Rangers AGM wasn’t quite as firey as had been expected but John Gilligan and the board still had to face up to some difficult truths.
One of those being the bizarre revelation that just £800,000 was made from the five senior players who were sold and left Ibrox in the summer.
There was an acceptance amongst the support that Rangers had to sell before they could buy and also that they needed to get big earners off the wage bill, however, was Nils Koppen really that desperate?
Nils Koppen explains Rangers feeble transfer income
Speaking after the chief financial officer, James Taylor, confirmed the sum, Koppen explained why the reset was so important:
“One of these key principles was to reduce the average age of the squad and you can see the average age of the player at that club in the last window and on the other side, you can see the average age of the young talent signed,” reported the technical director.
“So, the difference between 29.7 and 23.5, that’s a big difference and it’s one of the key principles that we want to have.”
What has angered fans is that the fees being reported in the press from reputable sources like Sky Sports told an entirely different story.
Sam Lammers on his own was said to be joining Twente for around £2m rising to £4m and the Rangers Review, who have a clear path to information from the club, claimed that Connor Goldson was sold for over £1m.
Rangers fans take to social media to vent anger
It was an amount that had been debated and analysed since the figures were released and it was always a question that Koppen would have to answer at the Rangers AGM.
“The fact we sold 4 players for £800k which is well under their market value is a sackable offence in any walk of life,” suggested one fan, whilst another was quick to remark that this isn’t a new issue, “Our transfer strategy has been utterly abysmal for years (going as far back as the 90’s)”.
A more than valid point.
“Mental”, “Abysmal”, “Beyond concerning”, all similar comments from fans bemused at what had been confirmed.
If it is a one off, Koppen might get away with it, but if he can’t get good value for players who leave when Celtic are making a profit from fringe and academy players who aren’t getting a game, then his job will be in just as much danger as Philippe Clement’s.
