Rich supporters were taken aback when the new Ibrox boss showed up in a luxury area to lay out plans.
In a message to hospitality clients, Fraser Thornton, the new Rangers chairman, called the away record under Philippe Clement “HORRENDOUS” and joked about the recent banner demonstrations, stating that Rangers have been failing for DECADES.
Before Wednesday’s victory over Aberdeen, Thornton joined CEO Patrick Stewart in one of the lounges at Ibrox Stadium. The chartered accountant didn’t hold back when talking about the team’s current struggles, especially when travelling in the Scottish Premiership, and its past setbacks.
Thornton attended a press conference a few days prior, but it was chaired by former Manchester United manager Stewart, who disclosed that the team was supporting struggling manager Clement, who has drawn criticism for dropping 13 points behind rivals Celtic. A day later, in the 55th minute of the Union Bears’ victory over St Johnstone, the Rangers ultras fan group staged a walkout over the club’s management.
“Rangers FC – do not enter unless you’re ready to put yourself second and that should be the one and only time second is good enough for you,” was the Dons’ midweek message, which was inspired by the words of the late, great manager Walter Smith.
In his speech, which was held in the Thornton Suite, Thornton made reference to the banners as he explained the decision to support Clement and stated that they needed to address long-standing problems. He claimed that Rangers had not had a competitive domestic team for ten years, despite an undefeated title-winning campaign in 2021 under Steven Gerrard.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he remarked as he took the microphone. I apologise for interrupting the celebrations, but Patrick and I wanted to at least stop by and say hello. We also wanted to express our gratitude for all that you have done for the club and for your continued support, which we hope you will continue to provide.
Despite what the banners on the Copland Road may imply, we really appreciate it! We greatly appreciate and respect all that you do for us. The other topic we wanted to briefly discuss is… We wanted to provide some background on where we are thinking about some of this in case you were thinking that we have completely lost the place in terms of management and that kind of thing. I’m sure you’ve seen the output of the media conference that Patrick held for us. That isn’t the case.
Naturally, everyone is aware that the outcomes have been far from satisfactory. It is generally known and indisputable. Home has been fine, but away is terrible, I must admit. To be honest, saying “let’s change the manager and move on” would be the easiest course of action.
However, if you take a step back and think about it for a while, you’ll see that the outcomes haven’t been satisfactory season after season. Ten years have passed. Not even a year or two has passed. The time is ten. We’ve had ten years of poor performance.
“We haven’t been able to field a team that can compete domestically and win every single week. Ten years have passed. There are a lot of other factors at work, so it’s not only a managerial problem. With that in mind, and with Patrick’s knowledgeable advice, we decided that we needed to take a close look at not just our football operations but all of our activities in general. For this reason, we announced an operational review. That, then, is the background and the reasoning behind this.
