Is Rangers’ fan ‘feud’ with former chief now over?

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Is Rangers’ fan ‘feud’ with former chief now over?


Few would argue the departures of Mark Warburton and David Weir were more than a touch ignominious. After weeks of claiming they weren’t interested in a job at the City Ground in Nottingham, not only did they then switch there after their exits from Govan, but they brought old pal Frank McParland in too.

It was all a bit seedy and the headlines were ugly. We admit the two have sadly remained a little toxic to Rangers fans and the club ever since, which is not the relationship you want with an ex manager, even when it didn’t go well. For example, despite Paul Le Guen’s disastrous time at the helm, the fact he resigned but waived a payoff to save Rangers money showed the kind of man he was and he showed the club and fans real respect in doing that. So we had no axe to grind with the ex-Lyon chief.

Warburton, and Weir, however, was different. Following the claims of their talks, and their absolute denials, they packed their bags and did exactly what they’d claimed they weren’t, and in Weir’s case, desperately staining his excellent relationship with supporters, cultivated during his playing days at the club.

So, yes, there is some history there – which is why new signing Joe Worrall’s testimony yesterday is so important.

Rangers’ on-loan Forest defender has confirmed most of the reason he came to Rangers is the fact Warburton and Weir completely sold him on the switch, that they bigged the club up and completely encouraged him to come to Ibrox.

This kind of willingness to not only bury hatchets but promote Rangers does say a lot more of the former bosses than had been clear previously, and while it doesn’t ‘erase’ the foolishness of their action back then, it points to no hard feelings and their willingness to help out their old club when we desperately needed defensive talent.

Worrall, speaking to the Herald, said:

“I spoke to Mark and Davie who had me at Forest. They said great things about Rangers, especially Davie who has a special connection with the club. Everything he said is true. It’s just a massive club with great facilities. Playing at Ibrox in front of those fans is something I can’t wait for. Davie and Mark are very different but they complement each other well. Mark is technical manager, where Davie was obviously a top defender. But they brought my game on an awful lot as a young lad. They kept me grounded. They taught me to receive the ball from the back and not take liberties. That has stood me in good stead. Davie didn’t need to tell me about the football up here. I just asked him about the club as a whole. I know about Scottish football and what to expect. I’ve watched plenty of Old Firm games growing up. Rangers have been down the leagues for a few seasons but now that we’re back up here, it’s about time we were challenging at the top.”

Warburton hasn’t had a job in management since – like for SPL Rangers, he deeply struggled at Championship Forest and once sacked, has been doing the rounds mostly on radio. But, we admit, he has only said good things about Rangers and our fans despite the ignominy of his exit.

And now that he’s even helping get us players with absolutely no reason to do so, any ‘grudge’ Rangers fans ever might have had with he and Weir should be completely done. It is done for us here at Ibrox Noise now, and while you should never forget the past, you should certainly move on from it.

And now we have.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Better to bury the hatchet and have a future business relationship. The only people I would NEVER forgive, Is David Murray, Whyte and Green. Who carved our club up for their own profit. Murray, i admit it was his financial over-reaching that sunk us. I don't despise him, but the other two, 100% un-forgiven. I watched the Financial Wrecking of Rangers FC, on YouTube. The aforementioned, i'll never forgive. Warburton & Weir, that can slide, for me.

    • Joe

      I agree on Whyte and Green. Can't understand how Whyte has survived this long without someone chibbing him. Green not really any better.
      But nobody was complaining when Murray spent money and we got big name players.
      He played fast and loose and took risks, but big business is like that. We got hammered, we take our lumps and move on. If Super Ally had got us into Europe the money would have papered over the cracks, but I don't blame him for that, it's life
      RTID

    • I would dispute that Murray "financially wrecked" us. We had a reducing debt of around £18m when Murray sold out to Whyte (and he can be criticised for that). That debt was in no way remarkable for a football club and was coming down. It was the bank that called in the money that initiated the sale to Whyte and he and Green scavenged off the bones and ran our club into the ground like the scumbags they are. I hope that someone brighter than me will research why the bank did that and why the HMRC seemed to come after us when others were using EBT's and dodgy film companies and got away scot free.

  2. There may have been bad blood but he did get us out the championship and achieved our only victory over Celtic since forever. We shouldn't forget that.

  3. Weir is a former hero to some bears which makes his exit all the more damming on his character. He was culpable in the eyes of the club in trying to fuck us over. For that reason and that reason alone he will always be a black sheep to me. Yes he can come back to games and watch from the stand but only as a guest of someone else. He shouldn’t be welcomed back with open arms. Too much of that with ratbag ex players already.

    As for Warbs, I suppose the same could be afforded to him at a push but no free drinks or even a steak pie at halftime. In, game, out.

  4. Re the comment about the Bank I believe that the Bank attempted to save Rangers from disaster by getting them out of the mess that was the Murray Group. Arguably the Bank weakened their overall position as Rangers debt was manageable. Neither the Bank or David Murray knew that White was such a Crook although Murray should have undertaken proper due diligence.

    • I don't profess to be an expert on the matter and did say it would take someone better qualified than me to find out the truth. There were so many rumours and stories flying around and time has eroded some of the facts no doubt.
      Surely there must be an investigative journalist out there with the right contacts who could document and timeline what went on and along the way uncover some skullduggery. There could be a right good book to be made here.

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