Patrick Stewart on the Manager's Future (Patreon)

Today, Chairman Fraser Thornton and CEO Patrick Stewart met with the press to give an update on the current situation at Ibrox. Here is what they had to say.

PS - “There's been a lot of talk about results, and there's been a lot of talk about the manager, and I know that the spotlight is on Fraser and myself, but particularly on me.

“But that's the job, I'm okay with that.

“I need to make some tough decisions, it comes with the role, but I am committed to making the right ones for Rangers, not just the popular ones.

“So cutting to the chase, we are backing Philippe at this time as a board.

“It's about taking a deeper look at the issues, addressing those problems, and staying focused on building a stronger future for the club.

“Changing a manager isn't a silver bullet solution.

“You know where I've worked previously, and that isn't something that has been effective there, it's not effective at a lot of football clubs where there's constant change of manager.

“What I do need to do, and what the board are supporting me with, is uncovering the underlying issues and addressing those.

“And there's been quite a lot of supporters' comments, and one that particularly jumped out at me was, you know, some supporters' comments are, we want to change a manager.

“I think others are, look, this isn't just about the manager, it's more about what's going on at the football club.

“Because there's been several years where we've been underperforming, and there's something deeper rooted here, and I agree with that.

“So I think that's what we need to do, we need to look beneath the surface. Managers and coaching staff will continue to come and go in the future, that's understood. Again, that is football.

“But what I'm looking to do, again, this is a team effort, is build a solid foundation and a real long-term football plan for the club.

"If we rush and react every time there's some poor results, we're in danger of just being back in the same place in a year's time or 18 months' time or however long.

“But I want to be clear, look, I'm not saying everything is fine, and I think the fans are frustrated, I get that. 

“I've been a football fan my entire life, I've been in that position, we're also all frustrated.

“And particularly if I look at the away results, you know, the record is there, it's been discussed, it's not good, and it's not what's expected for Rangers.

“So we are working with Philippe to address consistency issues, and I'm also not going to speculate on what happens if results don't improve.

“I spent time with Philippe, I spent a lot of time with Philippe, a lot of time at Auchenhowie, I was with Philippe last night, and we discussed the need, the imperative for results to improve.

“If results don't improve, obviously I can't give Philippe any cast iron guarantees. He and I have both been around football long enough to know that isn't the case.”