Every word of Patrick Stewart's Rangers transfer update as he rules out key man January sale

Yesterday at 04:00 PM

Rangers’ chief executive Patrick Stewart addressed the January transfer window plans for the club including how many signings are likely and potential sales. Here is every word he had to say as he met the media this afternoon.

On Rangers squad planning

“So let’s discuss squad planning. I think first things first, I want to explain why it’s me discussing squad planning with you today rather than simply leaving it to Philippe. Club directors are always being asked 'Are we backing the manager' when it comes to signing players. Again I think in well-run clubs it’s the club that signs the players, not the manager. The manager does play a significant role.

“He should be influencing the plans and should have a veto right over signings. I also expect a manager to be pushing me and technical director Nils to invest in the squad. I expect that challenge [and] equally I’m going to push back and say 'I want you to make the most of the players that we’ve got' and so I think you need that kind of, I call it, healthy tension where Philippe is pushing for more players and as he said in a recent press conference, every manager wants more players and you’d want that from a manager.

• READ MORE: CEO Patrick Stewart praises three Rangers stars who he thinks will have a big 2025

“Equally, I think supporters would also want the board to be saying 'Fine but you also need to develop the players and work with the players we’ve got' and I think Philippe and I have that healthy tension and I welcome it. But that’s the model that we have and are really embedding at Rangers so Nils Koppen was originally the recruitment director and is now the technical director. He has a recruitment team that are dedicated to squad planning, they don’t just work during the transfer windows, they are working all year round.

“Nils speaks with me on a daily basis and with Philippe on a daily basis. Nils, Philippe and I will speak regularly so I see it more as a case of the entire staff whether it’s myself the recruitment team or Philippe, we’re all working to back the club it’s not the club backing the manager it’s really everyone backing the club to make sure we’re signing players for the club or for the long-term benefit of the club.

“I want to just touch on the context that we as a club find ourselves in at the moment. There’s been a lot of talk recently about player-trading model and that’s become a bit of a buzz term. Just to be clear, player trading that’s just part of squad planning and when we talk about trading it’s about building a squad for Rangers to win on a sustained basis.

“Winning the odd cup here and there, that’s not the aim it’s about being serial league winners, challenging on multiple fronts on a consistent basis that’s where we need to be as a club. So I do want to be transparent about some of the issues that we face as a club and I think it’s important I’m transparent with supporters and you guys as well. If we acknowledge some of the issues then we can start to solve them.

“So when I do go on to talk a bit more about context, I’m not using it as an excuse for underperformance but just really to provide a bit more backdrop so you can understand why we’re doing things in a certain way. Until this summer my observation, I don’t think many people would disagree, is that in recent years we’ve been focused on quick fixes.

“The board has backed the manager when it comes to signing players and then the next manager and then the next manager after that. So let’s take a step back and look where that’s left us. I’ve already mentioned the last set of financial figures. We are running at a loss, so for great revenue last year we made 17 million pounds of loss as you know.

“The vast majority of that loss arises from transfer fees that the club committed to in transfer windows pre-dating summer 2024, for players are either no longer with the club or they are but they’re not getting many minutes. That’s frustrating for everyone. I want to acknowledge that shareholders have shown unwavering support in covering those losses in recent years but for myself and Fraser [Thornton] and our fellow directors, we’d be absolutely failing in our duties to the club if we just hope for the best year after year that shareholders would continue to cover losses that you know we have essentially managed our way into.

“But short-termism isn’t just about you know the financial costs of the club. It’s also not produced sustained success on the pitch. As I say winning the odd cup, winning one league and you know since we returned to the top flight that’s what the sort of short-term approach has resulted in. So we are adopting a longer-term approach both for financial sustainability reasons and also to ensure we’re getting sustained success on the pitch.

“What does that mean what are we doing to change? So we want to set up Rangers for sustained success domestically and also in Europe. To do this need to make sure we’re not repeating the same mistakes and part of that is our approach to squad planning. We are making sure it’s the club signing players but not the manager signing players or signing players for a specific manager.

• READ MORE: Patrick Stewart puts a number on Rangers' January signings and makes Hamza Igamane

“So we need to do os have real focus and discipline when it does come to player trading. And if you look at where we the way we traded in summer, this is how we intend to trade going forward. There are essentially three profiles of player that we are focused on when it comes to player trading.

“Firstly younger players who have the mentality to play for Rangers and who fit within our financial parameters. And then we have a first-team management group that develops those players so that they’re contributing minutes on the pitch immediately and they’re also increasing in value on the transfer market. If you look at this summer I think there are some really good examples of that profile of player. We’ve got Hamza, we’ve got Jefte and Bajrami. They’re good examples of that profile of player.

“The second category is talented Scottish players and we want a talented group of young Scottish players not just young just Scottish players that are going to form the core of the squad. And again two good examples we’ve got John Souttar and Connor Barron who are good examples of building that Scottish core. And it’s really important that we have that for the identity of the football club.

“Also supporters want, I believe, will want a team they can relate to and that reflects their identity and values as well and that does mean that we do need homegrown players. Also your UEFA has regulations or a number of homegrown players so we would need to do this anyway but it’s more than just about ticking our compliance boxes, it’s about creating a real identity and a core within the dressing room.

“And then finally I think every successful squad has a good balance of youth and experience so we also look at a profile of player that will bring that experience to the squad and be there as role models to help the development of players.

“If you look at the current squad I think we’ve got good examples of that. We’ve also got Jack, Leon Balogun, Tav and Vaclav Cerny, obviously who’s come in from Wolfsburg for a year. So that’s what we’re doing and I think if you look at the approach that’s been placed in since summer, so this predates me, it does follow that profile and that’s an approach that will continue to follow. So we’ve got a balanced squad but important with young hungry players.

“I’ve talked a lot about the future but again just to emphasise that doesn’t mean that we’re sacrificing the present. We are building for sustained success yes but we also want to compete right now and during the questions, I talked about we have seen some good performances this year and they’ve been more than just a flash in the pan I think if you particularly look at Europe and also against some of the high performing teams in the SPFL as well we’ve had some really good performances but we’ve also had a lot of inconsistency so that’s what we’re focusing on.

“If I was in any doubt I’m in no doubt now. Rangers as a club has to be winning every week and that’s what the supporters expect.

“So it is what makes this club special and pressurised but those are the standards we’ve all we’ve all got to embrace and those are the standards that we need to make sure permeate the entire club. So everyone should understand that and if they don’t we make sure they understand that we’re meeting these expectations consistently. I know also our supporters quite rightly expect the team to fight until the end.

“If we look at the first half of the season we’ve had probably more than a fair share of injuries and also it’s taken time for some of the new signings to be integrated and they’ve only, you know, some have started showing the levels they can get to but those aren’t excuses again these are challenges every club faces and we’re working really, really hard to overcome them and so we’re looking at the second half of the season and really expecting to have an improvement versus the first half.

“So that does bring me to this window. I think the first thing I’d say for a club it’s the summer window that’s the key trading window, no club starts at the beginning of the season and says 'Right and this is what we’re going to do in January'. It’s all the focus is on summer and we did a lot of transfer business in the summer 24 window.

“I’m not going to read out all the players we brought in you know that already but it’s a long list of them and equally and they were they fit the profile I discussed -predominantly younger players. Equally, we also several players left the club and they were generally of an older profile and also on higher salaries. So summer was very much the focus point for us. I also want to look at what you know the January window does bring.

“There have been some exceptions but if you look at the January window generally it isn’t a particularly fruitful window. Most selling clubs, do not want to sell their best players. We have no intention of selling the players at performing on the park at the moment and why would we expect any other club that’s challenging for trophies to do so. It's a very low likelihood that top-quality players are going to be on the market.

“Even if we can secure a player that fits the profile, bringing them in in January means there’s no time to bed them in. There’s no pre-season and there’s very little time to actually fit in training sessions between all the matches so there’s limited impact they can provide. All of that said, there is still a benefit to the January window so don’t get me wrong I’m not saying it’s a complete dead loss. I think there are a couple of scenarios where it can be really effective.

“Firstly when you know a club has suffered injuries such as we have – particularly a centre-back – it is an opportunity to make a reactive signing. This is a position we’ve been looking at since December and so we have been active in discussions. I’m not going to go into details as to exact targets and what those have been but we have been looking at that since December. I come back to what I said earlier, we’re going to be really disciplined in our approach and we will walk away from a deal if it’s not right.

“And that’s particularly so because the position we find ourselves in at centre-back is because of injuries, and players are going to start returning. So during the window, we’ve obviously got some injuries at centre-back but there are timescales for Balogun and Souttar coming back.

• READ MORE: Rangers board make Philippe Clement sack decision as Patrick Stewart speaks on 'quick fixes'

“We’ve got Tav coming back at right-back, Jack Butland obviously between the sticks. So with players coming back we don’t want to create issues where we sign short-term fixes and then suddenly there are blocks and we’ve got too many players and that you know creates other challenges. We are looking at this but we’re going to use our money wisely.

“The second scenario where the January window can work is to accelerate the signing of a player that we were planning anyway. So that does provide an opportunity and again that’s something that we’re focusing on just now. There is activity whether that translates into players coming in depends on whether we can get the right profile of player in a deal that is right for the club. We’re going to be really disciplined about that.

“January is not just about bringing players in though, it’s also an opportunity to move players on. Again I just want to be clear we are not intending to sell any players that are contributing on the pitch. That is not within our plans. There are other players though that for one reason or another are not getting much game time and we’re having discussions with them and their agents to see if there’s a kind of win-win solution there. Again that’s a benefit of the January window.

“We will refresh the squad if it as a player of the right profile and the deal's right for the club, and again that’s about contributing towards long-term sustained success. Injuries have created challenges but they’re returning and that will bolster the squad without us having to panic buy.

“What we want to avoid is any panic buying and you know for all I’ve talked about some of the financial challenges I’ll also again reiterate we’ve got some really strong revenue streams so we are preparing for a strong second half of the season.”

How can Rangers challenge Celtic?

“We’ve got players that are coming back from injury, we’ve got players that are contributing far more and you’ve seen they’re contributing far more in the second quarter of the season. Three of them, Hamza, Jefte, and Bajrami have contributed far more in the second quarter of the season.

“We’d expect that development to continue into the second half of the season. And we had players out for a large part of the first half of the season that only just come back from injury. We’ve got players that are injured at the moment that will be coming back so we actually have a large squad. Just to be clear I’ve not said that we’re not doing business but we’ll only do business that’s right for the long-term benefit of the club.

“A quick fix I just don’t believe is the responsible thing for us to be doing as an executive team and for me to be doing as a CEO. The question of whether or not we do business is about both looking at the short-term impact but it’s also going to have a long-term benefit as well."

Is it not that the Rangers squad is not good enough?

“If you look at the squad, when you’ve got players that are fit and playing at their peak, then the team has shown it is good enough. Consistency is the reason, consistency is the challenge. The players are clearly good enough. You don’t beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox, you don’t beat Nice 4-1 away from home, you don’t go toe-to-toe in a cup final and many would say the team should have won, you don’t draw against Spurs with players that aren’t good enough.

“But consistency is an issue and I’ve acknowledged that. It’s clear that that team is capable of going against the very best teams. We also need to make sure we’re consistent week in week out and that is the challenge. I’ve not ducked from that so I accept there’s been inconsistency and we’ve got to address that.”

How many players will Rangers sign in January?

“It wouldn’t be as many as three or four, no. We’d be looking at one, possibly two.”

Do Rangers have to sell for big money before making January signings?

“We look at everything over the course of a year, not over the course of a single window.”

Would Rangers be tempted to sell Igamane for a big offer in January?

“We don’t want to sell Hamza in January, we want him to be here for the second part of the season, I’ll be very clear on that.”

Have Rangers paid enough attention to signings in the past?

“I think you’ve answered that question, he’s [Nils Koppen] only been here since January 2024, so he’s actually only had one transfer window. So he certainly takes no responsibility for the problems that I identified that have led to that financial situation. His track record is from summer 2024 onwards.”

Would it be irresponsible for Rangers to reject big January offers?

“I think I would be told it was irresponsible if we sold a player. There’s always a balance, but January is not typically a window in which those sorts of transactions take place. We’re always, as a board, going to be looking at the long-term and striking a balance in the long-term. That’s our duty, but Hamza’s only came into the team and started scoring, and we want him to be here for the second part of the season, as I’m sure all the supporters do as well.”

Have Rangers had offers for Cyriel Dessers?

“I’m not going to discuss specific players.”

Will Rangers have money to spend in January window to match ambitions?

“My ambitions are to create a club that’s financially sustainable, but also sustains success on the pitch. I’m not saying we need money to do X, Y, or Z. My job is to make sure we’re well run, and so that we are using all the revenue we’ve got really smartly. That will involve making decisions about how we use the money, and there’ll be some things we can do, there’ll be some things that we can’t do.

“That’s not just on the football side, that’s across the board, including in things like how do we invest at Auchenhowie? What’s the best facilities to invest in? How do we best invest in the stadium? Everything is joined up, and we’ve got to look at everything from a holistic perspective. I’ll certainly be making recommendations, and hopefully very strong recommendations, for the board to endorse. We’ve got good revenues, but we also need to use those wisely in every decision we make.”

Will Rangers need external finance?

“My job is to make sure that we don’t have to go… I don’t want to be in a position where we’re relying on existing shareholders or external shareholders putting their hand in their pocket. That’s very different from looking at long-term investment. That’s something that every club in the world, bar a couple that are lucky to be owned by the state, every club in the world is looking at long-term finances, so of course we’re doing that.”

How Philippe Clement feels about only one or two Rangers signings this month

“It’s not like Philippe can bring in one or two, but in a January window, no club should be in a position from the summer window where it’s having to do massive transfer business. That’s just irresponsible. Philippe, myself, the board, we’re discussing all the time. There’s a healthy tension.

“Will Philippe be happy? Maybe yes, maybe not, but I’m wanting him to challenge me and I’m equally challenging him back. We’re aligned in that we’re putting the club first and we all want the same outcome for the club, which is for it to be successful immediately, but also in the long term.”

Will review of entire Rangers as a club be done by external body?

“I’m really glad you asked that. This isn’t just another internal review, which will take an inordinate amount of time and produce a report that nobody ever reads. I am going to be bringing in external football people that have experience of working with clubs to help drive growth and success. I think they’ll provide firepower. They’ll also provide expertise so that we’re not just looking at this through a Rangers lens or, in my case, a Manchester United lens.

“Also, they’ll be impartial. They’ve got no axe to grind, no agenda, and they’ll make sure that we can accelerate the process, but also, importantly, support us in executing recommendations as well, so that this doesn’t become one of these reviews that everyone rolls their eyes at and says, not another one. No, this is something that I’m very focused on making a meaningful difference.”