Living the American dream? What takeover means for Rangers
Make Rangers Great Again.The slogan plastered over the front of hats now being flogged outside Ibrox points optimistically towards a new era for the Ibrox club, one their supporters hope will reignite the team's fortunes.Celtic have been the dominant force in Scotland this generation - winning 13 of the last 14 league titles - and fans of their rivals are rallying at the prospect of a US-based consortium taking over at Ibrox can lead them to the land of opportunity.But what about the questions posed about this new dawn?
What will this do for manager hunt?
If anything it should bring the process to a close, rather than slow it down. It's been almost two weeks since it was confirmed Barry Ferguson would leave his role as interim head coach, but in reality many fans assumed a new face would be brought in long before that.A new board would need to be across any potential managerial appointment, so their arrival hints filling the vacancy has now moved a step closer.Who it is remains to be seen, but it will happen soon. Former Southampton manager Russell Martin has been linked in reports, while the Ibrox club have also spoken to Davide Ancelotti, the son of legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti and his assistant with Real Madrid.In an open letter to supporters on Friday, chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe said: "Our first priority together is clear: hiring a new men's head coach. That process is already well under way and we look forward to sharing more updates soon."Watch this space.
How big will the transfer kitty be?
Certainly more than what it would have been otherwise, but the details of this are sketchy as you may expect on day one.There will be £20m of investment made this summer after a share issue and BBC Scotland Sports News Correspondent Chris McLaughlin believes the vast majority of money will be hurled at football operations.How that fits in relation to any money that was already earmarked for transfers, or how player sale money impacts it, remains to be seen.Even if £20m is thrown at the new manager's budget, is it enough to turn the tide domestically? Last season, Celtic made more than £30m on participation alone in the Champions League before you added in ticket sales. Rangers have a lot of catching up to do if big money is reinvested across the city."The new owners coming in, they do have a limited budget and they want Rangers to be sustainable," football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Scotland. "Celtic have been a fantastic example of how a club can operate on a break-even basis and then make profits through the transfer market and reinvest that."You've got to look at the total cost of recruiting a player and also the fact that Rangers' finances have been not great in recent years, so you do have operational losses to cover."
So who is now running the club?
The group, which includes the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers and is led by private healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh, has bought 51% of the Scottish Premiership runners-up.Andrew Cavenagh, chairmanHaving been educated at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania between 1988 and 1992, Cavenagh started his career in commercial banking, working at several publicly traded insurance companies.He served on committees and boards of industry groups such as the Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA) and went on to fill executive roles at Berkley Risk and Berkley Accident & Health prior to eventually kick-starting Philadelphia-based health insurance firm ParetoHealth as chief executive in 2019.In February, ParetoHealth announced Cavenagh was stepping down as chief executive but was staying on in an executive chairman role.Paraag Marathe, vice-chairmanA native of Saratoga, California, Marathe has spent a quarter of a century with American football club San Francisco 49ers, currently serving as both president of 49ers Enterprises, the club's investment wing, and executive vice-president of football operations.In addition to being the NFL club's chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, he oversees the team's football analytics department and also co-chairs the NFL's future of football committee.Having been on Leeds United's board for five years, he led 49ers Enterprises' takeover of the English club in July 2023, becoming chairman.Mark Taber, board memberMark Taber worked for the Westlake Capital Group and The Boston Consulting Group before, in 2000, joining Boston-based growth equity firm Great Hill Partners.He is currently managing director but is also on the board of Cavenagh's ParetoHealth as well as Intuitive Health, Clearwave Corporation and Labor First.Andrew Clayton, board memberAndrew Clayton, an economics graduate of Swarthmore College, is co-founder of Cavenagh's ParetoHealth and is its current vice-chairman.Before setting up ParetoHealth, he spent five years as vice-president of the Group Captive Division at Berkley Accident & Health and held the same position with J.B. Collins and Associates and Commonwealth Risk Services.Gene Schneur, board memberGene Schneur is currently co-owner of Leeds United and is managing director and co-founder of SBV RE Investments LLC, a real estate company focused on multi-family housing.From 2004 to 2023, Schneur was the managing director and co-founder of Omni New York LLC and Omni America LLC, one of the top affordable housing developers in the country.He serves on the board of GrowNYC, an environmental non-profit in New York, and JDC- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a global humanitarian organisation. Kevin Thelwell, sporting director Kevin Thelwell is moving to Rangers from Everton, where he has been director of football having had the same role at Wolverhampton Wanderers and head of sport at New York Red Bulls.With Everton, he previously held the position of academy manager and then head of football development and recruitment, having had similar positions with Derby County and Preston North End respectively. Previous to that, Thelwell was director of coach education for the Football Association of Wales Trust.
From 'underwhelming' to 'great news' - What do the fans think?
Ryan: As happy as I am that it is now complete, £20m investment is very underwhelming considering what we expect Celtic to spend and the money they have. With so many positions requiring upgrading, £20m won't finance half of it. The old directors would put in more as loans each year. We could do with more detail from the new owners.Ian: With the majority of clubs in the English Premier League US owned, are we heading into dangerous ground where change to the whole structure of UK football is under threat? If two more in England are bought, the 14 can then force through whatever they desire and, while the thought of the fantasy of joining and enjoying their vast rewards, do we really want to see the rest of Scottish football collapse?Jimmy: £20m in funds is still not enough. Celtic are obviously still in a stronger position financially. Second place looms again. £20m for transfers? How about £20m so we can get a good manager in? Getting used to these let downs more and more.Brian: What is not to be positive about here? The credentials of the 49ers Enterprises are so impressive that this is beyond our wildest dreams. This takeover can only benefit the club on all fronts and bring much needed sustained success. Clearly it's key to get the right appointment as head coach, but I have every faith in the new board to get it right and get Rangers back to being the dominant team in Scottish football.Andrew: This is great news - new thinking, new approaches, building on a great history of success. Getting a manager in the door is the first step, but driving improvements everywhere will be key.
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