The fan club has taken aim at the higher-ups amid rising tensions.

Rangers appeared to be on the verge of a civil war between hardline supporters and the boardroom after the club’s ultras opened fire on the hierarchy and canceled preparations to commemorate Ibrox’s 125th anniversary.

The Union Bears, a fan organization, issued a stinging statement this evening, claiming that they were denied early admission into the stadium ahead of Sunday’s 1-0 win over Hearts in order to set up a Remembrance Day display. They claim they were penalized for prior banners in which they urged for change at the club’s top level, specifically criticising former chairman Douglas Park.

And now, with caretaker John Gilligan attempting to keep the club together off the pitch while manager Philippe Clement faces rising criticism for poor on-field performances, the situation is becoming critical. The statement reads: “The Union Bears have always taken great pride in their Remembrance Day show.

“Unfortunately, this year’s restrictions imposed by the board seriously impeded our preparation and capacity to complete the hundreds of man hours required to make such a tifo. These punishments were enforced by board members who appear to assume that penalizing a loud segment of the support will cover up their ongoing failures in the boardroom.”

The group goes on to allege that club sanctions hit them in the pocket while they were attempting to raise funds for a similar display to commemorate the stadium’s huge anniversary event, and that they will no longer be able to celebrate the occasion as they had planned.

The statement continues: “The club also restricted access to our pre-match stall, which had a significant impact on our merchandise sales during a month when we were raising funds to order the material needed to carry out our preparations for a 125th Ibrox anniversary tifo.”

“Unfortunately, due to financial constraints caused by lost revenue and a lack of opportunity to seek alternative venues on short notice to facilitate such a display that we would consider appropriate for commemorating such an occasion, we will not be proceeding with our plans for an Ibrox anniversary tifo.”

“In recent years we believe we held a sustainable relationship with the club however, in recent months, through yet another power shift, we have yet again become the focus of an ego driven campaign by select board members who solely want to harm the group and limit our match day capability.”

Philippe Clement discussed not allowing Rangers players to run down their contracts and leave the club for free.

In January, the manager discussed the upcoming summer, when five players’ contracts would expire.

That was not a smart business strategy, he claimed.

Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe, Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, and Jon McLaughlin all left, leaving Gers with nothing.

The previous year’s players included Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Scott Arfield, and Filip Helander.

Tom Lawrence appears likely to depart Rangers for free.
It was a situation that Clement insisted would never happen again, and the only players on the club who will be out of contract in the summer of 2025 are Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence.

The Nigerian centre-back will turn 37 around that time, and despite Rangers fans’ admiration for Balogun, it would not be surprising if he left for a second time.

Lawrence’s predicament would not be straightforward.

The midfielder has been a starter for much of the season, but he became one of the most scrutinized players when the club struggled.

He has missed a significant amount of time with the Rangers due to injury and will turn 31 this January.

The Daily Mail now reports that club officials are “showing no inclination” to offer the Wales international a new deal due of his injury history.

What Clement said about Ranger contracts:

If you look at the last couple of years, this is one thing that the club has missed. They didn’t have big outgoing transfers and because of that, not getting money in to do other things.

“That is one of the targets, strange as it is for a manager to talk about that but I want to help in that way so the club can grow in every sense.

“It is getting a good balance in the squad, good experienced players and also young prospects that you can let grow to a higher level than Glasgow Rangers. That is the objective. And you need to have players who are in contract.

So there is a lot of work to be done in that regard, and everyone in the club is working hard to have a clear vision of how to bring money into the club by developing players while also achieving outcomes, such as winning trophies.

“You don’t have the situation where you have players of value going free at the end of contract – it can never happen.”

However, he was most likely alluding to the number of players whose contracts were expiring at the same time, implying that the club was letting a large portion of its squad go for nothing in return.

Rangers crock overruns eight-week injury prognosis as Clement presents with transfer headache.

Rangers Crock OvRabbi Matondo’s season has been terminated due to a hamstring injury that initially was expected to last eight weeks.

The 24-year-old attacker’s entire Rangers career has been hampered by injury issues, and the winger has yet to justify his £2.5 million fee in 2022.erruns eight-week injury prognosis as Clement presented with transfer headache.

Rabbi Matondo has not appeared in Rangers colours since the Scottish Premiership’s 3-0 Old Firm derby defeat to Celtic in late August.

Almost three months after his previous appearance, the winger’s injury appears to have sidelined him for at least 12 weeks, a month longer than originally expected.

Rabbi Matondo overestimates injury prognosis.
Rabbi Matondo received harsh criticism for his role in Celtic’s opening goal in the Old Firm defeat at the end of August.

However, the Rangers winger was eventually sidelined due to injury and has not appeared for the club since.

According to the Rangers Review, Rabbi Matondo was expected to miss up to eight weeks of action.

When Matondo posted an image hinting at a return to training in October, Rangers fans hoped he’d be back on the pitch sooner rather than later.

Prior to last week’s Europa League match against Olympiacos, Philippe Clement revealed that Rabbi Matondo had resumed first-team training.

This week, the winger was also part of a Rangers XI that drew 2-2 with Motherwell.

But, as we near ten weeks after Rabbi Matondo’s injury, it’s unclear how close the Rangers winger is to returning to first-team duty.

Rangers are dealing with a number of injuries, with Matondo joining three other Ibrox stars in rehab.

The Gers are also taking their time reintroducing players like Danilo to the squad following a run of severe injuries.

Rangers in sliding doors transfer the moment.
Rangers have struggled with injuries in recent years, particularly on the left wing this season.

Rabbi Matondo follows Colombian winger Oscar Cortes in suffering a catastrophic injury, with Albanian international Nedim Bajrami expected to fill in out wide following his move to Ibrox.

Defender who departed Rangers for £800,000 in 2018 challenged to secure an Ibrox return this season.

Rangers supporters will recall Welsh international left-back Declan John from his brief stay at Ibrox in 2017/18.

The former Cardiff City left-back joined Rangers on loan from the Welsh club and was so successful that the club made the signing permanent six months later.

Only a few months after Declan John signed a permanent agreement with Rangers, the arrival of Steven Gerrard to the club’s management marked the beginning of the end for the defender.

But John could be returning to Ibrox this season after signing a short-term contract with one of Rangers’ Scottish Premiership rivals.

Declan John signed with St Mirren.
Declan John has signed a short-term contract with St Mirren until January, following the controversial dismissal of defender Jaden Brown.

The 29-year-old left-back joins St Mirren after being released by Bolton Wanderers in the summer following a loan spell with Salford City.

It is now up to the former Rangers defender to secure a longer-term contract in Paisley, with Saints manager Steven Robinson pressing John to make an impact.

“Declan is here on a short-term contract with the option to extend depending on how things go,” Robinson informed the official St Mirren website.

“Due to the conditions, we are severely lacking in defensive cover. Declan comes in with a wealth of experience.

“He’s played at some of the highest levels and has previously played in Scotland, so we’re quite fortunate to have him.

“We’ve witnessed his abilities in his first few days of training. He’s a talented child with excellent technical skills, but he hasn’t played much football in recent months, so we need to look into that and attempt to get him up to speed.

“To add to the squad with the quality and background Declan has, I believe we are very lucky at this stage of the season.”

Rangers are scheduled to travel to St Mirren on Scottish Premiership duty on December 26th, with St Mirren returning to Rangers on February 22nd.

It means John will have to sign a longer-term contract with St Mirren if he wants to return to Rangers next season.

Ex-Gers star is ‘delighted’ to be back in Scotland
Declan John returns to Scotland for the first time since leaving Rangers in the summer of 2018 to join Swansea City for £800,000.

However, the defender’s situation south of the border has not been favorable.

John was loaned out to Sunderland and then Bolton while at Swansea, before joining the Trotters permanently in 2021.

Declan John, who has returned to Scotland with St Mirren, is determined to make a difference for the Saints and says he is ‘extremely happy’ to be in Paisley.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be here,” John exclaimed. “It has been a hectic few days.

“I came up on Thursday, exercised on Friday, then went to witness the game on Saturday, which was a huge victory for the boys. I’ve enjoyed it and am looking forward to getting back into training.

“Everything has been so happy once we walked in, and you can feel it in the changing room. It feels like a pretty nice place to be.