'Get on with it' – former Rangers player gives verdict on Hampden Park move

Rangers cannot use the upheaval caused by their temporary move from Ibrox to Hampden Park as an excuse this season, according to Alan Hutton.

The former Gers defender was speaking at a Premier Sports media event near Scotland’s national stadium, and acknowledged that there are significant differences between Hampden and Ibrox.

Delays to redevelopments in the Copland Road Stand at the Gers’ regular home have forced the Light Blues out of Ibrox for the campaign’s opening weeks, with John Bennett saying a late-September return is “an aspiration” [RangersTV, 29 July].

In quotes reported by the Rangers Review (8 August): “Of course you’d rather be at Ibrox – we’ve seen enough games there to know what the atmosphere can be like.

“But the players know where they stand now and cannot use this as an excuse. They’ve got to get on with it.”

“As soon as the decision was made, just get on with it. If the season doesn’t quite go to plan, don’t use it as an excuse.”

Rangers striving to make Hampden Park a home-from-home

The fallout from the news that Ibrox wouldn’t be ready for the new season looked likely to derail the progress made by Philippe Clement, but moving across Glasgow to Hampden is the next best thing.

As the Gers prepare to face Motherwell in their first home match of this campaign, fans will certainly be glad that they aren’t heading across the country to Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium instead.

That had been mooted as one of two possible destinations for match-going home fans, who would have been massively displaced by having to travel to an entirely different city until September at the earliest.

Hampden is the closest to a home-from-home the Gers will get, with seats in the same club colours as Ibrox and a capacity similar to the side’s spiritual home – which is set to be filled by the Bears faithful.

Adding Rangers memorabilia to the stadium will add to the atmosphere, but the best possible way for Clement’s side to make Hampden feel like home, will be to perform accordingly on the pitch in its centre.

In other Rangers news, Clement revealed that visa issues prevented Robin Propper from making his Gers debut against Dynamo Kyiv.

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