Rangers’ board didn’t trust Mark Warburton – here’s why…

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Rangers’ board didn’t trust Mark Warburton – here’s why…

Rangers’ Managing Director Stewart Robertson said this week:

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“Whoever comes in (as new manager) is going to get the backing, the financial resources. If we can get the right guy, give him the right conditions, the right working conditions and back him with the resources which will be there, there will be resources to back the manager coming in in terms of strengthening the squad. Hopefully next season there will be European football and we will need to strengthen the squad for that.”

To sum this statement up; Rangers do have money, if not a fortune, but the board were unwilling to give any more to Mark Warburton after the utter disaster that was last summer’s transfer window.

Reports have broken recently that deals for both defender Reece Oxford and winger Jonny Hayes fell through in January purely because the board did not back outgoing manager Mark Warburton. In Oxford’s case the board is said to have simply stonewalled the signing any new (Bates was already here and a youth acquisition) defender by their manager because of the shambles that was the defence, and the lack of trust in bringing in quality centre-halves.

Meanwhile the Hayes deal collapsed before it even started when Warburton wanted £1M to sign the Aberdeen flyer and was not given the finance to do so.

The horrible truth is Rangers have just wasted two years after the wrong long-term appointment in 2015 to take the Club forward; the board are responsible for getting that wrong, and a great number of fans, who had doubts about this regime and the integrity of Dave King, are airing their concerns in light of effectively stagnation for 24 months. It is understood Paul Murray was the principle drive behind Rangers signing Mark Warburton, and while it was arguably a brave and ‘left field’ appointment, it was also a risky one which simply did not pay off.

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Now Rangers’ first team squad is in a bit of a malaise and that is as much the board’s fault for bringing in the wrong man two summers ago as it is the man himself’s fault for building a mess.

After two windows’ disastrous incomings, January’s window past saw Rangers’ board only willing to bring in frees and loans – Warburton had lost all trust from his bosses, which also led to that infamous ‘recruitment strategy meeting’ whereby it was said to have been laid on a plate for him.

Whoever comes in now will get the backing ultimately (rightly) denied Warburton as confirmed by Robertson. The funds will be there in the summer to rip up this mess and start again – it will not be a gluttonous fortune but it will be enough in the right hands to make Rangers competitive again.

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“It was a disastrous night for us; we were clearly inferior. I’m responsible for this.”

No, not Mark Warburton, but last night the words of Barca’s Luis Enrique. Once again a big manager like Ranieri and Mourinho willing to take blame.

Following Rangers’ similar humiliation in Germany:

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“Just 30 seconds into the game a pass went astray when we were in. That isn’t good enough. Then, in the latter stages, there were balls from Martyn Waghorn and Michael O’Halloran that didn’t go to feet. Our final ball wasn’t good enough. It’s too easy to say it’s the level of player and they are on X amount of money each week. We got ourselves into good positions and we have to be better with our final ball. When you give the ball away against the level of opposition you just run, by the end of the game you’re dead on your feet. We gave the ball away too cheaply. We have to take those challenges and the more games we play against teams at that level the better. We have got to get the club back into Europe. They are one of the top teams in the Bundesliga and we know we have to be better. We learned a lesson because when you give the ball away against teams like that you can spend the next five minutes running around chasing after it. We have to be shaper, we have to be better. It was a difficult one because you go from games where you have 70 per cent possession to that today. But we will learn. We knew taking these types of games could be a risk, they have been sitting second in the Bundesliga and they are a top, top European side. You could go and play a meaningless friendly and win 5-0. Or you could take a match against a top team and go and challenge yourself. We have to recognise that was the challenge we wanted.”

Not a single word of ‘I got it wrong’ as usual from a manager who eventually resorted to hanging his players out to dry instead of ever accepting he might have made an error.

Rangers’ new manager will get the financial backing Mark Warburton lost the right to deserve; but the board are under huge pressure over the next five months. To both get the interim manager right this time, and to get it right come the summer, whatever is chosen.

Here is hoping they have learned from their errors.

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1 COMMENT

  1. We still not heard a word from him about The disastrous games after the Semi Final in April Hibs Alloa livi and St midden The team should have been on a high and go onto win the Cup but no the signs have always been there a pathetic Hibs side in 2015/16 was our only resistance to be promoted then Hamilton draw killy ross county spanking off tims then dons he should have been gone by End of September sorry we wasted time and now it looks worse as were we are sitting in 3rd

  2. I wish to hell people would appreciate what Dave King has done for this club.If it was not for him and the 3 bears they probably would be a club to go and support, and moan about .
    Money has been spent 5mill to Ashley and then there is Gardener and O Halloran to name a few .Then there is Ibrox and Murray park for god sake give him a break .
    When there eventually a share issue lets see how many of his critics put their hands in their pockets. IT WILL ALL COME GOOD , PATIENCE PLEASE

    • Sorry – your wrong.

      We would still have a club. How it would look is up for debate, but if you believe for a second that if Ashley had retained control that he would of allowed his asset to be lost, your kidding yourself.

      For example read Davie provans comments last week that he believed Ashley had plans to sell Newcastle and bankroll our return to champions league.

      I'm not saying Ashley is a saint, far from it. But king declared war on him before even taking control. What has followed is a highly personal and highly vindictive war which has damaged the club.

      This is every bit as much kings fault as Ashley.

      King obviously believed Ashley could be forced out, perhaps he should of done a bit of research first, as that was never going to happen.

      In terms of king investment, seriously are people ignorant enough to buy this nonsense? King is relying on stupidity here.

      What king has done is run club at a loss so we require emergency loans, which he wants shares for instead of capital. Fine on the surface. However what he us doing is obtaining shares at below market rate and also preventing other parties having access to these shares.

      This is borderline legal but could be forgiven if he was open and honest with the fans. He has been anything but.

      We still don't have a clue wether his or Warburton version of sacking/resignation is true, or if either one is

    • E-Chef

      I agree with you 100% there. Our club is being run in a way that we will never be clear of debt, to furnish our debt and pay our legal obligations and wage bill, we get a loan, more debt adding to the already more debt… Dave King has done nothing but drive us into more debt and making us even more unappealing to anyone with real money and the wherewithal to invest in us. King has swapped debt for equity which means that despite only originally having 12% of shares when he took over … thanks to back door tactics and no one questioning the motives of those funding us … every month another million is loaned to pay the bills… with the promise of it being returned as equity. Now no one in the world will want to fund that ….lol… what a crazy situation to find ourselves in.

      If anyone thinks we have money … why is it we will be getting yet more loans and more back door funding … we are skint, up shit creek without the proverbial paddle and no fiscal policies to turn it round.

      When King set his sights on Ashley, he really, really, no I mean , really didn't think it through did he. I said years ago, you don't need to like the man in any way shape or form, but one thing you never do, is alienate them, you use them and take what you can and so fukin what if we had a Sports Direct banner …small price to pay… look at most of the top clubs in EPL…all have tie ins and Tie ups with big corporates to get their name across …small hardship indeed but we are now so fkd up its goinf to take a miracle to turn round

      GSTQ

  3. Just reads Warburton statement- clear a legal fight lies ahead.

    As much as I don't trust king, I don't believe a single word Warburton has to say.

    His priority is to form a narrative that he was doing a fantastic job and it is all fault of the board.

    Whilst kings story is equally unbelievable, nobody is buying Warburtons – it's never his fault is it?!

    • E-Chef
      I just read his statement there also, and I think Rangers can look at kissing goodbye to at leas a couple of million to fight and compensate this one.

      I was never MW's biggest fan either, I was right from the very start that I didn't think he, or his style of football was what we actually needed or could adapt to, and so it has been proven.

      The statement released was on behalf of all three of them, and with the backing of the LMA (League Managers Association) which is a very well respected organisation that looks after the interests of its members. With the backing of them and the pretty vanilla statement stating their position, instead of King's position of lobbing grenades and ducking back in his bunker.

      Now you may not have liked MW and his style of play, signings etc but one thing I could never level at him was that he was anything other than an honest upstanding guy and with a background in the City, way above clean when it comes to contractual and financial dealings…you learn these and they never leave you, just like King, he has and always will be a lying crook, and that's the judges words in his numerous court cases, mine are fare stronger.

      So, like him or loathe him Mark Warburton has employment law and ethics on his side and with two other people stating they never resigned… a cast iron case for unfair dismissal, another feather in our cap hey…People need to look and read and listen, NO ONE outwith the Rangers family believe that we have a leg to stand on here and settling maybe out of court may in some way preserve a little of what trust and honesty we do have….I bet our gung ho chairman will be lobbing more grenades and hiding in his Transvaal bunker…making it even worse and costing us even more….but hey ho, that's what we are reduced to now….this is the new norm.

      GSTQ

    • Let's be clear here-LMA has no standing in Scotland.Furthermore since when were "city traders" Lilly white ?Fundamentally the big question is why was the agent of W&W at Ibrox in the first place or do you suggest that this is simply a figment of the board's imagination?
      I am no fan of Mr.K however I have substantial experience of business in North Africa where lying is part and parcel of the culture perhaps the same applies in South Africa?It certainly applies in city trading ask Lehman Bros employees.
      Debt for equity -hardly a crime talk to RBS about their so called turnaround group.
      Rangers need stability and strong leadership .We have all that is available to us at the moment and the hope that an improving football performance will yield greater investment appeal.Ashley? Newcastle owes him a fortune.

  4. never mind the rangers board the fans did not trust him heres why .senderos. kiernan. ohalloran .barton . krankjar . forrester . doodo. garner. e.t,c the list goes on and on .

  5. I do not trust the board,The funds will be there in the summer to rip up this mess and start again?now for us to be competitive again we will need more than £30 million more like 50 million to get the right players in then we got wages on top of that now that is what we need right now to stop Selltic doing 10 and that still may not be enough but we need to do it now before we are left behind,i just hope the board can back the new manager up with cash.

    • John
      There is no chance that the board are going to pony up another £50 million. King has said the total may go over £30 million, and it is likely that it will. Apologies if I have misunderstood you.

      For all his vaunted claims about youth, it is noticeable that he let Murdoch go. Murdoch was our best player second half of that season, but not rated, although he looks good at Morton. The best CB of the Warburton era, imho, remains McGregor, another not rated.
      So we need someone who will bring kids through, with a sprinkling of experience. That is already there with Miller, Wallace and others(coaching/pt player anyone?). Suspect Hill will be or should be off in the summer and replaced.

      Onwards and upwards

  6. Totally agree if it had not been for the present board Rangers may have disappeared.There was no fans complaining about Warburton in the first six months it was great to watch Rangers at that time. However the cup final was when I thought he would not be good enough. He was given a large budget from the board in comparison to every other team bar one and he blew it.His fault entirely. As far as a new manager is concerned I would not go near De Boer as he has all the makings of a Paul Le Guen situation. Bring in McLeish who will get us organised in the short term.

    • I agree with you about de Boer. He's showing similarities to Le Guen, by not making himself available to take the job immediately. He knows nothing about Scottish football and could be a disaster. I'm in favour of the Dutch players of our past, scouting the Dutch leagues for us, but we should have a Rangers man as our manager. McLeish would steady the ship on an interim basis, but I would give the job to Stuart McCall or Tommy Wright immediately.

  7. As we all understand fellow bears,these next 2 appointments at our football club are critically important,and must be the correct ones!I would like to gauge on here,what everyone's different opinions are,including IBROX NOISE,to whom they wish to see appointed as our DOF & head coach/manager.So let me give my take on who i would want appointed in these 2 positions!DOF-Paul mitchell and head coach/manager-frank de boer or garry monk!!Who would yours be??

    • DOF Ross Wilson or Mitchell and for manager Wright or McCall. I don't want another foreign manager.

    • What about John Terry as player manager? It would solve our defensive problems, because he's still a superb centre half. He's looking to get into management and he could be available at the end of the season. Providing he had an experienced manager as his assistant, with a good knowledge of Scottish football, I think Terry could be a success. Souness didn't choose Walter as his assistant, David Holmes chose him to ensure Scottish football experience in the management team. If Terry was offered the job on condition Wright or McInnes was his assistant, that could work. Rangers would be a very attractive club for an aspiring manager to get a chance, JT might fancy it. At least he can still improve us by getting his boots on, so I'd prefer him to de Boer.

  8. I genuinely honestly don't know. We've seen "brave" appointments like PLG and Warburton really not work out. But then less brave ones have not worked out too. I am tending now to think a Rangers man would be best. I just want to see some passion back in my team. That is the one thing we have lacked as a unit. Warburton was great, but the signs were always there and the latter half of last season was huge warning bells. The cup final, the OF games, this season's drivel… all one dimensional and unimaginative. A manager who knows where his players play best would be useful. By all accounts, Matt Crooks is a solid DM- why let him go and persist with an out-of-position Halliday?
    Anyway, I really don't know. I would love to see Barry Ferguson brought back in somewhere. Bomber Brown. Andy Goram. Harping back, I know, but these guys bleed blue.
    De Boer would be good, but he won't last long if he does well. When even Lee Clark has used Kilmarnock as a stepping stone to Bury, of all places, then we have to expect it.

    • no one is guaranteed to be a success ,give job to mcleish, butcher ,or ferguson until end of season .they know what its all about also won't cost we are lacking fight more than anything oh and 2 centre backs

    • I would love to see Walter Smith come in with Barry Ferguson if we could introduced them it would be the best move at this time. Walter Smith in to steady the ship then let Barry Ferguson take over in two seasons.

  9. Can't see Clint Hill or Senderos doing much now, after everybody saying they are rubbish and should leave at the end of the season!

  10. I have always defended King believing he was our knight in shining armour, however reading other fans opinions on here for the last few days I have come to realise I was wrong.

    E-Chef and Gordo yous are spot on..

  11. WhAt complete nonsense. The fact is that the board had no idea how to build and prepare over 4/5 years to hit the ground running in the top tier. As soon as full time teams were met week in week out the frailties were there. MW was never backed by the board and the next manager will face the same problem. King has not delivered on any promises. Why can you not see this?