Rangers Set 2022 Target

Photo by Jeff Holmes Rangers have set a target of 2022 to progress to the "very top" in an interim report which revealed they must pay Newcastle £500,000 if they are promoted this season. The Scottish Championship club have reported losses of £2.6million for the final six months of 2014, although the accounts have not been officially audited. Previous auditor Deloitte was not replaced by the old board in a sign of what interim chairman Paul Murray described as "staggering mismanagement". The recently-appointed board face an ongoing struggle to avoid being de-listed from the London Stock Exchange as they are still searching for a nominated advisor, but they have promised a medium to long-term funding solution to the club's financial problems is imminent. Murray and fellow directors John Gilligan, Douglas Park and John Bennett were appointed following a shareholder vote on March 6, which was sparked by Dave King, whose appointment as chairman is dependent on approval from the football authorities, and possibly stock exchange authorities too. And Murray claimed they needed more time to sort out the club's finances and contractual obligations, with two examples standing out in the accounts. Rangers will have to pay a bonus to Mike Ashley's Newcastle if they are promoted this season as part of the deal that saw five players move to Ibrox on loan on the final day of the winter transfer window, without having medicals. Only one of the players, Haris Vuckic, has been fit enough to play regularly and only one other has featured - Remie Streete managed 43 minutes before limping off during a William Hill Scottish Cup defeat by Raith Rovers. The report also revealed that £54,000 was paid during the period to public relations firm Keith Bishop Associates, "a company of which the former director Derek Llambias was also a director". Llambias and fellow Ashley associate Barry Leach were voted off the board earlier in March but Ashley could yet install two people on to the board as part of the deal that saw Sports Direct lend the club a total of £5million. Murray said: "The new directors have been in place only a matter of weeks but have already started to repair the damage caused through recent years of neglect and disrespect for this club, its people and its history. "The mismanagement of the club in recent years has been simply staggering." Murray said they would present a medium to long-term funding plan in the "very near future" after plugging gaps short term by borrowing £1.5million from the so-called Three Bears - shareholders George Letham, George Taylor and Park. Murray added: "This funding will be provided by existing and new investors who now want to invest in the club. "Thereafter, the club must quickly become self-sustaining and absolutely free from the kind of funding crises which have plagued Rangers in recent years. "The vision I mentioned earlier is to focus on the next seven years so that by 2022, the club's 150th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Barcelona (Rangers defeated Dynamo Moscow in Barcelona to win the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final) we, Rangers, will be back at the very top. "This means that over the next few years the finance we are putting in place now will provide the infrastructure and personnel at Murray Park to make sure Rangers are competing and winning in Scotland's top flight as well as stepping back into the European arenas again. "Then for the three or four years after that all our efforts will be directed towards making Rangers stronger and European regulars as our 150th year approaches. That year should be one of celebration." Murray stated that a major emphasis of their 2022 vision would be on the "neglected" areas of player identification and development. The chairman added that they would take their time over a permanent managerial appointment after giving Stuart McCall the job for the rest of the season. "Stuart jumped at the challenge without fear or hesitation and that tells us a lot about the calibre of the man but even so, we cannot rush into making a final decision on the permanent position because the success of everything we are planning behind the scenes will depend almost entirely on the team's ability to compete at the very top," he said. "Only 13 men have held the position of Rangers manager so we have a duty to take whatever time is necessary to find the right man. We would expect Stuart to be a strong candidate in that process." The club confirmed that former management team Ally McCoist and Kenny McDowall would continue to be paid throughout their 12-month notice periods. Murray also revealed that Deloitte had submitted its resignation as auditors in June 2014 but the previous board did not announce the fact or find a replacement. Jeffreys Henry LLP reviewed the accounts.