A decade ago this month, Sevco was in the midst of a short-lived dalliance with sustainability.
Mr Derek Llambias was appointed by Big Mike.
His colleague Barry Leach was appointed head of finance at Sevco the following month, in January 2015.
The plan was to make the club, which had been established only two years earlier from the body parts of Rangers, break even.
Sevco was within one or two quarters of getting there when the Off License Putsch of 2015 ended that austerity drive.
With Mr David Cunningham King in the Blue Room, the old expenses culture was back with a bang.
The vision was that the losses of the Ibrox operation would be covered by what a Johannesburg-based convicted criminal styled “soft investment.”
He certainly got that in spades, as emotionally committed directors and others plundered their personal wealth to keep the Sevco show on the road.
I’m reminded of this episode ten years ago because I see some striking similarities with the approach of the new CEO, Mr Patrick Stewart.
Although he hasn’t yet officially taken up his post, I understand he is already laying out the groundwork for how he wants to proceed.
It seems that, like Messrs Llambias and Leach, he wants to transform a loss-making business that cannot access normal borrowing into one that doesn’t spend more than it makes.
Moreover, he is acutely aware that the club remains heavily indebted to some directors.
The featured image is the forensic observation that football finance expert David Low made on X last week.
When Fergus McCann’s local guy takes a dive into a set of accounts, I pay attention.
To my untrained eye, the recent figures published by Rangers International Football Club (RIFC) seem to be the opposite of sustainable.
Mr Stewart seems to have an objective and a strategy to get there.
Sustainability through austerity.
Off the field, people can do several jobs; this multi-tasking mantra might explain Mr Koppen’s rather unexpected elevation.
Of course, the largest chunk of any football budget at a club is the wage bill for players.
Consequently, if possible, I expect several of the high earners to leave in the January window.
Let’s say that a saving of £100k per week would please Mr Stewart.
Going forward, the wage structure at the basket of assets will start to look sensible.
My information is that every department within the club will have a budget, and there will be no topping up.
This is the sort of organisational change that Llambias and Leach were starting to implement a decade ago.
One possible bit of good news for the Ibrox klanbase is the acquisition, either signing in January or on a pre-contract, of Lawrence Shankland from Sevco’s low calorie cousins.
I’m informed that the new CEO was mindful of the consequences of bigging up young Conor Barron as the new midfield general.
Any such gushing will merely strengthen Aberdeen’s compensation claim at the upcoming tribunal.
My information is that the Dons would accept £1.75m for the lad.
The new CEO will have a full in tray; there might even be a couple of overdue invoices from the Copland Road debacle.
At all times it will be necessary to follow follow the money.
As David Low often reminds people, Fergus McCann made the following observation about finance and football clubs:
If Mr Stewart is successful in achieving a sustainable Sevco, then they can only be Simply The Second Best.
Shankland has had a pitiful season so far and yet Skinto F.C. are still looking for him to be the answer to their prayers. That just about sums them up. HH
Why is the tribunal taking so long to sort out the fee for the midfield general Barron owed to Aberdeen? the player has been there since the summer and we seem to be no further forward, Yes, we know they are skint but the silence on this from the corps is deafening.
I’m no expert in finances like Mr Low but I did point out the highlighted caveat in the Accounts that more or less put a £9m piece of ply over the huge sink hole in their Accounts the day they were released.
They’ve pulled this trick over 25 separate occasions now since 2016 and as of yet no one in the MSM has questioned them on it.
Instead we have the usual stenographers massaging the news with baby oil at the Club for Diddy’s.
Truly, the Gelded Govanites are vershtupped.
I’ve heard Patrick Stewart is on a Trek to unearth the “Next Generation” for Sevco….I’m sure I’ve heard that somewhere before hmmm
The last line is the killer. I know they can’t over-spend forever but a smaller wage bill (unless done expertly) is likely to lead to smaller gates and less success in Europe -which will also impact revenue. Rangers need a great manager, great scouting or a string of great youth players. I can’t see many options besides Rangers fans buying a new kit every week.
The new CEO will have to change the mentality of the Ibrox club and their supporters, patience was never a virtue around Ibrox. He has also to completely change from the mindset of the club he has just departed from. Man Utd over the past number of years have Pxxsed around a billion down the drain, It will be interesting to see how Stewart approaches the challenge he’s taken on, the question is will The Rangers Fans show the patience needed to see the job through.
Shankland would find his level at Sevco … he’s obviously not good enough for the Diets.
If they’d done this on day one in 2012 they might actually now be where they want to be – player trading their way to competitiveness and eventual success. Lower income due to their smalller stadium would be a handicap in some ways but Celtic under Stein and Aberdeen under Ferguson both bridged the gap caused by lower gate income than Rangers by good coaching, astute signings and successful youth set-ups.
These though take patience and wisdom, qualities historically in rather short supply down iBrox way……
Imagine having a multi millionaire willing to invest to turn things around at your ailing club and you chase him out of town and hitch up with a glib and shameless liar.
Only at the rangers.
From what you say Phil it looks like they might yet be thrown a lifeline from the new guy, if he is allowed to carry out things the way you describe.
Hard work, prudence and diligence have never been the rangers way but time will tell.
They are a new club after all, this time it might be different but they have a pretty impressive track record of getting it badly wrong.
Celtic should not rest on their laurels. They are in a far better state of health than the rangers but they have to continuously keep it that way
Ok maybe I’m suffering from things being too good, and laughing at the Huns never gets old … but I found Celtic’s last numbers a bit concerning the operating costs of 105.4 m must be the highest ever? either Champions league qualification or selling a player for 20m + (or both) would now seem to be an essential part of the business revenue and yes I can see the money in the bank and its great , but if we had no CL revenue I think our numbers would look very different ? I’m sure the financial experts out there will tell me different …..
They are the greatest new club in Glasgow
Do they get a trophy for that as well