The American billionaire met shareholders for the first time to outline his vision for the club
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh
New Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh says he’s ready to take on the task of toppling Celtic – as the American billionaire insists he’s not at Ibrox to be second best.
Cavenagh’s £100 million takeover of Gers, along with the 49ers Enterprises, was rubber-stamped at the club’s EGM in Glasgow.
The health insurance tycoon was applauded by shareholders as he officially took over. And Cavenagh immediately set his sights on making Rangers the number one club in Scotland again after years of Celtic dominance.
When asked about the challenge of overtaking their Old Firm rivals – and how quickly it could be done – he said: “We think it’s achievable – or we wouldn’t be here.
“We don’t think it will be easy and it’s not going to happen instantaneously. But we will strive to improve the on-field performance and continue to build the infrastructure of the club.
“If we didn’t think we could win, we wouldn’t be here. We’re here because we think we can. We relish the challenge (of toppling Celtic).
“We are impatient, we’re competitive, so we look forward to the challenge. In terms of the rivalry, that’s one of the things that makes football great. Our rivalry with Celtic…Rangers wouldn’t quite be the same without it.
“It’s top five in the world. It’s Boca Juniors v River Plate, Lazio v Roma and Rangers v Celtic – those would be the three that come to my mind.
“It’s fantastic to have it and we look forward to that challenge. There is real work to be done here, everyone is aware of that.
“Paraag and I are two of the most impatient people you will meet. We are also incredibly competitive so we share our supporters’ sense of urgency.
Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe
“We are in with both feet today and we’ll move this forward as fast as we can. How far is this club from reaching its potential? I’ll give you a simple answer.
“We’ve been finishing second and we’d like to finish first. So we are only one position away from where we’d like to be.”
Cavenagh and Co have vowed to invest an initial £20 million into the club, which will help fund new boss Russel Martin’s recruitment drive this summer.
The chairman admits that if the right offers come in for their prized assets like Belgian midfielder Nico Raskin they will consider it – but only if it suits all parties.
Nicolas Raskin of Rangers
He said: “Lots of different concurrent things will happen over the summer. The only thing I’ll say is that the club is in a different position this year where we can be patient from a financial perspective.
“When there is the right opportunity we’ll jump at it. And where it’s right to be slow, we’ll be slow. I won’t go into individual players but the world of football now is where you acquire players and they move on for bigger fees.
“That’s part of the financial model for the club. At any club that is not in the top five leagues, players aren’t permanent. At times they will move and clubs will make a fee for them which is good for the club and the player.
“Our ownership group is looking at this on a long-term basis One of the things we hope to bring is the financial power to create stability so we are not living hand to mouth.”
Cavenagh revealed that making Ibrox bigger IS something the new owners will look at in the future. But he’s adamant that his main priority right now is putting a winning team on the pitch.
He said: “The expansion of Ibrox is something of interest to us but not one of our short term goals. Right now, we’re focused on improving on-pitch performance as well as the infrastructure of the club itself. Any increase in revenue we can get, we’ll put it back on the pitch.”