Rangers will want to see the back of 2024 unless it picks up and the mood around the club and surrounding Philippe Clement improves.
Results on the pitch haven’t been good enough and the domestic form away from Ibrox in particular has seen questions asked about the summer transfers and how good the squad really is.
The manager still believes in them and, despite some of the fans not being happy with Clement, the belief in the board is almost non-existent with so many key roles remaining absent.
John Gilligan claims Rangers might shelve Ibrox upgrades
The shambles with the work to Ibrox was of huge frustration. Fans had no idea where Rangers would be playing or where they would be sitting to watch their team.
Eventually, a deal was struck and Hampden Park was a temporary home, however, doubts have now been raised about the prospect of additional work that is planned to the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine stands.
Responding to a question from the fan advisory board about the fiasco, the minutes noted that interim chairman John Gilligan:
“…acknowledged that significant lessons had been learned, noting that the scale of the project was immense.
“He suggested that in future, if works of this or larger magnitude were to be undertaken, the club might need to plan for a period without use of the stadium.”
When asked if having the materials arrive on time or before the work begun would have helped with completion and meeting deadlines Gilligan:
“…expressed doubts that, even with the materials in place, the project would have been finished within the intended timeline.”
A follow up question was then asked about the planned works to the Broomloan Road and Sandy Jardine stands, to which Gilligan:
“…confirmed that any future works would be carefully considered, and next season must begin at Ibrox.”
Rangers lack of structure a bigger issue than Ibrox works
It would be extreme to cancel the work that would benefit Rangers fans in the long term.
But what it highlights is how important having a competent CEO and/or head of football operations is to an elite level football club.
With neither on board, Gilligan will be giving little more than his opinion when subject matter experts should be available to detail what went wrong and how it can be put right on future projects.
There were a number of scenarios and contingencies that Rangers could have adopted and yet there seemed to be no plan B.
With enough time to plan and to negotiate with the relevant authorities, fixtures could be arranged at the end of one season and the beginning of the next so that there is more space for unforeseen events.
It would also allow for fans to return to Ibrox as they did this season with the top tier of the Copland Road stand closed rather than playing at Hampden.
The problem wasn’t the size of the job in hand, it was having nobody experienced to manage it.
Rangers biggest problem just now isn’t the manager, it’s not having proven operators in the chairman, CEO and head of football operations roles following Creag Robertson’s resignation.
That is the lesson that must be learned.
