After last year’s AGM in their own New Edmiston House proved to be too crowded, Rangers moved it to the Clyde Auditorium, giving the Ibrox management plenty of leeway.
It wasn’t as stormy as had been anticipated, even though they were third in the Scottish Premiership behind Aberdeen and eleven points behind Celtic, had been eliminated at the first hurdle in the Champions League, and had a major construction accident that forced them to temporarily move to Hampden for the start of the season.
The announcement that the board will be “reconfigured and refreshed” was arguably the most important announcement to emerge from the AGM. Previously consisting only of investors, it will now also include non-executives and non-shareholders. Gilligan, who will welcome new CEO Patrick Stewart later this month, responded, “Every decision made by the board is made in best interests of the club,” when asked how the club makes sure decisions aren’t based on club personalities but rather on procedure. You might question the findings and the utilization of the money. It hasn’t always been good enough, I must admit. However, we are now going to establish a Scottish-based board that will receive a lot more guidance and assistance from individuals in the west of Scotland. Although they are both from the Far East, George Taylor and Julian Wolhardt only ran for reelection for a single year. It indicates that every director will face reelection in 2025.
The audience is blown away by the cash for Cantwell and Co.
Fans assumed there had to be an explanation when it was revealed in the accounts that Rangers had only collected £800,000 in total fees for Robby McCrorie, Connor Goldson, Sam Lammers, Scott Wright, and Todd Cantwell. As it happens, there WASN’T. When chief financial officer James Taylor confirmed that was really the case, the Clyde Auditorium erupted in applause.
“Player trading hasn’t been working for a number of years,” he said, adding that players need to be acquired on “more sustainable” terms. They probably did get more money, but they still had to reimburse the players. “We always go into talks trying to get the best possible deal, but we also have to deal with market reality,” said Nils Koppen, who was just promoted to technical director. As a counterargument, Rangers supporters may mention some of the money generated for Celtic peripheral players.
A pleasant little collaboration in the works?
There was room for imagination with this one. When asked what went wrong, former chairman Alistair Johnston gave a long response, mentioning that he was in the south of France for Rangers’ Europa League match against Nice and that he was chewing the fat with some powerful people.
“I come from an American sports industry where entertainment is the main focus,” he stated. You are not required to win. I am aware of interest. Jim Radcliffe is the proprietor, and I had lunch there with a number of friends and directors when I was in Nice. We are investigating the possibility of club formations. We’ll ask Patrick Stewart for his thoughts on that. I want the incoming CEO and chairman to focus on the important issues. Why do we receive such subpar funding for the media? Why do clubs that finish last in the Premier League receive 28 times as much as we do? The logical next step is to look at Man Utd co-owner Radcliffe’s INEOS, which has a minority stake in Nice and owns FC Lausanne-Sport in the Swiss Super League. Is it possible for Gers to join a stable?
Steel is unhappy with the revelation of the full cost of the mess.
Given how much the Copland Road construction mess has affected the Rangers on and off the field, and especially among supporters, it was bound to be a hot topic. First of all, what was the true cost in terms of money? Gilligan stated, “It will be in the accounts for next year and runs to six figures.”
