Rangers moved out of the Clyde Auditorium yesterday just as Jools Holland prepared to move in for a two-night residency.
Talk about Up The Junction.
The former Squeeze pianist and the Light Blues may have become adept in recent years at singing the blues, but the Gers faithful were comforted by a commitment to ensure they’ll soon be hosting a Hootenanny of their own again at Ibrox.
Rangers chairman Dave King, who struck the right tone between assured and apologetic, isn’t always a natural communicator but played his audience as comfortably as Holland tinkles the ivories on a Steinway.
King murmured a few bars of soulful regret – we mismanaged Barrie McKay’s departure from the club and sold him on the cheap, he lamented.
There were a couple of torch songs of defiance as he insisted they are on top of the recruitment process for a new manager, which could be finalised next week, and dismissed claims they’ve been asleep on the job.
He even threw in a revenge number, hitting out at the Easdales for dobbing him in to the Takeover Panel, an allegation angrily denied by the McGill’s bus bosses.
The 1200 supporters inside the Armadillo joined in on a sing-along of an old fan favourite, slagging off Celtic fans and demanded their ticket allocation for Ibrox be reduced.
“They treat us and our players with contempt,” warbled one shareholder soloist, who surely wasn’t reaching for the mic in the days when his team put four and five past the Parkhead club. Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson makes a rotten Freddie Mercury. He ruined the harmonious buzz from the audience when he pointed out Celtic would operate a quid pro quo policy in return, before promising to continue dialogue.
The loud murmurs of dissent from the floor let it be known they would happily give up their seats in a corner wedge of Parkhead in order to see the Broomloan Stand painted in a sea of blue on Old Firm matchday.
King’s encore, broadcast later on Rangers TV, was another popular number, promising continued investment until the club are back and ready challenge Celtic for Scottish football’s ultimate bragging rights.
He said: “The only way we can be self reliant is to have continued success in Europe. It’s not enough to qualify and be knocked out at the early stages.
“It will only happen when we feel we’re sufficiently resourced to be reasonably sure we can get to the Europa League, its knock-out stages and occasionally the Champions League.
“At that level we can be self sufficient, but we’re probably still two or three years away from that.”
Observers expecting a rowdy reception for the board in light of the time it has taken to appoint a successor to Pedro Caixinha, allied to recent underwhelming results, were disappointed.
The spirited performance little more than 12 hours before as they knocked three past Aberdeen without reply took some of the sting from the occasion.
Historically, Rangers shareholders have been reluctant to wash dirty linen in public, albeit they made an exception for the Easdales and chairman David Somers two years ago with shouts of “rats” and “spivs” as they sat huddled in a cheap marquee at the corner of the Govan Stand.
In his chairman’s address, King read from a prepared statement in which he revealed the club were bound by a confidentiality clause from revealing a pay-off to Sports Direct for £3million to end their controversial retail deal.
He also frankly admitted he and the Three Bears cannot dip into their pockets forever, which makes their return to profitability sooner rather than later all the more pressing.
He added: “So far the board has been successful in securing the cash resources that have been required – often at short-notice – but we can’t take future funding for granted if there is no end in sight to the company’s losses, or if we take on excessive risk during this intervening period.
“It is the responsibility of your board to ensure that this does not happen.”
On several occasions, shareholders stepped forward to thank King and his directors for ultimately rescuing their club from the grip of Charles Green and various other money- grabbers, but praise was also tempered with valid criticism.
A representative of Club 1872 took the club to task over the delay in appointing a successor to Caixinha and claimed it had cost Rangers reputational harm, as well as progress in the league.
King replied: “I don’t accept the comment. It can take me three months to appoint an executive in South Africa. It’s a very, very important position.
“We are aware this is going to be a three to three-and-a-half year contract and in doing proper analysis of who the person should be, the fact we lose to Dundee, Aberdeen or Hamilton doesn’t change who that person should be.” Director Alistair Johnston admitted they had to act and fire Caixinha because “the players weren’t all on the same page” while King made the surprising admission his board are finding it difficult to budget.
In offering an explanation, he also suggested director of football Mark Allen may have a more significant role at the club than previously imagined.
King said: “If we’d gone to Pedro and said, ‘Here’s your budget and it’s fixed’ then the director of football says he has to change the manager, that’s not in the budget and requires compensation.”
In the absence of a manager, Allen represented the football department and was asked to outline the key attributes for the new manager.
He said: “There must be continuity to the football club, from the academy to the first team. A big consideration is someone who sees the bigger picture. We’ve invested in our academy and you can see shoots such as Ross McCrorie coming through.
“However, the manager will always have the say on the players he picks, team selection and the decision over tactics.”
Shareholders are expected to pass Resolution 11, which will give the board the chance to offer new shares to new investors but King is unlikely to invest, technically speaking.
Asked about his ongoing battle with the Takeover Panel, he said: “I invest through one of my trust companies, New Oasis Asset Ltd. It is not my intention to hold shares in my personal name.”
A mention of Oasis in the shadow of The Hydro. The Gallagher brothers have no plans for a big time comeback soon, but King and Rangers? On the evidence of yesterday, Definitely Maybe.
