Their American dream could very well turn into a nightmare | OneFootball

Somewhat naively, with the benefit of hindsight, I believed when Rangers were liquidated and forced to start as an entirely new club there was an opportunity presented whereby the culture of a club operating out of Ibrox could be re-born…

theRangers founding father Charles Green claimed be BOUGHT 54 league titles. Photo social media

With it I expected the hitherto dominating supremacist and primacy philosophy could be resigned to its fate in a modern forward-thinking world.

It was a somewhat credulous viewpoint and completely underestimated just how many vulturistic businessmen would sense an opportunity and would require the fleece-able funds of the hardcore cretinous element in the Ibrox support to ensure their pockets were lined.

It ensured they could profit without the effort, money and hard-nosed business acumen it would take to sell an alternative vision of a ‘Rangers’ and ever since non gamstop uk betting sites have being paying out to Celtic supporters out as Celtic won every single Scottish Premiership title, bar the Covid season, since theRangers were founded by Charles Green in the summer of 2012.

A general view of Ibrox Stadium on February 14, 2012. HM Revenue and Customs are in the process of asking the Court of Session to put Glasgow Rangers Football Club into administration. This counteracts moves by owner Craig Whyte, who yesterday gave notice of the clubs intent to go into administration. HMRC is in dispute with the Scottish Premier League Champions over a £49million pound tax bill. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

This is what occurred, rather than an opportunity to attract a modern brand of investor group who would see an opportunity to rebuild a club, flush away an outdated culture and build a sustainable brand, an ongoing investable entity with the shackles of outdated imperialism removed.

When theRangers emerged, a doppelganger appeared, and that was a missed opportunity.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, after all the Scottish media, indeed all the estates, peddled instead a lie of continuation. This allowed a group of fans who had no club to support, to deny their demise and emerge as a form of Zombie version of what had gone before.

And once they were back in the door, had their minds wiped as to the demise of their club and a society that was, in the main, willing to avoid footballing ‘Armageddon’, they were back in with the bricks, and it was going to take some effort to remove them.

Craig Whyte

Yet it would appear the current investors being so celebrated now may well be about to shake things up a bit.

It appears when that culture is slowly eradicated there will be nothing the Ibrox fans will be able to do about it. And come 23 June and a Hilton EGM, it is likely any avenue to scrutinise or indeed challenge anything at all will slip away forever. You could argue the ‘Keep woke foreign ideologies out’ culture may find they are celebrating their own demise.

Over on The Celtic Blog, James Forrest has written a piece I’d encourage Celtic supporters to read, but which more so should be read by the Ibrox support. It is in fact essential reading for them.

I’ll let you read the whole article but in short theRangers ownership are making the sort of changes that will allow them to ignore criticism, avoid challenge, mark their own homework and modernise according to their own venture capitalist philosophy – and all without any real scrutiny, or indeed even the knowledge of who is really investing in the club.

Now that may well be a bad thing to some and will likely ensure theRangers emerge as a profitable entity for the first time in their history, with some business acumen applied, that’s assuming Paraag Marathe – the only known investor with operational knowledge and a reputable track record in football – is more than just a veneer of respectability for his new kid on the block associates.

theRangers fans display a banner in response to the clubs reaction to last weeks tifo which was displayed at theRangers v Celtic match during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Aberdeen at Ibrox on May 11, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

However, it will also allow the new owners to sanitise a distressed brand, whilst, unfortunately for the more reasonable supporters who visit Ibrox, closing the door on any outside influence on any decision making at Ibrox – not just those ‘up to our knees’.

The new investors may well initially pander, they may move slowly to eradicate the ancient culture still celebrated at Ibrox, but whether organically or through immediate revolution, those who damage the developing brand may well be made wholly unwelcome.

So theRangers will be modernised. Those kicking and screaming at their cultural eradication, the vocal social media revolutionaries, will be singing of famine in a vacuum.

Scotland’s Shame at theRangers vs Fenerbahçe, Ibrox, Europea League, 13 March 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

That’s because these investors will see an opportunity to hang around and make some serious cash, or whip the club into shape, make it an attractive opportunity and flip their investment relatively quickly in business terms but likely no more than three to five years.

For Celtic that means a challenge in a footballing sense. In a player trading model, we may well be stress tested. We may find we require modernising of our own football operations and all of that that is probably long overdue, after all Celtic only really needs corporate introspection when its dominance is challenged.

For Scottish football it will mean an American investment vision of a brave new Ibrox world, rather than one they could have influenced themselves back when liquidation occurred.

Jefte of theRangers appears dejected at the end of the Scottish Cup match between Rangers FC and Queens Park at Ibrox on February 09, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It felt like a missed opportunity back in the day because a modern and vibrant Ibrox club would likely have made all Scottish football less embarrassing and much more marketable as the digital age progressed and the world became smaller. Instead, we got an emboldened and arguably even more extreme version of what had gone before. After all what’s worse than a right-wing zealot? It turned out to be a right-wing zealot with a chip on their shoulder.

On 23 June theRangers are likely to ratify a whole raft of changes, some of which may bring them security, hope, and may well clean The Big Hoose, but it will also and line the pockets of their investors and ensure outdated customs and traditions, bar those which could be marketable to a mass market, are airbrushed from history.

Where previous ‘saviours’ took the shortsighted view of pandering to a west of Scotland audience the new ownership will be looking internationally to sell their brand. That will require a deep clean. That will require the corporate equivalent of disinfecting – won’t it? Or am I just being naive again?

Niall J

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