New Rangers owner Craig Whyte has slammed the current Rangers board after the published their doubts over his pledge on funds, hours after taking over the Ibrox club.
Whyte secured Sir David Murray’s 85% shares for a token £1 and promised to spend £25 million in the squad over the next five years and to redevelop Ibrox stadium also.
However despite assurances that the money was available, Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston and the Independent Board Committee revealed that they were skeptical over whether Whyte had the funds to live up to his pledges.
Whyte said, “The statement from the board was complete and utter nonsense and they know that. Certain individuals have different agendas. People enjoy their positions within the club and don’t necessarily like change. I’ve spoken to some of the directors about this. Some have told me they were not in favour of that story coming out. It will be removed from the club’s website. But let’s concentrate on the football just now.
“Ally will be the manager next season and I’m delighted about that. He is a Rangers man through and through and is passionate about the club. “I expect to sit down with him within the next few days. We’ll go into more detail at that point about what the plans are for next season. Until I’ve had that discussion with Ally there’s not much more I can do. I’m here to help him and facilitate his plans as much as possible.”
“I think we might need four or five players. I’ve had conversations with Walter Smith about it. But Ally will have his own ideas. We want to win the league and do as well as we possibly can in Europe.”
The statement on the Official Rangers website by the board which questioned if he had the funds, has now been removed from the website.
As we announced yesterday, there have already been boardroom changes at Ibrox with the immediate resignation of directors Donald Muir and Michael McGill, and the appointment of Phil Betts as Director.
Another name linked with a board room appointment is Ali Russell who was in attendance at Ibrox yesterday. For three years Russell was the commercial director at Hearts, before that he was the Head of Marketing at the SRU. And from 2008 to January 2011, he was Deputy Chief Executive of Queens Park Rangers, and is on a six month contract currently with Scottish Swimming.
Whyte added, “It has been a long time coming as it has taken more than six months to conclude this deal. So it was a good moment for me. It was a fantastic performance from the team – better than I could have hoped for. Now we just need to make sure we win the next two games to retain the league.
“Rangers are a fantastic club and we can achieve a lot. We can expand the commercial activities and the branding but it all comes down to doing well on the field. That’s the most important thing. We need to keep winning trophies. I’m a passionate Rangers supporter and that’s a big part of the reason I bought the club. At various points, to be fair to Sir David Murray as well, I think both of us kind of said: ‘Let’s forget about this and walk away.’ But I persevered and I’m glad I did.”
Whyte praised Murray for his tenure at the club, “What David has achieved has been tremendous. He was involved with the club at a unique period when it was possible to buy the best players in England and bring them here. Unfortunately that’s more difficult to do these days. So what David has managed to do for this club shouldn’t be underestimated.
