When Patrick Stewart starts his job as Rangers CEO, there’s every chance he will not walking in through the gates of the most successful club in world football.
Rangers have long held the moniker as global football’s most successful club, with Al-Ahly’s dubious claims including regional trophies.
If the Ibrox side did likewise, Rangers’ combined haul of 214 trophies would end any debate.
Celtic have now drawn level on Rangers with official trophies on 118, with next month’s Hampden Premier Sports Cup Final a chance for our Old Firm rivals to establish a painful dominance.
It’s a moment which threatens to shred the very identity of the Rangers support to pieces – and our fearless new leader won’t start until it’s settled.
Patrick Stewart start date turns Rangers heads
Rangers have announced the appointment of ex-Manchester United CEO Patrick Stewart as their new CEO, six months on from the exit of James Bisgrove.
The move has been met with positivity in serious football circles, with the Aberdeen-born executive bringing close to 20 years of Old Trafford experience to Ibrox.
To be fair, it’s hardly been a wonderful decade for the Red Devils, but we don’t want to go dragging what is regarded as a positive move down before it’s even started.
But whilst Rangers fans are glad to finally get a bit of structure in the club’s boardroom, Patrick Stewart’s Ibrox start date has been turning heads.
That’s because the University of Glasgow graduate isn’t set to get his feet under his desk at the top of the marble staircase until December 16th.
New CEO to miss Old Firm Premier Sports Cup Final
Rangers are set to face Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup Final at Hampden on Sunday December 15th.
Should Celtic defeat Rangers – and bear in mind they will be overwhelming favourites to do so – then they will lift the 119th trophy in their history.
This will, officially, make Celtic the most successful club in world football even if our Old Firm rivals have tried to deflect from our achievements by backing Al-Ahly’s dubious numbers.
And yet Rangers have handpicked the day after for our new CEO to begin work at a club which is in dire need of leadership on and off the park.
Either it’s a startling coincidence or Rangers don’t want to blemish the new CEO with the failings associated with defeat in December.
Either way the optics are terrible and don’t exactly inspire confidence.
In what promises to be defining week for Philippe Clement – who is not set to be sacked as Rangers manager for the time being – Stewart also misses the Europa League visit of Tottenham Hotspur in the build up.
That’ll be the same Tottenham Hotspur who are led by ex-Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou and who have just absolutely mullered Manchester City 4-0.
Remarkably, Patrick Stewart may not be part of the team who are trying to prevent Rangers from utter humiliation that particular week.
But the new CEO’s first port of call on December 16th could be to roll up his sleeves and pull out a wall scraper to remove any mention of ‘the world’s most successful club’ from the walls of Ibrox.
His next could be to call a hapless Philippe Clement into his office and finally put the Belgian out of his misery.
Maybe Stewart could then pick up the phone to a former Manchester United manager who has recently found himself out of work…
