Holding a Rangers shareholder meeting the day after a William Hill Premiership defeat to Hibernian at Ibrox that left them languishing in ninth place in the league table was always going to lead to some terse exchanges.
But it was obvious to chairman Andrew Cavenagh, vice-chairman Paraag Marathe and chief executive Jim Gillespie just how high emotions were running high among the assembled gathering at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow city centre this morning long before the question and answer session got underway.
As Gillespie outlined the hierarchy’s ongoing efforts to drive up the standard of refereeing in Scottish football, he was suddenly interrupted by one fan mid-flow.
“It’s not working!” the heckler interjected. “You’re giving us the same spiel again!”
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Those in attendance were clearly raw in the wake of the hotly-disputed penalty award which Hibs had been given less than 24 hours earlier and deeply disgruntled by their heroes’ dire start to the 2026/27 season.
There was much, though, during the course of a meeting that lasted for around an hour and a half which supporters had not heard before and a fair bit of new information which gave them a glimmer of hope for the future.
Whatever Rangers supporters’ view of their owners – and it was clear that American healthcare tycoon Cavenagh, his 49ers Enterprises associates and their consortium partners retain their overwhelming backing despite their current difficulties – they can not accuse them of being unaccountable.
Misgivings about the current merchandise agreement with Castore were aired by one shareholder who was handed a microphone and Marathe, the former San Francisco 49ers sports executive and current Leeds United chairman, did not hold back when he responded.
“The club signed an eight year contract which includes full retail rights to everything,” he said. “I am going to say this unreserved. We would not have done that deal. It is almost unheard of to have a contract that long.
“It was because of where the club was financially and we understand the rationale for it. But when we bought the club it was one of the factors that was on the negative side of the ledger for us.
“We recognise that we need to work with them and look to improve what we do right across the board. The good news is that they are open to trying to support what we do and I do expect to see improvements. They know how we feel.”
Marathe received a round of applause when he underlined how unhappy the members of the Rangers board were about the Hibs penalty call as well as a number of rulings which have gone against them during their tenure. He stated they would continue to work constructively with the SFA.
“Listen, you’re not wrong,” he said. “Let me say that, you’re not wrong. I still can’t believe yesterday as well. If anything, I thought it should have gone the other way. So it’s frustrating.
“As a club, we can’t put ourselves in a position that makes it even worse for us, if that’s even possible. We have to manage that delicate balance to fight for what is right and fight against what is wrong. It’s just very, very frustrating.”
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However, Gillespie emphasised that he and his colleagues believe Scottish football’s governing body must accept some culpability for the crowd trouble which flared after the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox on March 8.
“A club like Rangers should always be at the forefront of Scottish football,” he said. “We do want to have constructive relationships with the SFA and the SPFL. But we also hold them to account when we feel decisions or processes are wrong or could be improved. That has happened regularly in the last six months.
“But we don’t want to be seen or known as a club that shouts and stamps its feet, but then does nothing. Some of those conversations will take place behind closed doors. But we will always be informed, professional and ready and willing to do things in an appropriate manner.
“We have done that when dealing with the fallout of the March 8 match. We believe everyone should be held to account, including the SFA over their ticket allocation. That will be strongly put forward at the disciplinary hearing next week. We will also challenge Derek’s suspension. We feel his ban is disproportionate.”
Cavenagh brushed aside a suggestion from one supporter who was disappointed the manager was not up on the stage that Derek McInnes was absent because of the poor start which his new-look side has made to the next campaign.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “The intent was to let Derek focus at the training ground, which is where he is today. The results over the last few games have nothing to do with Derek not being here today. On recruitment, it is a team effort. We all have responsibility. We will win together, we will lose together.”
Recruitment was a recurring theme throughout. It was confirmed that ambitious plans to lower the pitch and increase the capacity at Ibrox by up to 6,000 are being explored. There was a confession that an injection of fresh capital will be required despite a share issue raising £16m this summer. There was a pledge to produce more academy footballers capable of representing the first team.
But ultimately all fans care about is the team winning and lifting trophies and there was an admission that, despite huge sums of money being spent on a raft of new players and three different managers occupying the dugout, results have not been good enough.
“We’ve made mistakes and have tried to own those,” said Cavenagh. “We are more optimistic where we are today than where we were a year ago. But words are cheap. All that really matters is winning on the pitch and we haven’t gotten to that yet. But we’re here to continue our relentless pursuit of our ambitions.”
Marathe added, “Yes, of course, we’re financially invested. Yes, of course, we want to run a sustainable business. But the thing that drives us more than anything else is the desire to win. The feeling that we need to win or die trying. That’s what fuels us. We’re p****d off when we lose and feel on top of the world when we win.
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“One thing about Cav and I is that we’re not afraid to make change. If it’s not working, we’ll change it. In my experience at both the 49ers and with Leeds, that chemistry takes a little bit of time to gel.”
There were some light-hearted moments. One gentleman who asked a question about why Youssef Chermiti was played against Hibs after a £22m bid for him had been turned down revealed his name was Ewan Cameron. He was at pains to point out he was not the outspoken Hearts fan and STV presenter. Another supporter introduced himself as “SFA and VAR hater”.
Cavenagh declined to publicly name every member of the consortium he was in and defended the decision to retain the services of Chermiti on the grounds that there was no guarantee a like-for-like replacement could be brought in. But, by and large, it was a good-humoured affair.
But nobody among the Rangers support will be laughing if their owners fail to strengthen the Ibrox squad significantly in the coming weeks or deliver the silverware and success which they promised they would when they completed their takeover last year.
