Paul Le Guen was brought in for one reason: to turn a lazy, failing Rangers squad into a professional, disciplined, superfit team. This was a long-term plan to rid Rangers of the booze and curry culture and to implement modern training methods to enable us to compete (eventually) at a higher level. Sweeping aside the tabloid writer's dream that was PLG vs Ferguson, Le Guen leaving means we are resorting to the old "get stuck intae them" methods and abandoning the long-term plan.
It's not necessarily Paul Le Guen leaving that frustrates me; after all, his domestic record was clearly abysmal. It's not even the manner of his departure or the behaviour of our former club captain (not to mention that there is quite obviously far more to this saga than we know about) that grates the most. It's that we made an attempt to become a forward-thinking club and it backfired.
The biggest feeling of disappointment comes from the "what ifs..." What if PLG had been backed in the transfer market and allowed to bring Govou, Kallstrom and Elmander to Ibrox? What if the players had embraced his double training and disciplined regime? The reports of some of our squad thinking they know best is very worrying. If Leonardo was telling you how to paint, you'd listen, right?
So what now for Rangers? What do you really want for the club? We're not going to be that forward-thinking club any time soon, so is challenging for domestic success enough to satisfy the appetite? Is merely finishing above Celtic enough to keep people happy?
Let's be honest, that's the best we can hope for. We have a chairman with zero ambition for Rangers, with no interest whatsoever in a genuine, Ajax-style youth policy and we have a board of "yes men" who will never challenge Sir Dave on this. And that's before you consider the horrendous off-the-field mismanagement that saw us flirt with bankruptcy and become the Scottish media's plaything.
Regardless, PLG has gone and history will clearly not be as kind to him as it was to his predecessor. The new management team, whoever it may be, may steady the ship but they will simply be papering over the cracks to hide the fact that a once-great club is falling further into decline as each week seems brings more shame and embarrassment on the Rangers from every angle.
It looks like mediocrity is the dish of the day until the Chairman finds a buyer for his toy. The floor is yours, Sir David.
Strathclyde Bear