Spoiled brats, an absolute embarrassment- Former Sky Sports pundit puts the boot into Ibrox regime

Charlie Nicholas has gone on the rampage- calling out the siege mentality created at Ibrox that has taken Scottish football to a dark place.

Six matches into the SPFL season they have refused to follow the rules on the cinch sponsorship deal without any sanctions coming from the governing body. At any moment the new sponsor could pull the plug on their five year deal.

Last week media accreditation to the Europa League game against Lyon was refused to Neil Lennon and Chris Sutton in a dispute that could see UEFA step in.

While the Ibrox side pick fights left, right and centre the SFA and SPFL sit on the sidelines waiting for things to be resolved, last season it took them more than two months to suspend Covidiot Nathan Patterson after he was fined by Police Scotland for attending a house party during Tier 4 of lockdown.

Picking up on his column in the Daily Express, the Daily Record reports Nicholas saying:

Steven Gerrard said when Rangers won the Premiership title last season his club would stay humble. Well, they’ve failed. There’s not one single ounce of humility in that Ibrox boardroom right now.

Everything coming out of the club just now seems to involve getting into arguments with other factions of the Scottish game. Rangers are coming across like spoiled little brats and their behaviour has been an absolute embarrassment.

Last week ex-Celtic men Neil Lennon and Chris Sutton were denied the chance to broadcast from inside Ibrox because the BT Sports pundits were deemed a ‘security risk’.

This pathetic excuse comes hot on the heels of Rangers wanting money from the mainstream media to cover games and press conferences at Ibrox. Honestly, Rangers’ behaviour is now becoming so embarrassing to the SPFL.

And let’s not forget Ibrox managing director Stewart Robertson blasting the SPFL’s five-year deal with Sky Sports – saying the game had been massively undersold – and the club currently being at loggerheads with football bosses over the cinch sponsorship deal.

They will battle with any club who goes up against them on that issue. But there is an easy solution to all of this. If Rangers want to fight everybody, then every other club should band together and confront them.

If Rangers are still holding grudges over the way they were ditched into the lower leagues – which WAS unfair – then their mindset is just the same as the embittered club who had to climb back from the bottom division nine years ago.

If Rangers can’t move on, then Scottish football can’t progress. It’s as if they don’t want to make our game better, but are more than happy to insist the authorities have sold it short.

In an ideal world, all clubs should be getting together so we can move our product forward and make it a bit more interesting for everyone. That way we can maybe get more finance into our game and, if that happens, then everybody will surely benefit.

I’m sure Gerrard will be thinking the same way behind the scenes. But the reality is, if Rangers want to be Scottish football renegades then every other club should face up to the bullies.

The others have a right to protect themselves and to show that Rangers have got things badly wrong. If it means stopping financial payments from the SPFL or withholding money from UEFA then that is what has to be done.

Nicholas is wrong about ‘Rangers being ditched down the leagues’. Rangers went into liquidation in 2012 for refusing to come to an agreement with 276 creditors including a face painter, florists, taxi firms, newsagents and Her Majesty Revenue and Customs.

While this season descends into chaos to suit an agenda SPFL clubs voted Stewart Robertson onto their board where he remains with his club refusing to accept the cinch sponsorship deal.