Trading Places

 

Our Past

On the 11th March 2017 Pedro Caixinha was appointed manager of Rangers. An appointment that left most of us scratching our heads. Here was a man that had been in football management for 7 years but none of us had heard of him until he'd been linked with the club. 

Frantically we googled his name to see what accomplishments he had. To his credit, he had a decent record in Mexican football. Maybe it would be a good appointment and the type of gamble we needed to take to catch up with our rivals? Maybe, just maybe, we had found a tactical genius who had somehow gone under the radar in Europe but was now ready to take the footballing world by storm...

Spoiler alert, it wasn't. Pedro was an unmitigated disaster. He just could not grasp that anything less than a win was viewed as a failure for Rangers and the support. He signed players that were not suited for the Scottish game like Cardoso and Herrera, or he signed players that he knew were troubled, like Pena, yet somehow was arrogant enough to think he would be the one to change them.

He took over the post towards the end of the 2016/17 season. A move that can be viewed two ways, it's either wise because it can give the manager time to evaluate the squad without really taking the flack for it's failings or it can go so wrong that you never really recover.

For Pedro it was the latter. After a 5-1 loss to that lot and our first home defeat to Aberdeen in 26 years the fans really weren't won over by him. However, going into the new season and having spent a lot of money, he could potentially win us over. Enter Progres Niederkorn. 

In the first competitive fixture of the season, we were eliminated from the Europa League qualifiers in the 1st qualifying round to minnows from Luxembourg. There was no coming back from that and as the caravan was rolling, the dogs were barking, Pedro was sent packing shortly after.

We then suffered the humiliating episode of Derek McInnes. A once highly thought of coach who by this point really had turned out to be a bit meh and flattered to deceive, but we convinced ourselves he was the man for the job. Then after long, drawn-out negotiations where everything was all but official... he turned us down. 

This was embarrassing now. We couldn't even appoint a manager. Meanwhile, our rivals were pushing on, making signings and cementing their place at the top of the table.

Their Present:

Fast forward four years from the Pedro appointment and we have well and truly traded places with our bitter rivals after the whirlwind that is Steven Gerrard came into town and restored the natural order.

Neil Lennon left his post 23rd February 2021 14 weeks ago today. That's 98 days ago. Yet they still don't have a manager. They don't have a DoF. They don't have a head of recruitment. The new season starts for them in 7 weeks...

After long, drawn-out negotiations where everything was all but official, hell we were even told it was a matter of when not if, Eddie Howe turned them down. A manager that was once highly thought of, but after spending millions and millions at Bournemouth got relegated. A manager that they were singing about, making videos of grandad's doing stupid dances to his name and telling us we were terrified of. Then the day after he turned them down, it turns out he's rubbish anyway and they dodged a bullet. 

It's funny how things work out that way.

Now they're linked with Ange Postecoglu. A Greek-Australian manager who despite being in management for twenty-five years... has gone under the radar in Europe. Well, that is, apart from when he lost out on the Rangers job to Pedro Caixinha. 

A manager none of them had heard of until this link, a link that now apparently they've been talking to for months. 

It's funny how things work out that way.

After Google searches by them, they've convinced themselves he's this tactical genius who has somehow gone unnoticed. After all, he's succeeded in Australia at times, and Japan, apart from finishing 9th last year. He did well with Australia, apart from their fans tweeting about wanting him out and him stepping away because the pressure was too much. He could be the perfect gamble to get them back to the top. The parallels are almost poetic really.

He may work out, he may not, he may not even take the job. It is however great to watch it all unfold.

Even he's not in place yet, with only 7 weeks to get in, get to know what is left of the squad once all the loans have returned and those whose contracts are running out are sold. That's without factoring in needing to isolate when he arrives, needing to identify targets once he's evaluated the squad, and then the negotiations as well as appointing his own backroom staff.

Our Future

Meanwhile, in Ibrox we are quietly going about our business and preparing for next season and title number fifty-six. We started our recruitment for next season in January, bringing in Jack Simpson and Scott Wright so they could get bedded into the squad early and hit the ground running next season. We signed Nnamdi Ofoborh on a pre-contract in January also and recently announced the signing of Fashion Sakala also.

There's no doubt more investment to come in the playing staff, as well as likely some outgoings, but the fact we've got 4 through the door before the end of May is a fantastic bit of business and planning on the club's part.

The club has also been taking strides to ensure our financial situation is as strong as it can possibly be with the recent Edmiston House Supporters Package, the fantastic retail deal we have with Castore at present that is making the club a lot of money, of which I only expect it to go up with the 150th-anniversary stuff due out soon, The Champions Wall and then today the announcement of the share issue for fans.

The share issue is the most exciting for me. It gives us, the fans, a chance to own a piece of the club we love. It's certainly not cheap, at £500, but if you are in a position to do it and want to this is great (more info can be found here: Share issue ). Moonhowlers will use this topic as a way to throw out "Admin 2021" type headlines, but in reality, all it is is their way of saying "look a squirrel" while their house burns down around them.

The board has done a tremendous job getting the club back to this point, and while it hasn't all been plain sailing, we are back in the position of strength. It's now collectively ours and their job and responsibility to make sure we don't take our eye off the ball.

But I tell you what, as awful as some of the last ten years have been I know for sure which position I'd rather be in right now.

The Rambling Ger

Twitter - @GerRambling

IG - TheRamblingGer

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Now I should caveat this article with the point that this share issue, to me, is purely a novelty purchase. By that I mean this is unlikely to see you receive any return of investment and is just a nice way to say "I own a bit of this club". Buying some shares will not make you any more of a fan than someone who can't afford to buy them either. It's just nice to have if you can.

I'm very fortunate to be in a place in my life I can consider purchasing it this year. Had this been even this time last year I wouldn't have been able to as I was trying to save money to buy a house.  

I only tell you this because I know some fans will feel they need to invest in this so as not to fall short of the staunch barometer. Only purchase this if you really can afford to, and don't worry if you can't. Another opportunity will come around at a different time when you can afford it.