Inside Rangers shareholder meeting: Unusual Tennent's Sixes claim, SFA hater and Youssef Chermiti question

That was the ambitious message emanating from a large function suite at a Glasgow city centre hotel on the occasion of the club’s first “Shareholder Meeting” under new ownership. Fledgling CEO Jim Gillespie assured around 650 people sitting in front of him that he was working “24 hours a day” on behalf of the Ibrox club.

The only measure of how well he and his colleagues are doing is of course success on the pitch. “We want to win every game,” he stressed. “I often laugh and say I wish they brought back the Tennent’s Sixes so we could win that as well, because that’s what Rangers are about.”

If we overlook the fact that Rangers only lifted that particular trophy twice – there were ten editions of the popular indoors tournament between 1984 and 1993 – then this was a powerful statement of intent from a board still digesting a less than dynamic start to the season.

A large coach was parked outside the venue with a union jack flag visible in the front window. The obvious deduction was that Rangers were bussing shareholders in for the event. That was until you clocked a sign, also in the front window, with “Happy Life” written on it. Nothing to do with Rangers then presumably. Because despite the presence of a solid Rangers man in the dugout, the Bears are evidently very unhappy.

No one groaned louder than Messrs Andrew Cavenagh, Paraag Marathe, Fraser Thornton and new chief executive Jim Gillespie when substitute Callum Wright scored a late winner to give Hibs another three points at Ibrox the previous day.

Defeat in Derek McInnes’ first home league match was undesirable for several reasons, one being the scheduling of the meeting for the following morning. It added a new layer of complication to a traditionally fraught affair, especially given that Hibs’ opener came via a controversial penalty. It meant the corrupt old SFA was kept high on the agenda. Gillespie tried to explain how Rangers would continue calling out poor leadership from the authorities.

“We don’t want to be seen as a club that shouts loud and stamps its feet but does nothing,” he said. “Some of those conversations will take place behind closed doors.” Former chair Thornton, who is now an executive director at Ibrox, added that just because you might not read about it in the papers, don’t think there isn’t constant dialogue with the football authorities.

“But it isn’t working!” someone interjected. “It’s been going on for years and we hear this from the board every single time!” Applause rang out around the room. At least no one asked about the return of the Ibrox church parade.

This was one of the questions from the floor over a year ago, when the new owners of Rangers held an extraordinary general meeting at a different hotel nearby. Cavenagh, the current chairman, and Marathe were newbies then. Their American-based consortium’s takeover had only recently been completed.

Applause for self-proclaimed ‘SFA and VAR hater’

There was nothing quite so leftfield this time around. The quizzical look on the faces of Cavenagh and Marathe as it was explained to them that the Ibrox church parade was an annual Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland event once held at the stadium is still ingrained in the memory.

Everything was a bit less cryptic here. One shareholder stood and proudly identified himself as an “SFA and VAR hater”. That got a round of applause. So, too, did the same man’s tribute to Cavenagh, who enhanced his reputation as a gifted performer in awkward circumstances.

He was addressed directly by the shareholder in question. “Andrew, thank you for everything you have done for us. It has not yet translated into success but your clear passion and engagement with fans…..I was at the egm last year and you indicated we were going from PLC to private, there was absolutely no requirement or obligation to have this meeting today. You said you would have it and you were good to your word. So thank you for that.”

Indeed, no one could complain about the Rangers board’s lack of courage or desire to be held accountable. One absence was noted, however: McInnes. Managers cannot win in these situations. Attend such meetings, particularly the day after a poor defeat, and be accused of a dereliction of duty. Or do not attend such meetings to put the players through their paces on the training ground and then be accused of hiding.

Another shareholder stood up. Ewan – Ewen? – Cameron. “Not the Hearts fan, I want to make that clear,” added the gentleman helpfully before asking a very reasonable question about why Youseff Chermiti was risked against Hibs amid reports of a £22 million bid from Galatasaray. The striker duly went on to get injured. “Just because someone lobs an unsolicited offer in on one sheet of paper, you don’t yank a player from a really important match,” explained Cavenagh. So no regrets.

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“The jersey is too heavy!” someone else noted when wondering why Rangers signings seem to excel elsewhere but not at Ibrox. And no this wasn’t yet another criticism of Castore, Rangers' unloved retail partner.

Another shareholder sensed despondency rather than anger at the final whistle of the Hibs match. “Be careful…” he advised. “Apathy will lead to people not buying what you are selling us.” Already five points adrift of Celtic in the league, with a challenging second leg of a Europa League qualifying tie against Jagiellonia to come on Thursday, can Rangers get any lower?

According to Marathe, it seems they can. But fans can relax, the former president of 49ers Enterprises was only referring to the pitch at Ibrox. To increase capacity, Rangers are investigating excavating turf to make room for another 5,000 seats. It makes a change from the board digging holes for themselves, something they avoided here on the whole.