New Rangers chairman assures fans 'we haven’t completely lost the place’ in shock speech after decade of decline
The newly-appointed Ibrox chief claims the club have 'underperformed' for a decade as he slammed their 'horrendous' away form
Rangers chairman Fraser Thornton has claimed the club have been underperforming for a DECADE as he moved to assure supporters that the current Ibrox board have “not completely lost the place.”
The newly-appointed executive team comprising of Thornton and CEO Patrick Stewart have faced up to fans fury over the recent decision stick with beleaguered boss Philippe Clement. And the Daily Record have now shared a video clip showing the duo making a surprise public address to hospitality clients after Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Aberdeen, which left them 13 points behind rivals Celtic in the league table.
Thornton appeared alongside Stewart on stage in one of the club’s VIP lounges and pulled no punches as he discussed past failures and Rangers on-field struggles this season, particularly in the Scottish Premiership. He described their away form under Clement as “horrendous” and made a quip about the Union Bears recent banner and walkout protests in the Copland Road Stand.
A message, inspired by words from legendary late boss Walter Smith, was sent out in midweek which read: “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.”
Thornton referenced the banners in his speech as he explained the decision to back Clement and commented on the need to solve long-standing issues. He also claims that Rangers haven’t built a team capable of challenging domestically for 10 years - despite an unbeaten title-winning campaign under Steven Gerrard in 2021.
After being handed the mic, Thornton said: “Good evening ladies and gentleman. I apologies for cutting into the middle of the festivities here but Patrick and I were keen at least to come and say hello, certainly to thank you for everything you’ve done for the club, everything you do for the club and everything we hope you are going to continue to do for the club in terms of your support.
“It’s hugely appreciated by us - despite what the banners might say on the Copland Road! We do hugely value and respect everything you do for us. The other thing we wanted to touch on a little bit… I’m sure you would have seen the media conference output that Patrick led for us and we wanted to give a little bit of context around where our thinking is with some of this in case you were thinking we have completely lost the place in terms of management and that sort of thing. It’s not like that.
“Of course we all know that results have been simply nowhere near good enough. It’s undeniable and well understood. I have to say home has been okay but away is horrendous. Honestly, the easy thing to do would be just to say ‘let’s change the manager and move on’.
“But you know if you really sit back and reflect on it a little bit and you say it’s actually season upon season upon season that the results haven’t been good enough. It’s 10 years. It’s not even one or two years. It’s ten. It’s a decade of underperformance that we’ve got.
“We haven’t managed to have a team that’s been capable of winning week, in week out and challenging domestically. It’s a decade. So it’s not just a managerial thing - there are many other issues at play. And with that in mind and under Patrick’s expert guidance we said ‘Look, we need to take a long hard look at our footballing actives but actually all of our activities, but first of all our football activities, hence the operational review that we announced. So that’s the rationale and the context behind this.”