‘Tough for them to keep going’ – Gordon Smith makes major Rangers finance claim
Former Rangers director Gordon Smith has expressed his concern for the club amid the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.
All football in Scotland has been put on hold in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading further, leading to widespread concerns over the financial impact it could have on several clubs north of the border.
And Smith, who was at Ibrox around the time of the Gers’ administration in 2012, believes that Steven Gerrard’s men could be among those affected.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, as per the Daily Record, he said: “It’s hard to say how the club is going.
“The chairman resigned last week and we knew he was going to resign, but we don’t know if there’s money there. There is talk that the finances are there, that there were people coming in with money, but with the wage levels Rangers have and no gate money coming in then it’s going to be quite tough for them to keep going.
“It’s only if they have a measure of money there in the bank that can keep them going over this period. It’s quite expensive for a big club like Rangers without the money coming in.”
Should we be worried by Smith’s comments?
Look, at this stage, it’s only natural that everybody is worried.
With no gate receipts to rely upon for the foreseeable future, it could be a while before the Gers are able to get back to operating things properly.
The reality is, however, that the only people who know for sure how things are holding up financially are the ones in the boardroom at Ibrox.
You would hope, given the size of the club, and the fact that we have been stung before in the non-too-distant past, that those in charge will have been careful enough to draw up some kind of contingency plan for this kind of crisis, and you would expect the Gers to be big enough to ride this one out as it is.
That being said, we can take nothing for granted, and it’s clear that there are going to be testing times ahead.
In other Rangers news, ‘Not a massive thing’ – McCoist urges clubs to follow Gers example amid Coronavirus crisis.