An Ibrox Noise Statement on Rangers, 49ers & Russell Martin | OneFootball

Ibrox Noise has never been scared of being unpopular. This year we’ve probably been more unpopular than ever, and the reason is simple. We didn’t back the new owners and we didn’t back the new manager. We understand why so many fans did. They wanted Russell Martin to succeed, they wanted the new regime to work, and no one can blame them for that. We want Rangers to succeed too.

But that’s why we opposed the direction from day one. If you appoint low-level managers, sign players below standard, and hand the club to American owners who stripped away AGMs and silenced shareholders, you’ll get the Rangers you deserve. We said it, we stuck to it, and we got hammered for it.

Fansites and major groups were loud in their support for Martin and the new board. They cheered it on, criticised those of us who questioned it, and told us to get behind it. Now the same people are slating Martin, slating his tactics, and finally beginning to turn on the regime. That’s what we’ve been saying for months. We know why we took flak. We know why our content drew aggression. But we also knew we were right.

This isn’t one we wanted to win. We’d rather have been wrong and seen Rangers flying. Instead, more than 99% of the support now lines up with us. Not because they admit we were right all along, but because the evidence on the park leaves them with no choice. Qu’est-ce sera. Them’s the breaks.

At the end of the day, Ibrox Noise wants the same as every other fan: Rangers winning the league, Rangers bringing in real quality, Rangers managed by someone who knows what he’s doing. Every fan wants the best for the club. But you don’t get there by putting rotten ingredients in the pot. The stew will be acrid if the meat is off.

Too many fans clung to the naive belief that it doesn’t matter who we sign, that the Rangers shirt transforms mediocrity into greatness. Gassama, Fernandez, Rothwell — none of them are good enough for the standards this club demands. League One players don’t magically turn into Champions League/Rangers players just because they walk out at Ibrox.

The reason Weir and Ehiogu were such hits in 2007 was simple. They were experienced Premier League defenders who knew what top level football looked like. Emmanuel Fernandes doesn’t. And Rangers are paying the price for too many players of that calibre.

We get why the criticism came our way. We get why fans hated our stance. But maybe now, seeing the mess for what it is, you understand why we were so critical.