'Got No Cash' - Finance expert reacts to £69m gulf as Rangers go backwards, missed Celtic chance

Rangers missed their opportunity to become competitive with Celtic and have fallen a long way back from their rivals in the past few seasons, says Kieran Maguire.

The football finance expert from the University of Liverpool said on The Price of Football Podcast (7 November) that the two sides of the Old Firm have headed in opposite directions since the Gers made it to the Europa League final in 2022.

Rangers announced a £17.2million loss in their latest annual report on 29 October despite record revenues, and Maguire indicated it was a measure of how progress at Ibrox has “stalled” since coming back from liquidation in 2012, while he highlighted Celtic’s mastery of player trading as a big reason why they have surged ahead financially.

Maguire said (46m 50s): “I said two or three years ago, I think the year that Rangers got to the final of the Europa League, that they potentially could become very competitive with Celtic. But since then Celtic have accelerated and Rangers, I think to a certain extent, have gone into reverse.”

After highlighting the losses and the lack of a chairman or CEO he went on: “They’ve got no cash. They had £1million in their bank account and the end of the season compared to Celtic with £70m.”

And with Celtic doing “really well” and in decent position to advance in the Champions League it will “further accelerate the difference”.

On one of the supposed plus points from the annual report he said: “Trying to find positives from their accounts, revenue is a record level. They’ve had a lot of litigation, I think they’ve settled all of their litigation, which is good.

“But then you have to ask yourself, ‘How did they get themselves into so many law suits in the first place?’ Sometimes you can be over-combative in terms of your relationships, and also why did you get into those relationships in the first place?”

Rangers accounts spell bleak picture at Ibrox

The focus of late has been on the failings from Philippe Clement and his players on the pitch but the dispiriting assessment of the financials from Maguire shows how poorly the situation has been managed off it.

It’s hard not to get an overall sense of huge quantities of cash being wasted, whether it be on the regular legal wrangling the club is so proud to be free of, inadequate recruitment, regular managerial sackings, and a wage bill which Clement was obliged to spend the summer transfer window bringing down.

However, that may explain the widening gulf between the Light Blues and Brendan Rodgers’ side, but it doesn’t account for why Aberdeen are also nine points clear of the Gers after the 2-1 win at Pittodrie on 30 October, or why Kilmarnock captured a relatively comfortable 1-0 win at Rugby Park 10 days earlier.

Three years ago Steven Gerrard ended Celtic’s hopes of 10 in a row by winning title 55, and despite his exit the following season Giovanni van Bronckhorst took the club into the Europa League final, then qualified for the Champions League group stage while Calvin Bassey was sold to Ajax for around £20million [Sky Sports] and Joe Aribo to Southampton for up to £10m [BBC Sport].

And yet it has been steadily backwards from there as Van Bronckhorst and then Michael Beale signed underperforming players for overinflated fees before being sacked, and aside from Glen Kamara’s move to Leeds United for around £5m in 2023 [The Athletic] there is little to speak of in terms of significant sales.

The frittering away of the platform from which to build can hardly be blamed on any one individual or decision but a collective failing that has contributed to a culture of waste and underperformance.

As a result the Ibrox hierarchy are seemingly intent on sticking with Clement through thick and thin for the next two seasons [Tom English, 1 November] in order to break parts of that cycle and see the process of making the club more sustainable through.

Financially there is obvious logic to that but Rangers should never have found themselves in a position to accept mediocrity on the pitch in order to make up for failings off it.

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues have been hit by a “massive blow” already that will affect their cup final clash with Celtic.

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