‘You’d imagine…’ – Kris Boyd reacts to Rangers takeover update today

Kris Boyd has warned the 49ers that their takeover of Rangers will not be plain sailing.

The enterprise arm of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise moved a step closer towards securing a controlling stake in the Ibrox outfit on Monday (3 March).

A report from Sky Sports confirmed that an agreement in principle had been reached between the parties, with due diligence and legal paperwork now set to be undertaken for the consortium led by Paraag Marathe and Andrew Cavanagh to take charge in the summer.

Rangers warned by Boyd

The Gers legend was encouraged by the update on the takeover but is less enthusiastic about the prospect of an immediate successive squad overhaul, warning that it could be a long time before they can challenge Celtic.

Speaking on The Scottish Sun’s Go Ballistic show [3 March], the former Scotland striker said: “I think that the Rangers fans have got something to look forward to now.

“It will be all systems go ahead of next season because there is no doubt that there will be changes, there is no doubt that Rangers have to improve on the pitch.

“I think it will be a good thing for Scottish football, Celtic have been all-conquering and the money they have had no one has been able to touch them.

“I think there is some decent players at Rangers, they have shown that on one-off occasions but I think collectively as a team, Rangers are struggling.

“You know they need an overhaul on the pitch. You’d imagine that a lot of people leave but it’s easier said than done.

“Who is going to take a lot of the players that are at Rangers right now, It’s not going to be easy to tidy this mess up.”

49ers takeover is not silver-bullet solution for Rangers

The takeover should end the constant fighting between shareholders that has dogged the Ibrox outfit, but it will not solve all of Rangers’ problems immediately, whether that be on the pitch or in the boardroom.

It will take several years to fix the issues at the Govan outfit and catch up to arch-rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

The 49ers’ first task will be securing the right permanent manager to take the Auchenhowie club forward in the long-term, whether that be current interim boss Barry Ferguson, the return of Steven Gerrard, or an outsider.

Then, they must attempt to overhaul the recruitment system with more signings like Hamza Igamane, Clinton Nsiala and Vaclav Cerny on a consistent basis and try to weed out the poor signings that have been made in recent years.

However, as Boyd states, that will be a hard task and even if they do it successfully, there will still be some misses and it will take a considerable period to build a squad that can compete for the biggest honours and challenge their city rivals for the league title.

Gers supporters should strap in for a long ride as their club attempts to bring back the glory days.