One of the reasons that Rangers struggled to compete in this season’s Champions League was due to the lack of financial backing Scottish club’s get.
That is the view of Gers legend Ally McCoist, who was reacting after the club’s 3-1 defeat to Ajax at Ibrox made them the worst-performing Champions League group stage side in the history of the competition.
Having finished runners-up in the Europa League last season, Rangers have disappointed in the Champions League this season by not picking up so much as a point and finishing the campaign with a -20 goal difference.
One of the club’s star players last season in Calvin Bassey was allowed to depart Ibrox for just under £23m this summer, with the defender coincidentally signing for group opponents Ajax.
And McCoist has suggested that the lack of financial muscle that Scottish clubs can show in Europe could be one of the reasons behind Rangers’ undoing this season.
He said: “When the third best team in the group by some considerable distance, by the way Napoli and Liverpool were light years ahead of Ajax and Rangers, but when the third best team in in the group can take your best player and pay £22m for him, it will give you an indication where we are in the food chain.
“Now, these aren’t excuses at all, they are just kind of looking at reasons why teams like Rangers and Celtic are struggling to compete with any real force in the Champions League group stages.”
TIF Thoughts on McCoist’s comments…
We agree with McCoist and believe that Scottish clubs such as Rangers should be getting more prize money domestically if the SFA want to see their clubs be a success in Europe.
The prize money for winning the Scottish Premiership last season was a reported £3.35m, whilst finishing in second place (where Rangers finished last season) earns the club £2.4m.
In comparison, the English Premier League’s winners (Manchester City) earned an extra £44m for winning the league last season according to The Athletic, whilst the league’s bottom club, Norwich City, will have earned an extra £2.2m, almost as much as Rangers got for finishing second in the Premiership last season.
Therefore, we agree with McCoist and believe that prize money has played a large part in Rangers’ lack of success in Europe’s premier competition this season, with the Glasgow giants reportedly only able to spend just under £13m on signings this summer.