John Bennett and James Bisgrove risk making Rangers a laughing stock after Tuesday move
As confident a mood as Rangers are in right now, we won’t know for sure whether they will get their hands on the Viaplay Cup until they face Aberdeen on Sunday (17 December).
And yet, as reported by The Sun (12 December) online, fans were able to book a photo opportunity with the trophy next Monday, without the result even being known.
Supporters were able to book time slots at the club’s new Edmiston House events centre, with the Sun saying that the event even sold out.
On the post were the words “blurb goes here” suggesting that it was published in error, but it is a nightmare thing to happen for chairman John Bennett and CEO James Bisgrove, who know the club will be seen as a laughing stock if Philippe Clement’s men fail to get their hands on the trophy.
It is poor timing because things at Ibrox have been going pretty swimmingly since Clement took over the club, but whether an error or not it is a move that smacks of arrogance.
If anything, it could play into Aberdeen’s hands and be used as motivation to pull off an upset and be the ones leaving with the trophy and doing photo ops with supporters.
Moreover, Rangers have not beaten Aberdeen this season, losing 3-1 at Ibrox on September 30 and drawing 1-1 at Pittodrie more recently on November 26.
Rangers also have a tricky Europa League test at Real Betis to get through first on Thursday (14 December), so this game is far from a foregone conclusion.
Human error or not, it is a very bad look for this to have been published and time slots allowed to be booked for pictures with a trophy they have not even won yet.
Let’s hope Rangers can get the job done and this faux pas quickly forgotten, because if they don’t it is a huge stick for which they can be beaten with.
In other Rangers news, the club are preparing a loan move for an Everton outcast.