John Bennett reveals the Ibrox way of operating is no longer sustainable, as it becomes clear his aspiration is to be just like Celtic

John Bennett finally came clean to Ibrox fans yesterday, in what seemed to be a pretty revealing interview.

There is a tacit admission that he really has no clue when the club can return to Ibrox.

He hopes it will be October, but he can’t guarantee that it will be.

At this point in time, you begin to think that the Ibrox club, and our club are trying to outdo each other in levels of ineptitude.

Us and our prehistoric board, with our shambolic transfer window.

And them with their stadium debacle, and their ever increasing financial woes.

Our shambolic window just went up a notch this morning, with reports that we could sell Matt O’Riley to Southampton for £17 million, while accepting midfielder Shea Charles from them on a loan to buy option.

Yes, you read that right.

In a situation where you would expect Charles to be a makeweight in any deal involving O’Riley, we’re being told the club could take him on a loan to buy option.

But now we’re being told the pursuit of Charles is nothing to do with Southampton’s interest in O’Riley.

That our interest in the Northern Irish international is a completely different matter.

Confused yet?

At this point, our club seems to be devoid of any coherent transfer strategy.

So I’m not going to pull my hair out any longer trying to make any sense of it.

I could say I would just go with it.

But I won’t, because I will not accept the sub-standard way Celtic now operates in the transfer market.

You begin to wonder has it gotten to a certain point where other clubs just do not want to deal with us?

Where they just go, “Peter Lawwell? Nah, impossible to deal with, couldn’t be bothered.”

Anyway, I’m digressing, probably because I’m so pissed off with our transfer inactivity at the moment.

Back to the subject at hand.

The John Bennett interview.

🎙️ Chairman John Bennett sat down with @RangersTV this week to provide an update on a number of topics including the Copland Stand works, playing at Hampden, club finances and the transfer window. pic.twitter.com/1G5voK0qnB

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) July 29, 2024

I could say that Bennett came across as surprisingly calm in this interview, but I think that would be inaccurate.

There was most definitely an underlying anxious tone in the way he spoke.

At points he tripped himself up.

He was also at pains to point out the “strain” their current predicament has put on him.

He almost made me believe that there is some modicum of sanity beginning to emanate from Ibrox.

But then I thought about unhinged statements from him in the past.

Bearing that in mind, I’ve come to the conclusion that they’ve been forced into a position where they have to behave with fiscal sanity.

Bennett gave fans information on the delayed steel shipments, of which he said there were three.

He stated he would like to back at Ibrox by October, but could not definitely say that they would be.

So, nothing really new in all of that.

But what was very interesting to hear was Bennett’s admission that the Ibrox club could no longer operate the way they have been financially.

He openly admitted that that way of operating was not sustainable.

That losing £10.5 million per year was no longer sustainable.

Its interesting that it has taken them 12 years to realise this.

Which makes you think that if they were able to be as fiscally irresponsible as they have been over the last 12 years, then something drastic has happened recently to force them to reel that in.

Namely the stadium shambles.

Even though Bennett didn’t openly admit this, it is clear this is after putting a huge hole in their finances.

It would be a physical impossibility for it not to have.

But for me, as a Celtic fan, watching our club hoard tens of millions, it is now clear to me that Bennett wants to emulate our club’s M.O.

He wants to first reach financial stability, and then operate similar to the way we operate.

Conservatively.

And that is something completely new.

Fiscal sanity at Ibrox.

Something our board has never had to deal with in the 21st century.

So the question here is this; if the Ibrox side evolve into a financially sustainable operation, how will our board evolve to stay one step ahead of that?

I wrote an article late last week, where I stated an administration event could be looming over Ibrox.

I still believe this is possible.

Key to this is the length of time their stadium issue drags on, and the hidden costs involved in this.

The asbestos rumour continues to swirl.

As do rumours of all the structural issues in the Copland Road end that have arisen.

While Bennett was at pains to point out the stadium renovations were being done for their disabled fans, he was vague when it came to any issues that have arisen other than the steel shipment delay.

The impact of any issues outside of that remains to be seen.

The yearning displayed by Bennett for fiscal stability might just be too little, too late.

All of their top earners are being offloaded.

They’re not being offloaded for huge fees, are they?

So this appears to be a cost cutting exercise to reduce the wage bill.

The level of player that has come in in the transfer window is not indicative of a player calibre which would demand high wages.

Bennett also stated that the board fully supports Philppe Clement.

He stated that he was correct in his observation that the challenge he faces was not what he expected.

In other words, while Clement may be “all in”, as Bennett put it, he has no choice but to accept an austere level of financial operation going forward.

No doubt, Peter Lawwell and his board will have watched this interview with great interest.

Whether we like it or not, Bennett’s revelations will now set the tone for the way we operate going forward.

In the past, when we have had the opportunity to deliver a killer blow to the Ibrox side, we have never taken it.

Its likely that Lawwell et al will believe we already have the resources to deliver the killer blow required for the coming season.

If this is the case, that reeks of complacency.

A lack of ambition, other than to remain just one step ahead of our closest rivals.

So far, there has been little or no ambition to build on last season’s success.

And at the risk of repeating myself….

Unless things change drastically before the end of the week, we are starting this season in a weaker position than we finished the last.

As ever, the only ambition seems to be to build on the bank balance.

Which grows evermore grotesque, as the playing squad grows weaker due to lack of investment.

There is never any statement made by the board to allay our fears of further squad depletion.

Nobody has stepped up to say that under no circumstances, are we entertaining any bids for Reo Hatate.

As Celtic fans, it has become par for the course to accept that when any player’s value elevates, as Matt O’Riley’s has done, that they will automatically be sold.

While we reluctantly accept its inevitable O’Riley will go, it would be a step too far if the board allowed Hatate to go.

High value players are seen as nothing but assets.

And by that, I mean assets that will grow the bank balance.

Simply because what we make off these assets is never reinvested in the playing squad.

They are never seen as assets that can contribute towards growing that bank balance in other ways.

Like winning Champions League group games, and the financial rewards that come with that.

Like progressing out of our group, and the financial rewards that come with that.

That vision is abjectly absent in our boardroom.

All eyes seem to be on Ibrox.

If they were elsewhere, we would now have two new strikers in the building.

And a new left back, another central defender, and possibly a midfielder or winger.

Yet here we are, talking about bringing in a left back on loan from Wolves.

Short-termism, no long term vision for a position that has been neglected for five years now.

I have no doubt that if we fail to land a back-up for this position, Anthony Ralston will be asked to slot into that role in the event of an injury to Greg Taylor.

Daizen Maeda and Mikey Johnston will be expected to slot into the back-up striker roles.

If you doubt that, just wait and see.

Because in the board’s eyes, all of this is enough to remain one step ahead of Ibrox.

When you resign yourself to the fact you cannot compete in Europe, then this is the resultant thinking.

John Bennett’s admission that the Ibrox way of operating is no longer sustainable, is music to the ears of Peter Lawwell and the board.

Austerity breeds austerity.

If they don’t spend, we won’t spend.

We have an elite manager, they don’t.

But believe me, complacency, and the belief that Clement cannot get a tune out his new players, could be the rock we perish on.

If the board thinks they will easily give up their tag as Scotland’s most successful club, they need to think again.

We’ve seen how this board monumentally screwed up our ten in a row aspirations.

And while this season is nowhere near as important than that one, we need to be very wary.

Because it is important to them.

They need to keep up the façade that they are the same club.

Their imaginary trophy haul feeds into that.

Once that goes, all of the rest becomes irrelivant.

Clinging onto the trophy haul of the old club will make no difference.

If we take that from them, then they will be simply the second best, in every regard.

And as much as our board skimps on financing Brendan Rodgers, whether they like it or not, that will be a killer blow for Ibrox.

Eventually, they cannot avoid delivering it.

It will kill the survival lie.

Maybe then they’ll focus on succeeding outside this pathetic parochial rivalry, which is predicated on lies?

I won’t hold my breath.

And I don’t think you will either.