While his manager’s decision to drop the temperamental talisman for last month’s win over PSV Eindhoven came as a huge shock to the Ibrox support, van Bronckhorst insisted the situation had been “building up” for a while. OK, Tom Lawrence and no doubt Ben Davies would have started had both been fit but Ridvan Yilmaz, whose £4million signing Besiktas would have led you to believe he’d be a stick on to play in front of Borna Barisic, has been trusted to start just two games since arriving from Turkey while Rabbi Matondo is clearly not the answer to the Rangers’ long-running problems in the wide-right slot. Of the seven new arrivals brought in before the start of this season, only Malik Tillman and Antonio Colak started at Parkhead but neither matched the impact of the Hoops who hounded them for every second they were on the pitch. James Tavernier and Connor Goldson have started the season looking very much like two weary men who have barely missed a game in four years, while Ryan Kent’s bank of ideas is running out as quickly as his contract. There’s no way the Ibrox gaffer would have planned on starting 37-year-old Steven Davis in a game that looked like it was being played on double-speed. That reluctance to reinvest, however, came back to bite with a vengeance on Saturday as a Celtic team dripping in fresh energy ran riot against a Light Blue line-up that is fast showing its age.
The profits from the sales of Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, combined with Rangers' European exploits this year and last, have filled the Ibrox coffers with a wad of notes that can’t be far off £100million.Įven with legacy debts accrued during the long refurbishment works required over the past decade, Gers should have had the financial clout to have given Gio van Bronckhorst at least one further fresh face to add to the seven he brought in over the summer. And it’s not as if the club doesn’t have the spare cash lying around. Right now after Saturday’s brutal Old Firm dismantling, the fans will probably get more satisfaction out of forking out for their sky-high energy bills. World media reacts to Celtic destruction of Rangers as 'soapy' sinner ridiculed and fan chant catches attention.Celtic maul Rangers aftermath LIVE as John Hartson hits out at overreaction.After 12 years locked outside the European elite, there’s no wonder the Gers board are eager to milk this opportunity for all its worth ahead of their glamour clashes with Napoli, Liverpool and Ajax.īut perhaps they could have sweetened the deal by throwing the hard-up supporters - who have already had to fork out for season-tickets, MyGers memberships and endless drops of Castore gear - a deadline day dividend, something to convince the fans that the eye-watering ticket prices offered value for money. And that’s in the supposedly cheap seats. Only last week the punters currently trying to navigate their way through the savage cost-of-living crisis were informed they’d have to shell out a minimum of £150 to witness their team’s three games at home in the Champions League. Fans or customers? Just exactly how do Rangers view those supporters providing the club with its financial lifeblood is a question the Ibrox faithful are asking themselves more and more these days.
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