The current financial catastrophe at Glasgow Rangers football club has left the club in one of the most dire situations in it's long and successful history. It really is a travesty to see a club with the history, tradition and heritage of Rangers in such a state of uncertainty, in terms of jobs for current employees and, more gravely, survival. The very thought of Glasgow Rangers ceasing to exist is one that is almost incomprehensible to, not only the Scottish football fan, but to sports fans all over the world.
How is it possible for a club of such magnitude to potentially become extinct? Years of over-spending (particularly on the wrong players), unpaid taxes and, controversially - in my opinion - becoming stale due to outgrowing the Scottish league and having no where to go. Both Celtic and Rangers had achieved all they could in Scotland and to progress further, in terms of European success, needed to remove themselves from a 'glass-ceiling' effect the SPL provided. But most of all, as a result of poor ownership. The most recent of whom, Craig Whyte, seems to have endured the heaviest criticism from the media and Ibrox faithful -and rightly so.
My issue with Mr. Whyte is how he managed to dupe the media, fans and Rangers hierarchy into believing that he had the credentials (or more poignantly, the finances) to do the job. It seems that Rangers are guilty of a certain gullabilty in their approach to the appointment.
This gullabilty unfortunately does not stop with the appointment of Whyte. It seems that, in the past few years, there have been players brought in who, like Whyte, have been costly mistakes. Granted the appointment of Whyte was hastened by desperation and a strong desire from David Murray to sell as quickly as possible. The player signings, however, did not and should not have been so rushed nor should mistakes have been made so frequently.
The past few seasons at Rangers seem to have been the calm before the storm. 3 consecutive league titles under the guidance of Walter Smith, as impressive as it is, helps to mask the deep rooted problems at the club. I believe the long term health of the club and future success was sacrificed for immediate silverware. The quickest and most profitable way to see an increase in revenue and finances at a football club is to sell players. With the raised market profile of modern day professionals and transfer fees been subjected to hyper inflation in my life time, it's almost standard practice for clubs to make tens of millions from the sale of one player.
This being the case, the financial figureheads at Ibrox, having identified the imminent economic problems, should have been forced into wiser transfer signings. Firstly identifying young and talented players who would be relatively inexpensive, with regards to transfer fees and wages - and secondly, developing the talent and potential. In Murray Park, Rangers boast one of the premier training facilities in Europe. So there is no excuse not to utilise this through the development and progress of talented individuals. Players who will go on to enhance the first team and also be developed as a financial assets - providing the club with the option to sell on for a profit if - or when - the time is right.
This most definitely has not happened, though. Bringing in players like James Beattie, David Healy, Jerome Rothen and El Hadji Diouf is, for me, down to lazy scouting. James Beattie, for example, was a horrendous bit of business; paying what is believed to be around £1.25 for an out of form, out of shape and frankly washed up striker. It seems as though the coaching staff and scouting system have been overwhelmingly lethargic here. "The lad Beattie was decent in the England a few years ago, therefore he will work for us". Perhaps a bit of a harsh assumption but it seems a gross (and costly) misjudgement of a player. Realistically, even if it had worked out well and he had scored a few goals and seen out his fairly lucrative 2 year contract, what would be the end result? Beattie would most definitely have left on a free, or sold for a pittance. That money, under the guidance of well informed scouts could have (and should have) been invested in the future. Beattie seen Rangers as a paycheck, a place to wind down his career and escape back down the road to England with a wallet full of Scottish bank notes. A younger player would have seen Rangers as an opportunity; playing with hunger, motivation and desire. That's exactly the player I want at Glasgow Rangers.
Granted, it does take thorough investigation and strenuous work to identify the correct player to bring in - and for a feasible price. Not to mention a gamble, no matter how much homework has been done. The aforementioned transfer fee inflation means that, in a lot of cases, a club has to look further afield to acquire a gem. That means that more emphasis should have been placed on unearthing raw talent, and the net should be cast further from shore, so to speak. The past few seasons have been littered with costly mistakes; bringing in over-the-hill veterans and, despite attempting to discover new talent, signing players who are simply not good enough to pull on the light blue jersey. Bedoya, Matt McKay, Ortiz and Sebo to name but a few who have turned out at Ibrox, despite acutely lacking the dexterity to be afforded such a privilege.
For me, and a lot of Rangers fans, the most frustrating case of letting a player slip through the net, or failing to identify talent is Charlie Adam; who is now one of the most respected midfielders in the Premier League. Yet at Rangers, he was unappreciated, loaned out or played out of position. A glaring error. It seems somewhat unforgivable to fail to recognise a player of such potential star quality. It does not inspire a lot of faith in the talent spotting network if they fail to identify talent in a player who had been under their own noses for 9 years. The old saying 'you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone' seems quite poignant here.
Admittedly there have been a few success stories, with regards to brining in relatively unknown players for an affordable transfer fee. Papac, Cuellar, Bougherra and Jelavic have all proven to be examples of astute business. The latter, despite being good business still cost over £4 million. When you compare Rangers' scouting network to that of the other half of the Old Firm, it is obvious who has been more effective. Celtic seem to have a conveyor belt of overseas talent coming through the doors at Parkhead. Economical purchases who have made a major impact on the side. Hooper, Kayal, Ki, Izaguirre and Wanyama in the space of a year or two have all came in for around £2million or less and immediately been outstanding in the SPL. Not only that, their market stock will have increased dramatically too - leaving Celtic in a very strong position, both on the pitch and in the boardroom.
A stubborn Gers fan might argue that, despite all this, Rangers have still prevailed as champions for the last few seasons. I would say that this is a myopic view. I believe that the tide has been due to change for a while, now. Rangers and Celtic do not have the allure to attract the same calibre of players as they previously did. Celtic seem to have realised that far sooner than Rangers and made significant changes as a result. It seems a little too late for Rangers now as administration and the threat of liquidation looms menacingly over Ibrox. If Rangers do emerge from the current financial crisis, then drastic changes need to be made. Mistakes need to be learned from and scouting needs to become a priority.
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