Tuesday 23 December 2014 12:31, UK
Rangers chairman David Somers struggled to make himself heard as he delivered his annual statement amid boos and heckles at the club's AGM at Ibrox Stadium
Speaking from a gazebo on the pitch, Somers, and the remainder of the board, were roundly booed from the majority of the assembled crowd in the Broomloan Stand on their way to the makeshift stage.
The Monday morning meeting was held little more than 12 hours after manager Ally McCoist was removed from his duties and placed on gardening leave, with first-team coach Kenny McDowall put in charge for the remainder of the season.
Somers, new chief executive officer Derek Llambias and brothers James and Sandy Easdale, were greeted with chants of 'out, out, out', and 'sack the board' as the meeting opened.
Not everything I do will be popular but everything I do will be in the club's long-term interests.
Rangers' current financial state means they need to recoup the bulk of their £8.3m annual losses before the end of the season to keep the club afloat, but Somers was keen to apportion any blame for their plight to his predecessors in the Ibrox boardroom.
Amid the jeering there was laughter as Somers admitted: "We have got more work to do," and even louder laughter when he said: "We need to rebuild the board with suitable people."
New CEO Llambias, who was appointed on the back of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley's £3m loan to the club, was introduced to booing but he did prompt some applause following his address.
The former Newcastle managing director claimed he had helped the St James' Park club "stand on its own two feet" and would roll up his sleeves to get Rangers back on its feet. "Not everything I do will be popular but everything I do will be in the club's long-term interests," he said.
Somers asked fans to 'refrain from any disruptive behaviour' saying: "If anyone gets too rowdy I will have to ask you to leave" before sparking more jeers when announcing he would take two questions at a time, further enraging supporters by saying: "When you get to be chairman of Rangers you get to do it your way."
Former Rangers player John Brown stood up to huge applause to ask what involvement Ticketus had in the ownership of Murray Park and Ibrox and what role former directors Charles Green and Imran Ahmad had in the club?
He also called the Easdale brothers "stooges" and criticised Somers for failing to have the decency to say a good word about McCoist, "who gave this club everything".
Somers was adamant there was no involvement from Ticketus, who put more than £30m into the club during Craig Whyte's brief time in charge between 2011 and 2012.
"I was fascinated when I first became chairman because some people seemed to think I was some sort of love child of Imran Ahmad or Charles Green," he said. "I have never met either of them and I can say the people beside me have no involvement with them. I respect Ally's decision. I will never say a bad word about him. He will always be a Rangers legend."
And Somers defended the board's decision to accept Ashley's £3m interest-free loan over a £16m offer from Dave King and another deal from Brian Kennedy.
"I get frustrated with Dave King. I know a lot of you think he is the Messiah. The simple reality is that I asked some simple questions because in the past Rangers have done some terrible deals.
"They were not difficult - the same as I asked to Brian Kennedy and Mike Ashley: show me the money and names of the eight people in your consortium. He didn't do that. But the reality is he has cost the club millions of pounds with the season ticket trust and him advising people to boycott season tickets."
On Llambias beating a number of 'high-profile candidates to the post of chief executive officer, Somers said he was 'one of nine... many of whom were interviewed and who had similar experience with English Premier League and Championship clubs'.
The chairman added he and his colleagues had found a "lot of dodgy contracts" when they came in just over a year ago, revealing some "watertight" ones would be honoured, some had been renegotiated and "in a lot of cases we have said: 'We will see you in court"'.
James Easdale said he was "first and foremost a Rangers fan" despite Morton being his home club, after he was quizzed on his allegiances.
Club chairman Sandy Easdale, who is not on the plc board, began answering a question on his relationship with Blue Pitch and Margarita holdings by telling fans to "settle down" but ended up with some applause.
Sandy Easdale, who holds proxy voting rights for both groups, said: "Blue Pitch and Margarita have always been shareholders. They have nothing to do with Charles Green, Imran Ahmad or any other former directors. They are wealthy foreign entities. They have never been a problem or caused a problem.
"They gave me their proxies to represent them as they are based abroad." He insisted he had no problems with Paul Murray, King or Kennedy and said "they may be part of this club's future yet".
He closed the meeting by saying: "I'm doing my best even though many of you don't think it. I'm doing it for free. Please believe me, neither me or my brother, we are not on a gravy train. I've never taken a penny out of it. I do not want to harm this club."
After the meeting, Rangers revealed resolutions to re-elect Somers, Llambias and James Easdale to their positions were all carried around the 90-10 mark but Resolution 9 - which would have given the board authority to issue shares to individuals without offering the same terms to existing shareholders - was defeated by a 55-45 majority.
In a statement on the club's website, Rangers said: "The board is disappointed that Resolution 9 was not passed as it limits its options for future funding."
