Keith Wyness blasts Andrew Cavenagh after 'weird' Rangers transfer reveal

Andrew Cavenagh has made a big mistake by suggesting that Rangers’ European revenue could fund their transfer budget long-term.

That is according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Light Blues’ chief has left the club “open to failure” with his comments. 

This comes after an interview last week that saw the Ibrox chairman outline his plans for the club to become sustainable in the future, while also using their European money to boost the value of the squad. 

Danny Rohl’s side have a place in Europa League qualifying for next term, after they were only able to record a third-place finish in the Scottish Premiership, while bitter rivals Celtic won the title. 

Cavenagh has faced pressure at Rangers in recent months as results on the pitch have slipped, and Wyness feels that he may be asking for trouble with his latest statements. 

Andrew Cavenagh leaves ‘question mark’ with ‘weird’ European statement

Aberdeen’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Cavenagh’s statements have left a “question mark” due to the fact that the club do not have Champions League football for next term. 

There is a significant drop-off in revenue available between the Champions League and the Europa League, and Wyness doesn’t believe Cavenagh’s plan is achievable without the money from the former. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he labelled Cavenagh’s suggestion as “weird” and acknowledged that it is not what the fans want to hear.

“It's a very strange way to look at it. I'm wondering if his words have been misinterpreted or in translation because Rangers really haven't got any serious European revenue coming up this season,” Wyness said.

“The Scottish coefficient has meant that those clubs, Rangers in particular who finished third, have got to qualify and it's going to be a very, very hard road for them to get into any meaningful European revenue.

“If you're going to finance the club in the hope that you're going to be making European revenue, then you're leaving yourself open to failure and again, over-leveraging yourself in the pursuit of Celtic.

“The Rangers fans don't want to hear that. They want to hear the money's there, and they're going to chase Celtic regardless. Danny Rohl will want to be backed as well.

“To come out and say it's European revenue that's going to be reinvested was a strange one. Either they have the money, or they don't. That's what is going to be the question mark. It was a weird one for Cavenagh to come out with.”

Rangers told to improve player trading after ‘enormous’ financial blow

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson recently told Football Insider that there is an “enormous” difference in the amount of revenue available in the Champions League compared to the other European competitions. 

Rohl’s men have been consigned to Europa League football once again next term, while their bitter rivals Celtic have a Champions League qualifying campaign to look forward to after winning the league title. 

Borson suggested that the Ibrox outfit must drastically improve the quality of their player trading if they are to make up for the loss in revenue, or they will lose even more ground on Celtic. 

The Hoops made a profit on player sales of over £31million last term, while Rangers managed a loss of £600,000 in return.