Rangers have been dealt an almighty financial blow as the club drops down from the Champions League to the Europa League following defeat to Dynamo Kiev.
The controversial 2-0 loss – which came after a dubious second yellow card was shown to Jefte in the second half – has huge ramifications for the club on and off the park.
Now Rangers will not be included in the first edition of the revamped Champions League group stages, whilst financially superior Celtic have already booked their place on our ticket.
Philippe Clement has been patently clear that the situation will dramatically influence the club’s end of summer transfer business too, with the size of the Gers’ budget largely dependent on qualification.
But just how much is a failure to qualify for the Champions League set to cost Rangers this season?
How much will Champions League failure cost Rangers?
Whilst it’s hard for anyone to calculate the exact figure due to numerous unknown variables, there are some clues surrounding the impact of Champions League qualification on the budget of Rangers which can lead to a solid estimate.
TBR football finance expert Adam Williams told Rangers News that Champions League qualification was worth around £30m to the Ibrox club.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement, speaking to the press directly after defeat to Dynamo Kiev, claimed qualification was worth £40m.
Leading Scottish football X account Scotland’s Coefficient has also been crunching the numbers in the wake of the devastating Champions League exit.
Claiming that qualification alone was expected to be worth €43m (£36.9m) before ticket sales, the club’s calamitous failure to make the Champions League is stark.
The situation is made worse by the fact that Rangers have failed to reach the Champions League Playoff stage, something which is worth a guaranteed £3.7m to it’s participants.
With Europa League qualification set to be worth only €12m (£10.3m), that’s a monumental difference of £26.6m before Rangers have even sold a ticket for the revamped group stage.
That means we’re down the guts of £30m before we’re even out of August.
Patience runs out for succession of failures at Ibrox
Whilst we’ve just quantified the financial blow attached to this monumental Champions League failure, the footballing impact is still to be felt.
Old Firm rivals Celtic have been gifted safe passage to the Champions League due to a combination of their domestic dominance and our exploits on the continental stage.
Celtic are about to spend £9.5m on a player, have that near £30m Champions League financial boost in the bank, and are also about to potentially sell Matt O’Riley for £25m.
Rangers and Philippe Clement are under pressure to close the gap on the Parkhead side but it’s a monumental task when the club cannot effectively maximise its finances.
Can we really expect the Belgian manager to work miracles given the depth of failure from the Ibrox boardroom down?
Rangers can complain about the questionable standard of refereeing at Hampden, but the club didn’t exactly help Clement or the squad heading into the match.
Clement said back in July that Rangers needed ‘extra quality’ to qualify for the Champions League.
On top of Rangers being severely undercooked, the club are also, due to yet more ineptitude, currently playing their home games at Hampden.
Going by the swathes of empty seats at the national stadium against Dynamo Kiev, Rangers fans haven’t responded well to the situation.
The club has also moved on several of their influential players on and off the park from the last few seasons in Connor Goldson, John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe.
Throw Abdallah Sima into the mix and suddenly Rangers look considerably weaker than last season.
Especially when you consider the club have failed to shift the average players on high wages who have contributed to this epic failure on the park.
The club would’ve been better moving on the overpaid dross like Tom Lawrence, Ben Davies, Rabbi Matondo, Kieran Dowell, and Todd Cantwell before the club’s established leaders.
We might’ve even been better giving Giovanni van Bronckhorst the £21m Rangers let Michael Beale splurge on the likes of Jose Cifuentes, Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and Danilo.
The Brazilian striker has been posted missing this season and Philippe Clement had to explain Danilo’s ridiculous limp away as the £6m hitman’s normal gait in a post-Dynamo grilling.
With the Europa League beckoning for Rangers, the club has proven woefully underprepared for the Champions League qualifiers let alone the Champions League.
We’re not convinced this squad has what it takes to make a decent fist of it in European football’s secondary competition either.
Could this be the season fan patience finally runs out at Rangers?
We reckon Hampden could be a very lonely place for John Bennett, Philippe Clement and the rest of the bumbling Rangers squad until things change.
