New Rangers chairman Fraser Thornton insists Rangers have been failing for DECADES as he described the away form under Philippe Clement as “HORRENDOUS” and made a quip about the recent banner protests in an address to hospitality clients.
Thornton appeared alongside CEO Patrick Stewart in one of the lounges at Ibrox Stadium ahead of the win over Aberdeen on Wednesday and the qualified chartered accountant pulled no punches as he discussed past failures and the current struggles on the pitch, particularly on the road in the Scottish Premiership.
Thornton appeared at a media conference days earlier but it was led by ex Manchester United chief Stewart who revealed the club were backing beleaguered boss Clement who has come under fire for falling 13 points behind rivals Celtic. Just 24 hours later, the Rangers ultras fan group the Union Bears staged a walkout in the 55th minute of the win over basement side St Johnstone over the running of the club.
And then again the Dons in midweek message, inspired by words from legendary late boss Walter Smith, was sent out which read: “Rangers FC – do not enter unless you’re ready to put yourself second and that should be the one and only time second is good enough for you.”
Thornton referenced the banners in his speech which took place in the Thornton Suite as he explained the decision to stick by Clement and said they had to solve long-standing issues, claiming Rangers hadn’t had a team able to challenge domestically for 10 years – despite an unbeaten title-winning campaign under Steven Gerrard in 2021.
Taking the mic, he said: “Good evening ladies and gentleman. I apologies for cutting into the middle of the festivities here but Patrick and I were keen at least to come and say hello, certainly to thank you for everything you’ve done for the club, everything you do for the club and everything we hope you are going to continue to do for the club in terms of your support.
“It’s hugely appreciated by us – despite what the banners might say on the Copland Road! We do hugely value and respect everything you do for us. The other thing we wanted to touch on a little bit… I’m sure you you would have seen the media conference output that Patrick led for us and we wanted to give a little bit of context around where our thinking is with some of this in case you were thinking we have completely lost the place in terms of management and that sort of thing. It’s not like that.
“Of course we all know that results have been simply nowhere near good enough. It’s undeniable and well understood. I have to say home has been okay but away is horrendous. Honestly, the easy the thing to do would be just to say ‘let’s change the manager and move on’.
“But you know if you really sit back and reflect on it a little bit and you say it’s actually season upon season upon season that the results haven’t been good enough. It’s 10 years. It’s not even one or two years. It’s ten. It’s a decade of underperformance that we’ve got.
“We haven’t managed to have a team that’s been capable of winning week, in week out and challenging domestically. It’s a decade. So it’s not just a managerial thing – there are many other issues at play. And with that in mind and under Patrick’s expert guidance we said ‘Look, we need to take a long hard look at our footballing actives but actually all of our activities, but first of all our football activities, hence the operational review that we announced. So that’s the rationale and the context behind this.”