John Bennett has come under fire at Rangers
John Bennett has come under fire at Rangers

Rangers chief John Bennett called out amid Ibrox 'shambles'

Jonathan Burnett

Jonny is a University of Leeds journalism graduate who became part of the FootballInsider team in Spring 2024, and recently worked as Head of Media for Widnes Vikings Rugby League club. Writing as a freelance reporter and commentator for The Sporting News and StatsPerform, he has covered matches in competitions including the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cups, as well as the Champions League, Women's Euro 2022, Six Nations and the Rugby Union World Cup.

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Rangers are in desperate need of a day-to-day chairman who is involved with every small matter at the club, according to Four Lads Had a Dream.

Stevie Clifford said on the Four Lads podcast (6 September) that a lack of on-site leadership in the Gers boardroom has played a big part in the club's current problems both on and off the field.

Clifford highlighted the forced stadium relocation due to delayed redevelopment works at Ibrox, forcing Philippe Clement's side to begin their campaign at Hampden Park until the end of September.

He said: "I believe if we had the proper people in place, Ibrox stadium would never have turned into the shambles that it has – because you would've had an active chairman, you would've had a CEO on-site, making sure that these things were in.

"All due respect, but John Bennett lives in London, he's not day-to-day – we need a chairman day-to-day, we need a CEO day-to-day, we need people here that are running our football club that are on top of the smallest matters."

Rangers must stop the rot from both top-down and bottom-up

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Gers fan who is over the moon with the current direction they see the club heading in, and it's never been clearer that new faces are needed at the very top of the club.

With a London-based Bennett supposedly in charge from afar, the Ibrox boardroom is still lacking a CEO months after James Bisgrove's departure, as well as other vacancies further down the chain.

Rangers stadium Ibrox
Delayed developments at Ibrox have forced Rangers to play home matches elsewhere so far this season

Zeb Jacobs is also yet to be replaced as the club's academy director, while Nils Koppen's responsibility as head of recruitment – minus a director of football in place – has also come under the microscope.

Clement and Koppen's rebuilding of the squad cannot be judged as a success until much further down the line, with nine of their new signings yet to experience the atmosphere of a full Ibrox.

The Gers board having better control of the rudder could well have made no effect on preventing the delays which have forced Clement's side out of their home, but the fact that a summer of huge upheaval has led to no changes in the boardroom implies that this is the area which needs addressing next.

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