George Overhill

Fri 4 November 2022 17:40, UK

Rangers are hiding the truth when they claim that the expected Champions League riches aren’t what has been reported, says Simon Jordan.

Following the the club’s elimination from Europe with the sixth defeat in six group stage games, manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst criticised reports suggesting the Light Blues had “struck gold” with £40million coming in due to qualification as “not true” [Rangers Review, 2 November].

But former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan has pushed back against the messages currently coming out of Ibrox because even if it isn’t exactly £40million he is sure there has been a sizeable “windfall” from European football, with significant player sales on top.

Jordan said live on talkSPORT, as per the Glasgow Times: “They’re giving you figure they want to best advance their argument.

“No, it probably isn’t a straight £40million. I guarantee you the players that got them into the Champions League will all have got bonuses as a result of the qualification. So, there is that netting off the contributions.

“But there was a windfall. It may not be £40million, but there certainly was a £15-20million windfall.

“Don’t forget, Rangers had to get all the way to a final in Europe to get those £12million figures. They only had to turn up to the Champions League by getting into it to already eclipse last season.

“I get the point that they’re making – ‘please don’t tell us what we’ve got, because it isn’t as great as you think it is’.

“But you did sell £29million worth of players and brought in £15million worth.

“You did bring in an additional £27million, which nets off at about a £15-16million difference.

“I’m saying that in-between the two is the reality of the situations. 

“In-between the two is the circumstances that suggest that actually there was a material advantage.”

He went on: “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say there isn’t a material increased but when you actually bring the figures into a more forensic view, there is.”

Hiding

Yes, we can’t see behind the scenes, but unfortunately for the board it is widely held knowledge what cash is generated from getting into the Champions League.

A run to the Europa League final won’t have generated peanuts, and the club are happy to blow their own horn on transfer fees when it suits them, so they can’t then run away and hide when things go bad on the pitch.

It wouldn’t be quite as bad if the manager himself hadn’t been talking up the possibilities when he beat PSV in the qualifying round, and Stewart Robertson hadn’t been extolling the virtues of last season’s continental successes as a “fantastic boost” to the finances.

Clamming up now the good times are over and hoping everyone is going to forget what was said before is taking fans and media for fools.

Money doesn’t disappear of its own accord, so either it is there and those in charge don’t want to spend it, or somebody has put it to some other use.

Ross Wilson brought players in during the summer, and the unavailability of John Souttar and Tom Lawrence, coupled with further injuries in the squad, has definitely been unhelpful.

But there simply hasn’t been the kind of strengthening to the squad that was heavily hinted at.

If there is a good reason for that the supporters need to hear it, since the club is never hesitant to tap them up for cash on tickets, merchandise and whatever else, because embarking on a cognitive dissonance campaign and trying to convince everyone there is no money inspires zero confidence whatsoever.

In other Rangers news, Andy Walker has mad some stinging “respect” criticism of the Gers.