Rangers chairman insists he has no intention of reversing ticket allocation decison
Rangers chairman Dave King insists he has "no intention'' of reversing the decision to slash Celtic's ticket allocation at Ibrox.
Rangers have handed their Old Firm rivals just 800 seats for the December 29 derby clash - a move which saw the Hoops respond in tit-for-tat fashion when the pair met at Parkhead in September.
Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has criticised Gers' move, saying it damaged the attractiveness of the fixture.
But King told the Rangers International Football Club's agm: "I can give you absolute certainty that this board has no intention of reversing this decision.''
King also took a swipe over former Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha and his failed signing policy.
"We started last season with a new manager, a new coaching staff, and a raft of new players including the flagship signing of a European Championship-winning centre-back,'' King said.
"The great disappointment is that our investment at the start of last season proved to be not fit for purpose. We embarrassingly lost our Europa League first-round qualifier to a team with an extremely modest European pedigree (Progres Niederkorn).
"Unfortunately, domestic performances continued to be poor during the first half of the season and reached a point where the board considered that the resources we had available to us would not be able to turn things around. We reluctantly parted ways with a manager who had worked tirelessly on behalf of the club.''
King also paid tribute to Graeme Murty after he stepped into the breach to take over the first team following Caxinha's sacking.
King also paid tribute to Graeme Murty after he stepped into the breach to take over the first team following Caxinha's sacking.
Murty has since returned to coaching Gers' under-20s side after Steven Gerrard was drafted in to pick up the pieces of last year's campaign.
"I want to thank a man who to my mind is a true Rangers hero,'' said King. For the second time - and at great personal anguish much of the time - Graeme Murty put the club ahead of himself by taking on the extremely difficult role of interim manager for a prolonged period and under challenging circumstances.
"Graeme, I am extremely grateful for your sacrifice and for your decision to continue to help the youngsters at the Academy despite your disappointment. You are my man of the year.''
Meanwhile, Gerrard defended the club's handling of former skipper Lee Wallace, who was stripped of the captaincy following a bust-up with Murty after the 4-0 William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final hammering from Celtic last season.
Wallace - who stuck by the club following the liquidation meltdown - has made just one substitute appearance this term but his treatment was branded disgusting'' by one angry shareholder.
But Gerrard said: "As the manager of this club, and I have been since June, I came into (a situation with) Lee Wallace. He was out injured and had missed 12 months of football.
"I have to pay my respects to Lee in terms of his professionalism while he's been injured and the hard work he's put in trying to get match fit.
"But at the moment, to be really candid, he's still part of the plans while he's here but I have better options in that position.
"My relationship with Lee is fine. He trains with us every day and he is working very hard to regain his place in the team. That's where that situation is.'