Rangers TV pundit raises ‘£30m-plus’ fears after controversy confession
Alan Hutton has claimed protesting fans could cost Rangers “£30million-plus” if their behaviour affects the performances of the players.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Gers defender and Rangers TV pundit insisted the demonstrations could impact the Light Blues’ hopes of winning the title and automatically qualifying for the Champions League.
Sunday’s 2-1 win over Dundee had to be stopped on three occasions as Rangers fans threw toilet paper and tennis balls on the pitch on to protest the friendly against Celtic in Australia scheduled for November.
As quoted by The Times on Monday (21 March), Giovanni van Bronckhorst confessed the displays were “disruptive” to his player’s performance.
He urged supporters to find a “balance” with their future shows of emotion.
As detailed by Football Insider’s finance expert Kieran Maguire back in January, qualifying for the Champions League as league champions would be worth at least £20million, with the figure possibly closer to £30million.
As such, Hutton insisted fans need to consider the bigger picture of their behaviour and how it affects the team.
Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “Me looking at it as a Rangers supporter, I understand why they’re protesting against it.
“I totally understand but I think there’s a way of doing it. Whether they want to sign, shout, they want banners, that’s no problem. It’s totally down to them how you want to do it.
“But when you’re impacting the team on the pitch, that becomes a different story.
“I mean, that could easily have been a 1-0 defeat. Then you’re looking down the barrel of being six points off ahead of the Old Firm game.
“You have to weigh up the future and what it’s worth to you. I mean, getting into the Champions League is worth £30million-plus, for the sake of what just happened.
“So yes, go and protest. Let your feelings be knowns but do it in the right way. Don’t affect the team because there’s a bigger goal for everybody.”
In other news, Football Insider can deliver a major update on Ryan Kent’s future after talks at Ibrox.