Keith Jackson has called on Stuart Gibson to provide fresh investment in the Blue Room rather than palm supporters off with claims that all is hunky dory under Stewart Robertson and Ross Wilson.
The Hong Kong based investor popped up on a fans podcast last week with Comical Ali announcements while bears on the ground fear the worst as Celtic and Ange Postecoglou in particular pull further away on a weekly basis.
Micky Beale delivers comforting soundbites in his media conferences but the contrast between watching Celtic playing with style and destroying opponents is in contrast to the laboured efforts of the Ibrox XI.
Pinning your hopes on a rookie manager that thinks the world revolves around Todd Raskin and Nicolas Cantwell seems a dangerous policy.
Watching the gap widen Jackson sends out an alarm call to the Record‘s Army of readers:
The manager has called in public for unity and alignment as he attempts to steer the ship through some seriously choppy waters but the latest horribly misjudged noises from above, which dropped in the form of a podcast with investor Stuart Gibson, went down like a depth charge.
Gibson appeared to be in a state of stonewall denial as he spoke in gushing terms of the quality of those currently manning the club’s command centre. It was tone deaf. But if this really is the prevailing mindset inside the Blue Room then it’s no wonder the fans are reacting with such hostility because – banners or no banners – it feels as if fundamental change will be required if Beale is to successfully play catch-up this summer.
Fresh investment and new ideas will be needed as well as a more open and transparent approach to reconnecting with the fanbase. Even Beale, who speaks with admirable honesty, has tripped himself up over the past few weeks by insisting repeatedly no contracts have been offered to the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent.
Calling for fresh investment seems a strange call- during the January transfer window Beale had a net spend of around £1.75m while Ange Postecoglou generated a surplus of £3m by selling two and signing four players.
Over the last 15 months the Ibrox coffers have been flush with transfer fees for Nathan Patterson, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey as well as money from the Europa League Final run and a first ever appearance in the Champions League.
Having worked through a second nine-in-a-row and covered a quadruple treble the thought of a new period of success for Celtic is as depressing to Jackson as the latest ABC circulation figures for the Glasgow publisher.
I wouldn’t like to see the state of KJ’s personal finances if he considers throwing more money into the bottomless pit that is Sevco to be an ‘investment’. The general idea of investment is that you input finance in the reasonable expectation that the enterprise is well-run and profitable so you will thus receive your money back, with interest…. anyone expecting that from Sevco really needs a grown-up looking after their money. The best you could hope for with Sevco is to generate what used to be known as a ‘tax loss’, but that’s a bit of a touchy subject these days….
There is nothing more sadder or depressing in Scottish football , than reading that an alleged impartial sports scoop pouring his heart out in print,pleading to the board of his favourite clumpany for more investment which it does not have ! Trying not to be conspicuous, Jackson is ,let’s say ,’advising ‘ the Rangers board that unless things change … They will stay the same ! All of this from the daily Record’s chief sports glorified typist . Also known as the self titled ‘Scotland’s most influential columnist .’ Ahh ,the legendary Scotland’s Champion tabloid !
What type of investor would put their money into a club and have no say in it’s operation, that’s what the Rangers directors tried to do with the Americans.
The quite recent share issue notification to companies house gives any potential investor a clear stay away message, directors loans being repaid in shares, how often will share issue after share issue be allocated before financial affairs become to great to sustain.
Nothing has been learned from the liquidation of Rangers, now the club impersonating them are heading towards that same black hole of oblivion,.
The fans are being fed feel good stories when things go wrong at the club, those stories are now seen as exactly what they are, just pure fabrication, the fans are wakening up to the persistent lies from the board.
As for Beale, he is the right person to take The Rangers forward, hard for me to say as a celtic fan but Beale has the methods and ability but may never have the players to do himself justice, he was in my opinion the man who made the difference under Gerrard.
Fergus made the difference at celtic, rebuilt a stadium to be proud of, he resisted the temptation to compete with Rangers overspend and the rest is history.
Be proud of Celtic and retain our dignity at all times.