Graeme

Rangers were very good tonight and could easily have scored half a dozen. Enjoyed the game.  C'mon The Gers  

17 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Patrick Stewart on Transfers - Part Two

 

Q - I would suggest to you that the players just now aren't good enough, that's why the club is 18 points behind Celtic.

 

If you look at the squad, when you've got players that are fit and playing at their peak, then the team has shown it is good enough. Consistency is the reason, consistency is the challenge. The players are clearly good enough. You don't beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox, you don't beat Nice 4-1 away from home, you don't go toe-to-toe in a cup final and many would say the team should have won, you don't draw against Spurs with players that aren't good enough. But consistency is an issue and I've acknowledged that. It's clear that that team is capable of going against the very best teams. We also need to make sure we're consistent week in week out and that is the challenge. I've not ducked from that so I accept there's been inconsistency and we've got to address that.

 

Q - How many players could be signed in January?

 

It wouldn't be as many as three or four, no. We'd be looking at one, possibly two.

 

Q - Are you in a position where you'd have to offload players to either bring in transfer fees or bring the wage bill further down before you could do business this month?

 

We look at everything over the course of a year, not over the course of a single window.

 

Q - Should an offer come in for Hamza in January would the club definitely not consider selling him?

 

We don't want to sell Hamza in January, we want him to be here for the second part of the season, I'll be very clear on that.

 

Q- Is it a case that there hasn't been enough attention paid to the type of players coming in? You've talked about short-term fixes, has that put pressure on the sporting director? Does he need to improve in that sense, the pattern of players that have been coming in over the last two or three years?

 

I think you've answered that question, he's only been here since January 2024, so he's actually only had one transfer window. So he certainly takes no responsibility for the problems that I identified that have led to that financial situation. His track record is from summer 2024 onwards.

 

Q - Would it be irresponsible if you didn't sell a player that you got a good bid for in January?

 

I think I would be told it was irresponsible if we sold a player. There's always a balance, but January is not typically a window in which those sorts of transactions take place. We're always, as a board, going to be looking at the long-term and striking a balance in the long-term. That's our duty, but Hamza's only came into the team and started scoring, and we want him to be here for the second part of the season, as I'm sure all the supporters do as well.

 

Q - Have you had offers for Cyriel Dessers?

 

I'm not going to discuss specific players.

 

Q - Can you be satisfied that there's going to be the money available looking ahead to the summer window to match your ambitions for the club?

 

My ambitions are to create a club that's financially sustainable, but also sustains success on the pitch. I'm not saying we need money to do X, Y, or Z. My job is to make sure we're well run, and so that we are using all the revenue we've got really smartly. That will involve making decisions about how we use the money, and there'll be some things we can do, there'll be some things that we can't do. That's not just on the football side, that's across the board, including in things like how do we invest at Auchenhowie? What's the best facilities to invest in?

 

How do we best invest in the stadium? Everything is joined up, and we've got to look at everything from a holistic perspective. I'll certainly be making recommendations, and hopefully very strong recommendations, for the board to endorse. We've got good revenues, but we also need to use those wisely in every decision we make.

 

Q - Will further external finance be required, and do you have assurances from shareholders and investors that they will provide that for the length of time that you need them to?

 

My job is to make sure that we don't have to go... I don't want to be in a position where we're relying on existing shareholders or external shareholders putting their hand in their pocket. That's very different from looking at long-term investment. That's something that every club in the world, bar a couple that are lucky to be owned by the state, every club in the world is looking at long-term finances, so of course we're doing that.

 

Q - You said that Philippe will be able to bring in one or two players in January. How does he feel about that? Are the manager and the board aligned on this?

 

It's not like Philippe can bring in one or two, but in a January window, no club should be in a position from the summer window where it's having to do massive transfer business. That's just irresponsible. Philippe, myself, the board, we're discussing all the time. There's a healthy tension. Will Philippe be happy? Maybe yes, maybe not, but I'm wanting him to challenge me and I'm equally challenging him back. We're aligned in that we're putting the club first and we all want the same outcome for the club, which is for it to be successful immediately, but also in the long term.

 

Q - Will review that be an external review with experienced football consultants or is that something being undertaken?

 

I'm really glad you asked that. This isn't just another internal review, which will take an inordinate amount of time and produce a report that nobody ever reads. I am going to be bringing in external football people that have experience of working with clubs to help drive growth and success. I think they'll provide firepower. They'll also provide expertise so that we're not just looking at this through a Rangers lens or, in my case, a Manchester United lens. Also, they'll be impartial. They've got no axe to grind, no agenda, and they'll make sure that we can accelerate the process, but also, importantly, support us in executing recommendations as well, so that this doesn't become one of these reviews that everyone rolls their eyes at and says, not another one. No, this is something that I'm very focused on making a meaningful difference.

 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/patrick-stewart-119776188

Thanks for putting all this up for us