Rangers now have a gigantic problem, which is one of the many reasons that chairman Andrew Cavenagh is currently looking into Danny Rohl’s position and the replacement. That problem is, of course, the lack of Champions League revenue. This is a huge, huge issue in Govan now, because at the very least, Rangers’ owners were counting on a second place finish. This would at least have given Champions League qualification to potentially secure a place in the competition proper. That will now not be the case with the ridiculous third position that Danny Rohl has ended up with. It is a fail in absolutely no unequivocal terms and leads to Rangers summer transfer block.
Summer rebuild in danger
However, the real issue here is the summer window. Rangers were banking on a great big kitty in order to fund a proper rebuild of the squad. A rebuild that was going to be funded, of course, by FFP and the 49ers. However, the model of last season, which was literally investment from the new owners, cannot be sustained without revenue from the brand. That comes from the Champions League.
There was a very good reason why Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers Enterprises raised a new share issue. They are trying to secure £16M basically for player transfers. The fans will almost certainly invest enough to get to that level, but of course, the 49ers have invested, according to their own numbers, £36M in players. We’re not sure it’s as conservative as that, but nevertheless, they have put their hand in their pockets and invested.
Champions League loss changes everything
But that cannot be sustained, not without sanctions from UEFA and FIFA. That’s where the Champions League came in. Unfortunately, there is no Champions League next season. Rangers will at best be Europa League and more likely Conference League. However, the financial rewards in there are basically peanuts.
This does not fund the overhaul and player investment this summer that was needed. Rangers will not be able to get the calibre of player that they would have hoped for. Many fans look at a squad and see that it’s just not a Rangers level squad.
Unfortunately, the likes of Skov Olsen cannot be permanently secured. Yes, that was a little bit ironic, that one. Thank goodness we will not be keeping that boy. But the price would not have been a problem previously had we secured at least second place.
FFP restrictions hit Rangers hard
Without any hope now of the huge rewards available in the Champions League and increased revenue from that, Rangers’ investment this summer is not going to be the massive, expensive overhaul it needs to be. Unfortunately, without feeding on scraps, it is going to have to be far more minimal.
Celtic have had to do the same thing. Fans have been mocking the fact that Celtic have not been signing players in the last few windows, that they have not really been investing big money. It’s not because they do not have it, it’s because they cannot. They are limited in the same way by FFP and financial regulations.
Their owners have the cash. That is, majority shareholder Dermot Desmond. It’s not like he has no money. But he cannot just put his hand in his pocket and it’s the same problem at Rangers. Because there’s no Champions League, we cannot just put our hand in our pockets and get the cash that way.
So this summer, unfortunately, Rangers fans are going to have to lower their expectations about the calibre of player that’s going to come in. We can hope for a few miracles and a few gems here and there. But it cannot be big spending, and is a Rangers summer transfer block unfortunately.