Is It Too Late

 Following on from another disastrous run of results that have seen Rangers lose 2-1 to St Johnstone and draw 1-1 with St Mirren, serious questions now need to be asked of the board, and their inactivity.

Anyone who believes, as Gio stated he himself still believes (following the loss to St Johnstone), that this managerial team can turn things around is surely just kidding themselves on now. 

In the last  18 months we have seen a squad that was high on confidence, with good reason, and on the cusp of creating a dominance that was so sorely craved after the last decade, descend into a team clinging desperately to second place. A team with zero identity, unless aimlessly crossing into a crowded box is now considered an identity. 

A team with no heart, as players pick up fresh injuries every game, leading to a longer list of unavailable players than available players. I am by no means saying the players are faking these injuries, but when a team is on the decline and starts to lose faith in the manager, the injuries sure do mount up. Nobody knows this more than Gio, who unfortunately had one of the longest ever groin strains in the history of football when things started going south for Dick Advocaat at Rangers.

I was a massive supporter of bringing in Gio last November, and following a fairy-tale run in the Europa League that left us within one spot kick of a European trophy, I was willing to give him time at the start of the season when others were pointing out how bad the football was. I was wrong, I can admit that.

I certainly don't put all the blame at Gio's door, but he does have to take a large portion of it. He has no real style of play for one. I took my boss to the game against Aberdeen, and even though we won 4-1 my boos commented on how he couldn't work out how we were trying to play. He has now also shown he's not able to motivate a squad who famously chuck it every year. This year even earlier than previously. I suppose that in itself is an achievement. 

The board need to act now and remove Gio before this season becomes even more toxic and damaged. The longer the status quo drags on, the less faith I have that they will act. The cynical side of me thinks they may be holding out until the World Cup starts, in the hope that may bury the news a bit. Although with Scotland not making the World Cup, that plan may not work. 

Whatever the outcome or decision, there is more than just Gio that need to go at this point. The board need to take a serious look at how the club is being run, from the ill fated friendly in Australia to allowing prized assets run down their contracts and leave for free, as will likely happen with Kent & Morelos, there is something wrong in the club.

For me it starts with managing director Stewart Robertson and Director of Football Ross Wilson. Both have overseen a title winning squad, that had as dominant a season as any I've ever seen in football, and within little over a year allowed them to become a team midtable Scottish clubs now look at as a potential point, if not 3. Don't even start on European clubs.

They've seen big fees come in for players, and then reinvested that into poor replacements. They've allowed other, big assets to run down contracts where we previously have knocked back 8 figure sums for, that will now leave for free. They've allowed apathy not only creep into the squad, but run riot. That is unacceptable.

We were told the club would not stand still. That we would be going for "best in class" in all areas, but from the moment the Sydney friendly was announce, it became quite clear this group were happy for us to run second fiddle to our rivals so long as we churned a good profit.

There is nothing wrong with making a profit, of course we should be aiming to do that, but there's a way and a means to do that, and this is not it. Rangers should never be happy to play second fiddle to anyone, especially our rivals.

Speaking of playing second fiddle, apparently at the start of this year someone with a prominent role at the club, a man involved in the footballing decisions such as transfer etc was very interested in cutting his ties with the club to move on to the Director of Football role at a prominent EPL club. Nothing wrong with that I guess, if you don't think you can achieve greatness at us and want to go somewhere where you'll be paid more and have a blank cheque then fine by me, off you go.

The issue for me here is that when the club were informed of this plan to jump ship, the person was told by their manager that they could apply for the role with the clubs blessing, and if things didn't work out they would still have their job at Rangers. 

I'm sorry but that's not for me. If you want to go, go. If you want to stay, stay. I won't however accept "I'll stay, but only if this other club don't want me". We're not your consolation prize. I could perhaps understand it if he'd done an outstanding job, but the club has regressed under the stewardship, and really for me he should be out the door on that front alone.

 If this rumour is true, it shows a lack of desire to be "the best in class" and solidifies the impression that actually it's a "make as much money as possible at all costs" stance we have now.

I am not "In The Know" and I would never claim to be "ITK". Actually I would hate to be "ITK" because it would mean the club have a leak, and one that is reaching an insignificant person hundreds of miles from the club. With that said however I was given some information this weekend, which has furthered my current stance.

When I was first told this I was sure, it was from a very reliable source with strong contacts within the club. It was then verified by a couple of other folk with strong contacts within the club. So as best as I could see the information appears to be legit, I can't say 100% because unless I am in the room when something happens, or I see footage of it, I would never claim it is 100% true. I will say given who the information has come from and been verified by I trust it as much as is possible without being there myself.

Whether it is true or not, and like I say I can only verify to a certain percent, the fact remains the club needs action now, and not just the manager. We need to see movement from the top right down to gutting the playing squad, and soon, or we face rolling over and allowing our rivals another decade of dominance.

All of this comes on the back of rumoured unrest amongst those trying to create a working relationship with departments within Rangers, but are being disrespected. Some of whom have strong, historical ties to the club. 

This leads to the conclusion that Rangers Training Centre has also now developed the same culture which is rife within the Ibrox boardroom- a culture of back patting, yes men who are under qualified to take the club forward.

I'm sure the majority of these men got into the positions they now occupy for the right reasons, but as we're seeing on and off the pitch, are no longer fit for purpose and the club needs a full root and branch review.

The Rambling Ger

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