Patrick Stewart's Rangers intray already bursting - covering up outdated boast could be first task

New Ibrox CEO will be tasked with catching Celtic

It was a changing-of-the guard sort of day at Ibrox on Monday in more ways than one. A well-respected CEO together with a new chairman clocked on. Suddenly Rangers are giving a passable impression of being a well-run, adequately functioning football club.

Vital staff positions are being filled. Rudderless Rangers no more. The timing could not have been much better. New chief executive-chairman duo Patrick Stewart and Fraser Thornton have narrowly avoided association with a historic low.

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But they might notice the smell of fresh paint. Rangers risked becoming the dictionary definition of hubris when daubing the walls of Ibrox and their training ground at Auchenhowie with a boast they ought to have known was tempting fate.

“The World’s Most Successful club,” does not work any longer, if it ever did. Not when you’re not even the most successful club in your own city. One of Stewart’s first tasks could be to erase evidence of such vainglory following Sunday’s League Cup final defeat against Celtic, if the club’s maintenance staff haven’t done so already.

Rangers Training Centre at Auchenhowie. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)Rangers Training Centre at Auchenhowie. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)
Rangers Training Centre at Auchenhowie. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group) | SNS Group

For the first time since the late 1930s, Rangers are now trailing Celtic in one very significant area. Only fans who have been sitting with their fingers in their ears fearing the worst could have failed to hear the news by now: the Parkhead club have moved one ahead in the all-time titles count following the thrilling 5-4 shootout victory on Sunday, with the teams having shared six goals in the preceding 120 minutes.

Not that Celtic are crowing. Manager Brendan Rodgers seemed at pains to avoid referencing the shift in Scottish football’s tectonic plates in his post-match press conference at Hampden. He didn’t have much choice really, having already wryly remarked in his pre-match press conference that “we don’t have to shout about it”. He had been asked about Celtic manoeuvring themselves into a position where they could edge ahead of Rangers on trophies for the first time since just before the Second World War.

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Now that they had, well, he knew he couldn’t shout about it. He did acknowledge that he was aware of the “magnitude” of the game but kept the lid firmly on the triumphalism, as someone with only one defeat in 20 fixtures knows they can do. The record speaks for itself. It's extraordinary. The same might be said for Philippe Clement's Old Firm statistics, with extraordinary certainly being one word to describe a record that now stands at zero wins in six.

Patrick Stewart started his new Rangers CEO role on Monday - the day after the defeat to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.Patrick Stewart started his new Rangers CEO role on Monday - the day after the defeat to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.
Patrick Stewart started his new Rangers CEO role on Monday - the day after the defeat to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup final.

The last time Rangers suffered a winless six-game run against their greatest rivals was during World War One, under William Walton. They lost all six matches. Surprisingly, the legendary Willie Maley endured the worst-ever run in Old Firm fixtures. The Celtic manager went ten games without a win between 1931 and 1935.

We will be kind and put Sunday's result down as a draw, which means Clement has still lost four of his opening six clashes against Celtic. The next meeting on 2 January already feels like another cup final. Can failure to collect all three points be borne? The pressure is already building.

Stewart will be settled in his seat by then. Indeed, the chief executive will take his place in the directors’ box for the first time at this weekend’s home league fixture against Dundee. There is much to ponder. Even when Rangers play well against Celtic, they cannot seem to get over the line.

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While their performance on Sunday suggests they might be able to give Celtic something to think about in the race for the league title, Rangers can’t afford to lose any more ground. On either side of the New Year Old Firm clash at Ibrox are four awkward looking away fixtures at St Mirren, Motherwell, Hibernian and Dundee. Much might have become clearer by the end of this run.

Of course, every new Rangers CEO and every new chairman in recent years has been tasked with finding ways of catching Celtic. The major honours race is a red herring. It is what is happening now that matters and the Parkhead side have long been in the ascendancy.

Celtic and Rangers fans set off pyro during the Premier Sports Cup final. Cr. SNS Group.Celtic and Rangers fans set off pyro during the Premier Sports Cup final. Cr. SNS Group.
Celtic and Rangers fans set off pyro during the Premier Sports Cup final. Cr. SNS Group. | SNS Group

Stewart will find his in-tray is already cluttered: he is being petitioned to issue an official complaint about the performance of referee John Beaton on Sunday, with Liam Scales’ tug on Vaclav Cerny particularly exercising Ibrox minds – Rangers wanted a penalty, but a foul was awarded instead despite the infringement occurring right on the line. Even Clement wasted little time in focusing on the incident afterwards when asking reporters to “dig into it”. Whether the new chief executive feels this is worth his while remains to be seen. Stewart could also have fresh pyro charges to deal with after fans brazenly ignored appeals from the SPFL and SFA to desist from smuggling pyrotechnics into the match.

His first day in office saw the behaviour of Rangers – and Celtic – fans brought up in the Scottish parliament, where first minister John Swinney described the pre-match disorder in Glasgow city centre as “completely unacceptable”. Welcome to Ibrox, Patrick.

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As for on the pitch, it’s already been suggested that there is money available in January. If so, it will need to be spent wisely. John Souttar’s injury means there’s a glaring lack of options at centre half. Whereas Celtic were able to make a tactical substitution in this area on Sunday, when Rodgers replaced Auston Trusty with Liam Scales, Rangers were hamstrung. Auxiliary man Dujon Sterling eventually replaced Leon Balogun, who Rangers are now relying on at 35-years-old. Much will be expected of Nils Koppen, who as well as being Director of Recruitment, has recently been handed additional responsibilities including overseeing the club’s men’s academy and medical, performance and analysis departments.

The Belgian has already described the coming January transfer window as “quite an important one”.

Nothing that happened on Sunday, including a goalkeeper taking a potentially decisive kick instead of a centre forward, has made the coming weeks seem any less vital. At least Rangers can start the year in their own stadium, something they were denied at the beginning of the season. Things are slowly improving on and off the park at Ibrox. They have to.

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