RANGERS CONFIDENTIAL: The weird motive for CEO Patrick Stewart not eager to conduct enormous inside evaluation

When Patrick Stewart announced last month that he felt it was necessary to undertake a full review of Rangers’ football operations, it did not seem unreasonable to expect that he would be the man doing the very task.

That’s what chief executives at major football clubs are paid the big bucks for, or so we thought.

There were more raised eyebrows than you’d find at a convention of plastic surgeons, then, when Stewart stated that the job of looking under the bonnet would largely be undertaken by a team of external consultants.

When the issue was raised with him during a wide-ranging interview with the club’s in-house media team, he was unrepentant, essentially claiming that the workload would otherwise be too great.

‘It’s something I’m aware has been asked – why am I not doing the review myself?’ he said.

‘I was hired to run a football club. But to that point, to do a deep-rooted review of a football operation, that’s a lot of work.

‘So, the external support I’ve got has spent literally hundreds of hours speaking to people at Auchenhowie, doing research, benchmarking against other clubs.

‘If I was doing that, or if I was even getting the support of my management team, we wouldn’t be doing anything to run the football club.

‘We’ve got to do both in parallel, so it’s really important we’ve had that support. But also, critically, they provide an external viewpoint on things so we’re not just approaching this through a Rangers lens.

‘As I said, we want to do things differently. We want to avoid making the same mistakes repeatedly.

‘I expect the external support on the football review to taper down as the season tapers down. But the football review will not ever end. This is about constant evolution.’

No news is good news for Clement 

In the days that followed the catastrophic defeat to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup, the silence from upstairs within Ibrox was deafening.

After days of mounting speculation over his position, Philippe Clement was even asked in his regular Friday press conference if he felt that someone in authority should have spoken to offer an increasingly disillusioned fanbase some idea of what exactly was going on.

It seems, however, that no news will continue to be good news as far as the embattled Belgian is concerned.

When finally pressed on why he hadn’t spoken publicly immediately after such a humiliating defeat, chief executive Patrick Stewart essentially said on Wednesday that it was because the situation surrounding the manager hadn’t changed.

Going by what Stewart’s view seemingly is on when is, and when is not, the right time to break cover, Clement can only hope that the club’s new chief executive maintains a low profile.

‘When I did my initial interview with Rangers TV, I did acknowledge that communication with supporters is critical, particularly for a club like Rangers where supporters play such an important part for the club,’ Stewart explained.

‘And I have done that. I think I’ve stuck to my word. I have met with several supporters’ groups over the past few weeks. I’ve also met with the Fan Advisory Board and I’m committed to reintroducing CEO fan forums.

‘Equally, I also said in that same interview, I need to find a rhythm because if I don’t then I end up speaking all the time and not doing my job.

‘So, it’s really important that we do that communication in a formalised manner and in a regular pattern that allows me to get on with the job.

‘Also, I’m not going to come out and make public statements after every match or particularly after a bad result.

‘Public comments on the matches – that’s Philippe and the players. I will only be making public statements when there’s something new to update supporters on. It’s really important that I stick to that.’    

Positives at last for Fleck 

Less than two weeks after there were serious concerns around his health, the news on former Rangers midfielder John Fleck is thankfully all positive.

The 33-year-old Chesterfield midfielder had to be taken to hospital having fallen ill in the warm-up before a match against Doncaster on February 6.

Assistant boss Danny Webb confirmed the Scot ‘had a fit of some sort’ but was conscious when he left the stadium.

Manager Paul Cook said last week that the former Scotland international was ‘in great form’ but had to wait to see a specialist before being allowed to return to playing.

That came as Fleck played the first half of Chesterfield reserves’ 3-0 win over Preston North End in the Central League.

The veteran has not had his troubles to seek over the past few years and will hope that he now gets an even break.

His misfortune began at Sheffield United when he had a metal plate inserted in his leg after a minor break. The difficulty was the plate was too big, so he was in constant pain when he trained or played for six months.

It was only when he got a bump on the same leg after moving to Blackburn for the second half of last season that he underwent another operation, with the correct size of plate being inserted second time around.

The only problem was that by the time Fleck was fit again, the season had finished and he was out of contract. In total, he made just four appearances for the Blades and one for Blackburn.

He returned to Rangers in the summer to train at Auchenhowie before eventually signing on the dotted line in a one year with League Two Chesterfield.

Brum sounds better than Ibrox for Davies right now 

Ben Davies was non-committal when he was asked the other day if he might turn his season-long with Birmingham City into a permanent deal.

The Rangers defender, who signed his temporary move to the League One club last summer, knows better than to give anything away about his future plans.

However, it would be remarkable if the 29-year-old centre-half was not thinking about putting down roots with a club who have taken England’s third tier by storm.

Having struggled to hold down a place at Ibrox, Davies has been a stalwart for Birmingham, who have cruised nine points clear of second-placed Wycombe Wanderers with a game in hand.

They have been so dominant that they look set to secure promotion earlier than any previous team in League One and there is already talk of a record points total.

Their manager, Chris Davies, who was assistant to Brendan Rodgers during Celtic’s invincible season, has been similarly relentless at St Andrew’s, albeit with a massive budget.

As Rangers lurch from one crisis to another under Philippe Clement, Birmingham’s big-spending plan to go from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons has captured the imagination.

It is an exciting proposition for  Davies and two others with Rangers connections. Scott Wright signed a three-year contract with Birmingham last summer. And Kieran Dowell, who scored against Cambridge United last week, has made a bright start since moving there on loan last month.

Add to that the former Celtic midfielder, Tomoki Iwata, who has been a revelation at the Midlands club, and it is quite a colony of former Old Firm players.

Together, they are going places, which cannot be said of Rangers right now.

Spiders debacle may not have happened on Katic’s watch 

It was somewhat ironic that on the same day Rangers suffered their worst ever Scottish Cup defeat, one former player who would have jumped over hot coals to be wearing light blue again was actually starring in a monumental cup upset of his own.

Rumours of Rangers’ reported interest in a return for Bosnian defender Nikola Katic turned out to be wide of the mark, with his agent Craig Moore — himself a former Ibrox centre-half — having been rebuffed when offering the club the chance of reuniting with his client during the January window.

Instead, Katic pitched up at English Championship strugglers Plymouth — and, boy, has he made an instant impact.

The 28-year-old was thrown in for a quickfire debut alongside fellow hulking new arrival Maksym Talovierov on February 1 and the central defensive duo were outstanding as Plymouth recorded a 2-1 win at home to West Bromwich Albion — only their second victory in 17 matches.

What followed, though, was nothing short of sensational. At the same time as Clement’s side were being undone by Callum Davidson’s Queen’s Park at Ibrox, Katic was putting his body on the line and repelling English champions-in-waiting Liverpool in an FA Cup upset for the ages.

After losing a tooth in an early clash of heads with his own team-mate Adam Randell, Katic simply patched up his bleeding mouth and soldiered on to keep Arne Slot’s side at bay in a 1-0 triumph at Home Park, with fellow former Ranger Ryan Hardie scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot.

Unsurprisingly, Pilgrims fans have taken the defender to their hearts, and the feeling was clearly mutual as a beaming Katic declared: ‘I f****** love it’ during an on-pitch television interview after the Liverpool triumph.

There was to be no hangover either as he went on to score in Plymouth’s 5-1 win over Millwall three days later. Suddenly the Devon side — who looked destined for the drop during Wayne Rooney’s ill-fated reign in charge — are now just two points away from a position of safety in the Championship table.

They say never go back, but in Rangers’ case it might have been wise to take up Moore’s offer of the player’s services. Given his impact in such a short space of time at Plymouth, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Queen’s Park would never have happened on Katic’s watch.

McCart wasn’t alone when it comes to multiple mishaps 

Rangers fans are well aware that their 3-1 victory at Tynecastle on Sunday would not have been possible without Jack Butland’s fine goalkeeping and the misfortune of Hearts defender Jamie McCart.

That they needed the luckless McCart to put the ball in his own net — not once but twice — said a lot about Rangers’ continued struggles under Philippe Clement.

As one fan put it on social media later, McCart has now scored more league goals for Rangers than Nedim Bajrami.

Had the Hearts player beaten his own goalkeeper for a third time at Tynecastle (which he very nearly did), he would have been entitled to the match ball.

In truth, two own goals in a single match isn’t so very rare. Jamie Carragher is among a number of players who have done it in the English Premier League.

Even three isn’t unheard of. New Zealand defender Meikayla Moore did it against the United States in 2022, one with her head, one with her left foot and one with her right. The perfect hat-trick – and all before half-time.

None of which is in quite the same league as the team from Madagascar who hold the record for the most own goals scored in a single game — and indeed the record for the highest scoreline in association football.

In a 2002 match against arch-rivals AS Adema, SO l’Emyrne deliberately lost 149-0 in protest at refereeing decisions that had gone against them in another tournament.

From the kick-off, they put the ball in their own net, quickly returned it to the centre spot and did the same again, over and over until the total reached 149.

If Rangers fans are a bit fed up right now, spare a thought for the spectators at that game 23 years ago who, according to reports, descended on the ticket booths and demanded a refund.

Goal rush could prove decisive for Potter’s women 

Rangers’ women are gearing themselves up for the run-in to a title race that could hardly be more competitive.

As the Premier League heads into its international break, Jo Potter’s side are top of the table, ahead of Glasgow City, Celtic and Hibs on goal difference.

With all four clubs on 51 points, Rangers’ recent form in front of goal is what separates them from the others as the campaign moves to within one game of the split.

A 6-0 victory at Partick Thistle last Sunday arrived courtesy of six different goalscorers — Mia McAulay, Rio Hardy, Demi Falconer (og), Kathy Hill, Kirsty Howat and Camille Lafaix.

Having lost the title by a single goal last season, Rangers are determined to ensure  there is no such agony this time round.

As it stands, their goal difference is 18 better than Glasgow City’s, 26 better than Celtic’s and 38 better than Hibs’.

Just as impressive is Rangers’ defensive work, which has earned them clean sheets in each of their last five league games.

If anything counts against them when this league season reaches its climax, it will not be the goals in their ‘for’ and ‘against’ columns.

‘To keep a clean sheet was huge for us, especially after scoring six very good goals,’ said Potter after the win at Petershill Park.

‘We felt the hurt last year of the goal difference and we don’t want to feel that again. We have learned from it. We have put ourselves in a really good position.’