These excuses don’t wash- Kris Boyd calls out Ibrox chiefs as he makes October prediction

Kris Boyd has gone seriously off message over the closure of Ibrox, claiming that it might be October before it is reopened to loyal bears.

Since the June 20 announcement that Ibrox wouldn’t be ready for the start of the new season the consistent line from the media messengers is that only the matches in August will need to be relocated.

Barry Ferguson has been especially strong on that line even though all of the evidence suggests that the construction work has barely started despite the last home match of the season being played on May 14.

Motherwell are scheduled to visit Ibrox on August 10 with a Champions League third round qualifier in the midweek before or after as Phil Clement attempts to hold onto his job.

Very little detail has been made public about the reasons for the delay, when Ibrox will reopen and what venue will be used to stage ‘home’ matches.

Boyd is far from the sharpest tool in the box but even the former Kilmarnock ace can see through the spin, this morning he tells Sun readers:

Rangers have claimed the hold-up is down to delays with steel coming in from Asia.

Apparently a project manager has already carried the can and been relieved of his duties.

I’m sorry, these excuses don’t wash. It’s nowhere near good enough. This whole situation needs to be addressed properly by Rangers.

The club’s bosses were vocal last season about the state of Dundee’s pitch after multiple postponements — and rightly so but I bet Dens chief John Nelms is thinking to himself now, ‘At least we had a stadium to play in?.?.?.’

It’s crazy that Rangers have got themselves in this mess. I find it hard to believe really.

Listen, these Ibrox upgrades have been planned for a while, and I am all for making sure every supporter gets the best possible experience of watching their team but was it really a wise decision to embark on the work this summer?

The timing was always going to be tight with the new season coming around so quickly.

Surely, Rangers should only have started work on the Copland Road stand with a guarantee it would be finished in time for August? Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s touching October before Ibrox is available.

My old club have dropped the ball big-time on this and you wonder just how damaging it might be for them.

As recently as April there was almost a daily statement out of Ibrox criticising the lack of professionalism from Dundee, on Thursday Neil Doncaster was pleading for understanding and flexibility over fixtures.

At that stage the planning for the construction work to add 600 seats to the Copland Road Stand should have been at an advanced stage, the final home match of the season was against Dundee on May 14.

From the start of June there were rumours that the project was behind schedule and wouldn’t be ready for the first week in August, a test event will be required before a Safety Certificate is issued.

At some stage Chairman John Bennett will have to tell the SPFL how many matches Ibrox will be closed for, with fixture reverses unlikely it could result in a lengthy and costly hiring of Murrayfield.

As usual the details will be on social media long before the club comes clean with their fans- with Barry Ferguson no doubt praising whatever the club tell him to push out.