Today’s Rangers AGM was certainly interesting. There were not much fireworks but there were some very good questions asked, that’s for sure.
Colin of Heart and Hand (@atcolin) deserves full credit for organising the information for the conversation.
One of the most important questions for me was the one on injuries and why at Rangers it seems abnormally high? Especially for certain players?
“It was critical to find a skilled performance director. I see guys, including wounded players, working hard.
“Tom Taylor comes from a club that has a strong reputation for developing players.” Give us a few months and you’ll notice fewer injuries.”
When asked about the Rangers’ lack of quality and sellable assets, Bennett said, “The board is not going to make a pronouncement of the squad, that is down to the manager and his staff, the manager has been very clear to us on this and other matters, and he will continue to assess the squad.”
“What I can say is that the board will be ready, whether that is for January or next summer, the board will be ready. I don’t think the last window’s business infringes on our ability to strengthen the squad, I think we need to strengthen the squad almost every window if not every window.
“We have to keep aspiring to strengthen, so I don’t see any limitations, also bear in mind that there will be contract expiries, and that’s quite significant depending on what we do with that at the end of the season.
“So it’s not just about transfer fees, it’s about recycling wages that roll off, we will need to re-sign certain players, or all of those players, let’s wait and see, so it’s not just about a transfer kitty, it’s also about being clever and being more clever than we have been frankly.”
Bennett had this to say about the club’s plan to fight back and defend the club in the media (a very crucial question! ), “Please don’t think because the club is quiet they aren’t working on this.” We don’t want to be known as Statement FC, and if you asked the authorities, they would never describe us as quiet.”
The balance sheet was also brought up. “This club lost £10.5m last year pre-player trading, that’s a number that needs to go away and you should keep an eye on that number,” Bennett said. That £10.5m must be reduced to nothing. I’ve been kicking tyres and looking for cost-cutting measures, and it will come down. Don’t be surprised if the Rangers reach a point where they break even before trading players be concerned about that.
“It will not cause us any problems like we suffered ten years ago. That’s over. I wouldn’t worry about our summer spend and what Philippe wants to do. I want our fans to know it’s a process. It’s not about backing an individual anymore. Please rest assured the summer spend will have no bearing on where we want to take this club.”
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