Rangers boardroom changes demanded as Patrick Stewart + co told three ways to deliver radical revamp by ex CEO

A former CEO has urged Rangers to make some shareholder changes amid a root and branch review of the club.

The Light Blues are 13 points off Celtic in the Premiership, lost the Premier Sports Cup final to their rivals and this month suffered an embarrasing Scottish Cup exit to Queen’s Park. They have, however, had success in the Europa League where they finished in the top eight of the league phase.

That has booked them a last 16 trip but it hasn’t stopped anger being vented at manager Philippe Clement or the club board, who have been subject to protests from sections of the fans this season.

Their exit from the last remaining domestic competition has sparked a new level of fury that Sunday’s 3-1 win at Hearts has did little to calm. CEO Patrick Stewart has already confirmed a review of the club on a number of fronts is taking place.

Wyness urges change

Ex-Aberdeen CEO Keith Wyness knows what it takes to run a football club having also had spells at Aston Villa and Everton. He says new money is needed as well a revamp on three different fronts for Stewart and co. Wyness told Football Insider: “It’s long overdue, this review at Rangers.

“They need new investment coming in, money coming in – and some shareholder changes. That’s where it has to start. Away from that, this review will probably tell him that they need to look at the recruitment side, the academy structure – and expand their vision and innovate more on the commercial side. I can almost certainly say that is what the consultants will come up with.

“Patrick isn’t silly, but he’ll have to get facts and numbers to work from. They really should be suggesting a complete revamp of the strategy at board level, in the academy and in recruitment. They’ve got to think outside the box now, instead of doing things the Rangers way. Let’s hope they are brave enough to do it.”

Root and branch

Last month, Stewart confirmed the details behind the sweeping assessment. He told Sky Sports: "We're doing a root-and-branch review of the entire football department. Everything is in scope and it starts on Monday because I think if we're honest with ourselves as a club, the football club has not been where it wants to be for several years now.

"We want to ensure that we've got structures in place to succeed. Every decision that we make needs to be focused on one goal, which is bringing success to Rangers and making our supporters proud. We also want to ensure that we've got a plan that works, one that's joined up from the training ground to the boardroom, and that we have processes geared towards building winning teams across the board, men's and women's academy.

“Typically these processes take somewhere between sort of six to 12 weeks depending on how much resource you throw at it and also what you find and what I'd expect. Ultimately, long-term sustained success is built on culture. We've got to make sure that we've got a culture that's framed towards winning and so we need to build an environment where success becomes a habit, not just a hope."