The Rangers board were grilled by shareholders at their annual general meeting this afternoon at the Armadillo in Glasgow off the back of last night’s 6-0 win over Kilmarnock.
The panel led by interim chairman John Gilligan, Technical Director Nils Koppen, Chief Finance Officer James Taylor and Manager Philippe Clement amongst others, faced questions as the club currently sit 11 points off the pace at the summit of the Scottish Premiership.
Here are the key talking points:
RANGERS FAILING TO CASH IN DURING SUMMER WINDOW
Posed a question about departures during the summer window, it was revealed by Taylor that only 800k was brought into the club in player sales. He went on to say that the player trading model ‘has not been working for a number of years’ at Rangers whilst stressing the need to lessen the wage bill.
COPLAND ROAD STAND CALAMITY
After renovation work to the Copland Road stand were delayed by a shipment of steel, Rangers were forced to play home games at Hampden Park for the opening period of the season. Quizzed on this subject, the board admitted it was ‘ambitious’ to complete the project within the time frame and said that steel was ordered when they were told to do so.
John Gilligan said that they would not be undertaking any such project in the future without complete reassurance it could be completed in the timescale set, whilst also admitting that the cost of moving to the national stadium ‘ran into six figures’.
STANDARDS SET DURING 55 SEASON
Gilligan assured fans that the board are ‘managing’ the drop off from the title winning season when Rangers secured their 55th Championship. Head of Commercial Karim Virani reiterated this sentiment that the board would ‘work night and day’ to get the team back to the level of the 2020/2021 season.
ON-FIELD REBUILD
Philippe Clement insists that ‘the day they lower the bar at Rangers they are not Rangers anymore’ as he admits that a rebuild in the playing squad is the current reality he is faced with. He said that there is a legacy of winning but highlighted the challenges of managing a budget whilst aiming to reach the level of becoming Champions.
