigne scored an amazing goal that I believe won him goal of the season. And I was there with my brother-in-law, the Hibs fan, not the other brother-in-law, the Rangers fan, and on that day, I didn’t know my brother-in-law the Rangers fan; we didn’t meet until years later!

Again, as a teenager, I went to a Scottish Cup semi-final v Aberdeen when Gordon Strachan was playing for the Reds. The Rangers fans were giving him loads of abuse, and in the days of only 2/3 cameras covering the match and undoubtedly not being shown live, he jogged over to the touchline where the Rangers fans were chanting all sorts, and he simply turned his back on them and dropped his shorts and flashed his backside at them. The die-hard Rangers fans went wild; sorry, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the wee man. A cheeky football player personified by his nature in life, as he jogged away, he turned round and smiled at the angered fans

Today, as a fan, things aren’t so good, like many. I have just watched them getting beat 1-2 by Hibs in their second league game of the season, with Hibs scoring in the 93rd minute of 94, and it wasn’t great. In their last two games, Rangers have scored 2 goals, and both of them were scored by the opposition - yep, 2 own goals, and that is embarrassing for sure.

Now I am no magic football guru, or I would be making thousands of pounds each week from my talents, but Rangers have got problems, and someone needs to get a grip of the situation, and just as I offered my services to Shropshire Council, I offer them to Rangers, and I will come into the club, make changes, get rid of people and players that aren’t needed, and put the club first and ensure that the people that are left only want to be there for the best for Rangers Football Club and not the gravy train that goes with it!

When Rangers went into administration back in 2012, they rose again, and we have to assume they did it debt-free, as research tells us they were; yet here we are some 14 years later, and the club is £21.8 million in debt according to their financial statements, which remains the highest in the Scottish Premiership. So how do you go from massive debt to administration to owing nothing to being nearly £22m in debt in 14 years with only winning 3 major trophies? (1 League, 1 league cup and 1 FA cup.)

They were unlucky in 2022 when they lost the Europa League Final on penalties. My Rangers brother-in-law, a season ticket holder, was there (I obviously knew him by then) after travelling strange routes, as many fans do just to be there. Such is the following the club has, and at this stage I will say they are not the only team to have these fanatical followers. But what do the fans really want, and that will divide many for sure! But it's not good enough!

Let’s look across the city at their fiercest rivals, Celtic. According to research, we are told that they are financially secure with cash reserves of around £65m, and they have won the Scottish Premiership 14 out of the last 15 years, with their bitterest rivals being nearly £22m in debt in only 14 years, a difference of £87m, and that is a lot of money.

Now I don’t know what goes on financially in football, but I believe that clubs should be run on gate receipts, and therefore yes, the bigger clubs will have more money, but that is pretty much the way things are anyway; bigger clubs draw bigger investments.

The capacity at Ibrox is nearly 52,000, and the capacity of the SMiSA Stadium, home to St. Mirren, is just under 8,000, so you would say there is no competition there, would you? But who are the present Scottish League Cup holders? Yep, it’s St. Mirren, beating the mighty Celtic 3-1 in last year’s final. We all know these things happen, a bit like Leicester City winning the English Premier League title in 2015/16, and who will be kicking off next weekend in the third tier of English football, League 1? How the mighty do fall, and that’s a bit like Rangers!

Recruitment has got to be at the heart of the problems, and I will come to the present manager, Derek McInnes, in a moment. But who remembers Paul Le Guen? or Pedro Caixinha? Paul and Pedro, who? Let’s take a look at their careers, and who in their right mind would employ guys who have had more jobs than I have had hot dinners? It beggars belief, and this is why recruitment at the highest level has got to be the issue!

Courtesy Google search

Is this what Rangers fans really want?

When Rangers employed Michael Beale, many could understand why! Word on the street was that Steven Gerrard was the famous face to front the team and Beale was the brains behind the scenes and the tactician for them, but let’s take a closer look. When Beale took over as Rangers manager, he was managing QPR in the English championship, and at the time, QPR were bottom of the form table. So why did Rangers want him and who looks at these statistics?

Gerrard left as the mighty Aston Villa came calling, and what happened? He lasted about a year. Then money came calling (and a job,) and off he went to Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Arabia league but left by ‘mutual consent’ about 2 years later. And we all know that means if you don’t leave, we will sack you, sort of scenario! He turned down the chance to return to Rangers after the disaster that was Russell Martin, but many believe that was due to tax reasons!

The official reason was because he wanted to be a manager rather than a head coach, so what is he doing right now? Not much that I can see, which means he’s not really in demand, is he?

So what is it about Rangers and not being able to select decent managers? Because I can’t remember one in recent years, with the exception of Danny Rohl, who unfortunately wanted to return to a club where he had ties – emotions can be strong! But take a look at the list; it’s one after the other. And look at 2017 and 2025: three managers. So who makes these decisions? Because there must be decent managers out there who want this job!

15 managers in 12 years, even if some were temporary!!

Coutesy Google search

I said I could probably do better, and I could with time, but it’s not something I have looked at in any great depth, so I can’t give you a name right now, and being retired, I have better things to do with my time, like travelling in my motorhome or going to the pub to meet friends. But again, pay me the going rate, and I could probably do this full-time and do better than those presently in the job. But like Shropshire Council, it would need co-operation with people already in place!

I would also want to look at the books, and this is where negotiating needs to take place with major fan groups. What do the fans want? Do they want a debt-free club that can compete (remember St. Mirren,) or would they rather be in debt and hopefully back competing for more major trophies like the Europa League and definitely the Scottish Premier League, but right now it is neither?

Living in England I don’t get to go to many games, but courtesy of my season-ticket-holding brother-in-law, I get to go to some when we visit. I saw the CL match v Man United in 2010, v Celtic in a Scottish Cup semi-final, and Aberdeen in the League Cup semi-final in 2023, but I have also seen them play Queen’s Park at Hampden in front of a few thousand fans when they were demoted through administration, and recently away at Dundee United on a cold Thursday night, and that’s me, the armchair fan (of sorts.)

Many do so much more, my brother-in-law included. They travel thousands of miles to the far-out reaches of Europe and Scotland to watch their team, but I wonder if they look across the city at their bitterest rivals and wonder why they can appoint and keep decent managers, win 14 league titles, and more in 15 years, and be so financially secure whilst doing so, because it makes me wonder for sure.

There are many things I will never know, like how Celtic do it, and my first reaction is private investment, and I don’t even know how that works, but whatever they are doing, they are doing it better than Rangers and have been for many years, and that can’t be argued!

But back to research – courtesy of Google:

Celtic F.C. generates its money primarily through commercial revenue, massive matchday ticket sales, lucrative UEFA Champions League participation, retail and merchandising, and player sales. Unlike many clubs funded by a wealthy single owner, Celtic operates as a self-sustaining public limited company (Celtic PLC) where the fans and European qualification drive the financial engine

Rangers F.C. generates its operating money from four primary commercial pillars: matchday ticket and hospitality sales at Ibrox Stadium, domestic and European broadcasting contracts, commercial partnerships and merchandise, and player sales. These operational funds are regularly supported by equity injections and share issues from major investors and holding companies.

Sounds similar? Whatever that means, there is still a difference of over £87m per year in the favour of Celtic. Their blueprint is better, and right now their recruitment and football are better. Someone somewhere is doing something wrong on the blue side of the city, and that is disappointing and needs to be looked at!

But looked at by whom? The people looking into all this are the people presently in charge, so what will change in the near future? Nothing that I can see, anyway!

I wish Derek McInnes all the very best, but I don’t have much confidence. His winning statistics aren’t great, only two at a lower level and the League Cup for Aberdeen, but then I wish all new Rangers managers the best and look at the history. Look at Russell Martin! Rumours have it that he blew the board away at the interview, and that’s why he got the job. It happens at all levels. I once interviewed a guy for a job as a despatch supervisor, and two weeks later I was offering him a job as a FLT driver, or the door, as he was useless as a supervisor. He chose the door, so it happens at all levels, because at interview level he talked the talk.

Look at Martin's departure, very unceremonious, a bit like my supervisor; he just walked out the gate without saying anything to anyone! But I can’t help but think McInnes's appointment was a knee-jerk reaction signing. They needed someone quickly, and an ex-player who had done quite well at another club ticked a lot of boxes. However sometimes a lot of boxes aren’t enough for Rangers; for them, it needs to be ‘all the boxes!’

Is he the man?

Coutesy Google search

I, like many are not very impressed with the start Rangers have made (again,) but I couldn’t quite understand it during the game on Sunday when McInnes substituted the right back for a right back while Hibs were basically playing one striker up front. Surely that is when you put on an attacking player of some sort. Surely three defenders are enough to look after one forward.

Some will say that Hibs scored after the substitution, so I’m talking twaddle, but had Rangers played more attacking football after the changes, then Hibs would have been defending more, holding out for a point, and would not have gotten into the attacking position to score that goal; at least that is my theory.

Managers don’t just need to change players; they need to change games, and unfortunately, I don’t think McInnes has the management skills to do that, as the changes on Sunday proved.

But in his defence, all four of them, failure starts at the top of the tree and not necessarily with the team manager and players; it goes deeper than this, and others at the club need to stand up and admit they are not good enough!

If I am proved wrong, I will write another article admitting my failings and mistakes; however, I do believe my keyboard will be safe for some time to come!

Thanks for reading

DJ