“Rangers’ Crisis: Stadium Closure, Transfer Disputes, and Leadership Failures”.
There are two serious problems I perceive with the Rangers, not counting the mayhem inside the stadium. Graeme Keevins
What looks worse, I’m not sure. Rangers botch up an Ibrox redevelopment and fire a worker for failing to schedule a building material delivery. Alternatively, Rangers take Connor Barron, an Aberdeen player who is not under contract, to a transfer tribunal to determine a fee. Now, that deal seems like something out of the past, when money was tight and haggling was the norm in clubs. In the meantime, Rangers are putting together a cast of foreign immigrants for nominal prices as part of a dubious reconstruction procedure that has rendered them homeless for the entire month of August.
Or at least, what a mess it has become. The consequences of closing Ibrox at the beginning of the new season will be disastrous. If that ends up happening, moving to Murrayfield will cost more money for season ticket holders who are now temporarily housed. Season ticket devaluation claims will ensue. And what will the SPFL do about Murrayfield when Hibs or Hearts play home games on the same weekend that Rangers are handling their temporary housing situation?
To prevent issues with social order, league games must be played on different days, and even then, there is no assurance that difficulties will not arise. This disaster has raised concerns about the Rangers’ governance. When I last checked, Ibrox chairman John Bennett was filling in for outgoing CEO James Bisgrove, who had decided to move to the Saudi Arabian desert.
Bennett has taken on the responsibility of project manager for the botched rebuild at Ibrox and is now in charge of player recruitment. However, it seems ridiculous that he is going to a tribunal to determine the amount of compensation Barron should receive, especially since it is expected that he will be one of the players who gets Rangers into the Champions League through the qualifying rounds.
Naturally, once Rangers locate a venue for those European games. The Ibrox club must hope that Scotland’s ongoing involvement in Euro 2024 would temporarily divert attention from their situation.
All the more reason for Celtic to make sure that any leave of absence McGregor might need to recuperate from his international exertions is compensated for by a high quality of close-season signings. The on-going international tournament might, for all I know, have allowed Celtic to use the diversion like the cover of darkness.
A bunch of scarves waiting to be held above the heads of a succession of players for photographic purposes on the day they sign could be a possibility. The fans, after watching two transfer windows full of blatant mistakes, will certainly hope so.
However, that is a bleak hope, since Steve Clarke is in charge of the national squad. The next season’s schedule is released on Thursday morning at nine o’clock. That signals the start of mayhem. It was not surprising, however, that Graeme Souness, a pundit at the European Championships, was unable to recall the name of Celtic’s league and Cup-winning captain.
I couldn’t deny the odd brain fade as a fully paid-up member of the media community for people over 70. It was the nautical aspect that caught Callum McGregor off guard. The single play Souey made against Germany in our first game was what’shisname, among a shoal of subpar players, amid a sea of mediocrity. In light of the rest of the competition, McGregor deserves a lot of credit for his part in the goal against Switzerland on Wednesday night, which elevated today’s Group A match against Hungary to a legitimate concern.
While they watch from a distance, Callum’s employers at Celtic cannot ignore the fact that, for no fault of his own, he appears to be losing his memory. To put it mildly, the player appears to be exhausted. McGregor’s season has been turbulent, which culminated in the pivotal role he played in shaping the outcome of a domestic schedule that became increasingly hectic by the week.
However, he took this action despite potential unsolved injury issues. Regardless of the situation, Callum will require an appropriate amount of time to heal when Scotland’s involvement in the Euros ends. He might not be able to play in Celtic’s first games of the season, and it would be unrealistic to expect him to be engaged in the start of preseason training at Lennoxtown. For Brendan Rodgers’ team, McGregor’s injury during the previous season had the potential to be a game-changer.
The transfer activity of Rangers has not been able to spark much enthusiasm thus far. As of right now, the Celtic supporters have no one to pass judgment on. However, McGregor’s situation shows how important it is to bring in players with similar skill while he gets the break he needs.
