We will follow Rangers, everywhere, anywhere, so the song goes. That wasn’t meant as an invitation from the Ibrox support to the club hierarchy to test the theory, though.
The ongoing uncertainty around where Rangers will play their home games in the coming weeks or even months of the season, remarkably, continues to rumble on.
Will it be Hampden? Will it be Murrayfield? And will it be mid-winter before the Rangers support see the inside of their own stadium again?
It was on June 20th that the club confirmed that a delay to a steel shipment would impact the completion of works in the Copland Stand. We were told that an unnamed project manager lost their job over it.
A week later, on the 27th, following the release of the Premiership fixture list, came the last official communication from the club on the matter, as they said on social media: “Supporters will be aware of the delayed works in the Copland stand, likely to impact home fixtures in the early part of the new season.
“The club will provide an update on any changes to those home matches at the earliest possible opportunity. Rangers thanks our supporters for their patience.”
That patience, though, is starting to wear thin.
Since then, former Rangers chief executive James Bisgrove, now conveniently working in Saudi Arabia, has joined the mystery project manager under the bus for his alleged part in the cock-up. But it is what is happening in the here and now, not a blame game over what happened at the time, that is most concerning Rangers fans.
There will of course be a material impact on the team, the club and the supporters because of this mess. The team face losing home advantage in some crucial fixtures, including Champions League qualifiers. The cost of hiring Hampden or Murrayfield will further affect finances, and the fans will be inconvenienced in travelling to an alternative venue, particularly if that is in Edinburgh.
From the Rangers board and chairman John Bennett’s point of view, though, the longer this drags on, the longer they risk losing that most valuable currency – their credibility with the Rangers support.
Herald Sport understands that talks have taken place between Rangers and the Scottish FA over the use of Hampden, and that further talks are scheduled. But why isn’t the progress on those talks being relayed to fans through official channels? Tens of thousands of whom have committed to season tickets.
There are some simple questions on the minds of fans, and the longer they are allowed to fester, the more it will be assumed that the club simply don’t have the answers to them.
Is all of the required steel to complete the project now in Govan, for example? If not, when is it expected to be? And therefore, how long can the team expect to be unable to play at Ibrox? And, oh I don’t know, in which city do you expect to play the club’s home games in the meantime?
Read more:
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Rangers yet to confirm Ibrox alternative ahead of SPFL fixture release
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Rangers address Ibrox venue switch after Premiership fixture release
There is an ongoing effort at Rangers, largely driven by manager Philippe Clement, to modernise all areas of the club and be best in class at all that they do. It is hard not to feel sorry for him too in all of this. A Belgian franc (yes, I know they now use Euros) for his thoughts.
This is the sort of episode that is supposed to belong in the club’s infamous ‘banter years’. Rangers have tried hard to shake that image, and usher in a new era of professionalism, but their efforts at overhauling Celtic are hardly going to be helped by shooting themselves in the foot in such a manner.
No one is saying that the club have to detail every aspect of what is going on behind the scenes, and Bennett is known for keeping his counsel in the best of times. But such a position is becoming increasingly untenable, and is only exacerbating anger amongst a fanbase who feel as though they are being given the mushroom treatment. Except, they are barely even being fed s***, only being kept in the dark.
During the Dens Park pitch fiasco of last season, Rangers manager Clement said that his team would play on Mars if they were asked to. Maybe he knew something then that we didn’t. Either way, the experience of those uncertain days may well prove invaluable as he and his players look to adapt to the circumstances that are to come.
That a club of Rangers’ size and stature should find themselves in such a position is now bordering on the farcical. Delays can happen in construction projects, the fans know that. They would be a heck of a lot more understanding though if they were treated with respect and somewhat kept in the loop.
Over to Mr Bennett, and the Rangers board. Already, too much sand has passed through the hourglass, and it is seeping directly from the foundations he has built his reputation upon.
