Keown calls out ‘yes man’ Stewart as Ibrox atmosphere turns toxic

Gary Keown fears that Paddy Stewart is just another ‘yes man’ to deflect attention away from the failings of the major ‘investors’ at Ibrox.

Douglas Park and John Bennett have sunk in £20m in loans to the toiling Tribute Act with little sign of them being paid with neither ‘investor’ likely to accept more worthless shares in return for writing off the loans.

Stewart held back his start date as CEO until the day after Celtic trashed the myth of The World’s Most Successful Club by winning the League Cup on December 15.

Other than one media conference that Phil Clement pressurised him into hosting nothing has been heard of the former Manchester United suit other than bland soundbites released following the box-ticking exercise that is a quarterly meeting with the Fan Advisory Board.

With perfect timing the Ibrox board met the FAB on February 5, watched their side lose to Queens Park then saw the minutes published from that meeting.

Since the club opted to go on mute after losing to the Spiders the last comments from the CEO were that Clement wasn’t retaining his job due to financial problems.

Keown has patiently waited and waited more than a decade for leadership that brings success to Ibrox but faced with a sixth Celtic treble in nine seasons his patience in Clement and the others has almost run out.

The word Celtic and the number 55 are likely to be appearing in the Daily Mail over the next couple of months with Keown beginning to realise that new CEO Stewart doesn’t have the skill-set to end his living nightmare:

Of Stewart, the minutes of the FAB meeting stated: ‘It is a priority for him and the leadership team to set a clear strategy for the club before the end of the season.’

Before the end of the season? He’s already been in the building for two months. Glaciers move faster than this.

In truth, the whole thing about bringing in external consultants felt, from the off, like Stewart kicking the can down the road and buying himself time.

Since then, there has been little to suggest he is going to go through the place like a dose of the salts. No sign of any of the dynamism from leadership positions that Rangers so desperately need.

Conspicuous by his absence post-Queen’s Park, Stewart has certainly done himself few favours. When he first arrived, Rangers fans hoped he would be the breath of fresh air needed to get the club back on the straight and narrow.

The fear now is that he’s just a ‘yes’ man for those upstairs, those responsible for the absolute state the place is in.

Of course, the longer this drags on, with Clement still in situ and nothing happening behind the scenes until the consultants have finished looking under the bonnet, the more toxic the atmosphere around Rangers is going to get.

The directors that appointed Micky Beale and Clement also brought in Stewart as CEO, only a fool would put much faith in their character judgement.

Clement’s panto season returns to Tynecastle at lunchtime today, where the domestic season started dropping two points to Hearts in August just after the manager had renewed his contract.

With Steven Naimith no longer managing the Jambos there are high hopes for a home win but having retained his job after losing at home to Queens Park Clement seems certain to continue in charge with St Mirren visiting Ibrox on Saturday.

(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)