The expansion of Ibrox is something of interest to us but not one of our short term goals.
“Right now, we’re focused on improving on-pitch performance as well as the infrastructure of the club itself.
“Any increase in revenue we can get, we’ll put it back on to the pitch.
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“There are lots of different levers to pull on, certainly more than on the commercial side.
“I was on the upper east side of Manhattan outside a coffee shop about to go to a New York Yankees game.
“I’ve known about Rangers forever as a football fan.
“So when the phone call came to ask if I’d have an interest, it was a lightning bolt moment.
“The call was from Les Allan, a banker in New York. I had met him six months prior and he knew our group was interested in a rare but good opportunity in football.
“Les called me and I said absolutely. Three seconds later I was on the phone to Paraag.
“There are many things about this club that are attractive.
“But the big three are the supporters – the breadth and depth of the fanbase is incredible. We’ve not seen many other clubs in Europe with this sort of scope and passion.
“Ibrox is an incredibly magical place to attend as a supporter.
“And the competitions in which we play, the league, the cups and Europe.
“The last few months have been incredible experience. One of my favourite moments in life is the five minutes before the match kicks off when you can feel the electricity.
“I was lucky to go to the match at Parkhead and it was incredible.
“I learned a couple of new phrases and gestures when I was there but it was a fantastic experience.
“It was the first match where our fans were allowed back in and we had 2500 fans there.
“But they were incredibly loud and vocal in showing their support.
“It was one of the best football experiences of my life.
“I’ve been a football fan all my life. I’ve been to five World Cups and five European Championships.
“I’ve been to countless matches. I think I did 14 new stadiums in the last year.
“It’s a physical experience when you walk upstairs at Ibrox.
“You walk up the marble stairs to the Blue Room and in the trophy room in particular you can just feel the history.
“There’s no other way to describe it. You walk in and instantly feel indebted to the people who have come before you.
“But you also have the desire to do everything you possibly can, not just to improve the history, but also improve the trajectory.
Andrew:
“It’s a physical experience when you walk upstairs. You walk up the marble stairs and the hall and the Blue Room and the trophy room in particular and you can just feel the history in the club. There is no other way to describe it, you walk in and you instantly feel indebted to what has gone before you, but you also have the desire to do everything you possibly can to not just continue the history but to improve the trajectory.”
Confident you can achieve what you want to, ie win the league this season and do well in other cups?
Andrew
“There is real work to be done, I think everyone is aware of that. Paraag and I are two of the patient people you will meet and we are also incredibly competitive so we share our supporters’ sense of urgency. We are in with both feet today and we will move this forward as fast as we can.”
What are the biggest challenges which lie ahead in short-term?
Andrew
“When I think about the short term I don’t focus on challenges I focus on opportunities. We have what I believe are the right plans and we are beginning to have the right team in place, and by that I mean the staff not the squad, that will continue to change over the summer. Instead of thinking of things that keep you awake at night I think of the opportunities in front of us. This club has so much potential and we are eager to take that potential energy and turn it into kinetic energy.”
When ready to add new players and make announcements on that?
Andrew
“I go back to the statement, which is this is an area where we will be really opaque. The window isn’t something that just one thing that opens and closes the way it sounds like. There are lots of different concurrent thing happening over the summer. The only thing I would say is that the club is in a different position this year, where we can be patient from a financial perspective. When there is the right opportunity we will jump at it, and where it is right to be slow we will be slow.”
How important will be getting into Champions League?
Andrew
“Champions League is the goal we are trying to get to every year. Every year that is our goal and we have to get through three matches, or three sets of matches and that won’t be easy. It is important because it brings more revenue. It will always be our benchmark.”
Know the nature of the Old Firm rivalry, thoughts on that on on Celtic dominance? How tough is the challenge of taking them on?
Andrew:
“We relish that challenge. We are impatient, we are competitive, and so we look forward to the challenge. In terms of the rivalry, I think rivalry is one of the things that makes football great. Our rivalry with Celtic…Rangers wouldn’t quite be the same without that rivalry. It’s top five in the world. Boca-River Plate, Lazio-Roma, Celtic-Rangers, those would be the three that come to mind. It’s fantastic to have that rivalry. And we look forward to the challenge.”
Why Russell Martin? Andrew?
“There were four criteria that we looked at for head coach. One, somebody that would coach what we think is the right style of play or game model. Two, someone would build the culture and the way we think it needs to be build. Three, someone who will develop talent. And four, someone who will win matches. Russell was the standout across all of those metrics, unanimously among our team. We are thrilled to have Russell as our head coach.”
Regular visitor to Ibrox, seen at its angriest, expectations>
(Cav)
I have also seen Ibrox at its coldest – I was here for the Dundee United game back in November. So I will give you a brief story. I was a goalkeeper playing football growing up. We had a play off match in the final year of my senior year and the coach came up to me ahead of the match and said, Andrew everyone on the field today is going to make mistakes today, all eleven including you, they just happen to have a special place to keep track of yours and it is called a scorebox. I think being a goalkeeper, while I would not make myself out as much of a player, it teaches you that you can have big moments, you are going to have to make big decisions, and you have to live with the ones that you get wrong. I am prepared.
Champs League etc, how important to be a permanent fixture in Champs League
(Cav)
I look at this pretty simply. We have plans for anything. It is not as if we are banking on that and if it doesn’t happen then there is some sort of a problem. That is not the case at all. But it is our goal. As we increase revenue, which comes from the Champions League, then we get to re-invest that in the club. That is why it is the goal from both a sporting perspective and the revenue model perspective.
Increase revenue from player sales – fans braced?
(Cav)
Again, we won’t go into individual players, or even this summer’s window with any specificity. But the world of football is one where you acquire players and they move on for bigger fees. That is part of the financial model for any club. At any club that is not one of the top five in the world, players are not permanent and players will at times move on and clubs will make a fee for them and it is good for the club and good for the players.
£20 mill a good start to get you going?
(Cav)
20 million is the amount of primary capital that we are putting in. We have been careful to not say we won’t put more in and to not say we will put in. When we think about the amount of capital that is needed, we look at it through three lenses. The first is what impact will it have and we think 20 million into the club – and again, we’re not being specific about where the 20 million is going – we think 20 million is the right amount this summer. And the other two lenses that we look though are FSR and making sure we are running the club in a sustainable way.
We are not looking for what I think of as the sugar high – come in spend some money, sign some players and try to win something and then you have the sugar crash that comes from that.
Club struggled to run profitably, will you cover losses?
(Cav)
Our ownership group has looked at this on a long term basis. One of the things we hope we bring is the financial power to create stability so we are not living hand to mouth and the club can operate from a platform of stability.
Met with King, Park etc
(Cav)
I have met with all three of those individuals as well as other shareholders and former directors and former staff and I think they have had good advice and been open. Quick answer is I have had time to speak to other people, not just those three, about what lies ahead. Looking forward to it.
How far away are Rangers from realising the full potential?
“I would give you the simple answer which is we have been finishing second and we would like to finish first. We are one position away from where we would like to be.”
Private company – Will you issue accounts with same details as now?
“Just to clarify, when the company is private it wouldn’t have an AGM in the same sense.
“Our commitment is to meet with shareholders once a year and communicate additionally as necessary. The exact form and timing of those meetings are something we’ll take feedback from our shareholders on.
“The commitment is to once again year do that as a minimum. We’ll figure out the right medium and the right content to go through.
Accounts – early warning system. Abbreviated or same form as now?
“I’m not an accountant so I can’t tell you the form of the financials.
“I do know that they will be made public because they have to be. We’re required to submit our financials to the regulators every year but the exact form I can’t answer to.
Land bank around Ibrox not good – for stadium plans will that be an issue?
“It’s not something we’ve got into at this point.
“As Paraag said, our focus is first and foremost on how do we move on pitch performance and start to build the infrastructure of the club and the team.
“But at the same time we’re beginning to put together a multi-year plan for the physical plant, which would include Ibrox, the land around it and Auchenhowie. But it’s early days on that.
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We think it is achievable or we wouldn’t be here. We don’t think it will be easy. It is not going to happen instantaneously but we will strive to improve the on-field performance and we will continue to build the infrastructure of the club. If we didn’t think we could win we wouldn’t be here. We are here because we think we can.