Ailing ’Gers need help from the fans
GLASGOW: Carlos Bocanegra has called on Rangers supporters to rally round the team against Kilmarnock today after what has been the most turbulent week in the club’s 140-year history.
The Ibrox club is fighting for its financial survival after it entered administration on Tuesday after the non-payment of about £9-million in tax since Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club in May 2011.
Ally Mccoist’s side were immediately docked 10 points by the Scottish Premier League to all but end their hopes of clinching their fourth title in a row. Rangers remain second, but trail rivals Celtic by 14 points and are awaiting a tax tribunal verdict which could leave them with a bill of up to £75m.
Despite this, administrators Duff and Phelps say they are confident Rangers will survive as a football club and confirmed that today’s game will go ahead as planned at Ibrox.
American captain Bocanegra admits it has been a difficult week for everyone associated with the club. But he says he is now determined that he and his team-mates will produce a performance to lift the supporters this weekend.
“They give us excellent support and I hope that everyone still comes out to cheer us on,” he said.
“As players we need to go out and perform and give them something to be happy about.
“They need something at the weekend to raise the spirits, but they are all staying behind us. The support at this club has been fantastic since I’ve been here and that’s been a really cool experience.
“I don’t see that going anywhere. The fans are pretty loyal and their roots are pretty deep and tied in with this club.
“It’s a difficult situation for them, but we need to go out there and give them something to look forward to.
“This is the time when everybody needs to stick together. There might be finger-pointing and apportioning of blame, but in the end we are all in it together.
“We need to stick together and we’ll pull through it. This club has been around for a long time and has a lot of history, so it’ll be OK.
“This club has a lot of support around the world, but especially here with the fan base in Glasgow.
“For them I know it is really frustrating because as players we come and go, but the fans have been here for a long time, so hopefully it works out in the best possible scenario.”
Rivals Celtic are not in action until tomorrow when they travel to Easter Road to take on Hibernian as they look for their 14th league win in a row.
The Parkhead club will be able to field Swedish international Daniel Majstorovic in the match after he won his appeal against the red card shown to him in last weekend’s win over Inverness.
Elsewhere, bottom club Dunfermline, who are still looking for their first home win of the season, welcome Inverness Caledonian Thistle to East End Park, Motherwell welcome Hearts to Fir Park and Dundee United host St Mirren at Tannadice.