DOUGLAS PARK insists Rangers will not break their wage structure to keep key players at Ibrox amid serious doubts over the futures of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos.
Ross Wilson, the sporting director, again expressed his eagerness to see both star men commit themselves to Rangers when quizzed at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday.
And new boss Michael Beale is also keen to see two of the 55 title winning side follow Connor Goldson's lead and put pen-to-paper on fresh terms at Ibrox.
Wilson insisted the two situations are 'different' when asked by a shareholder before chairman Park said: "Can I just add, that the board have tried to negotiate with those players. There comes a stage, like in any negotiation, where you try to settle.
"If the terms that maybe people are looking for are unattainable, you sometimes have to accept that you have done your best."
Park chaired the AGM for a third occasion but avoided most of the flak from the fans on the floor despite Dave King and Club 1872 voting against his re-election to the Ibrox board.
The businessman was asked by Club 1872 to provide his long-term vision for Rangers and said: “The plan for the next five years is to win as many trophies as we can, to build a team that can win as many games as we can and to reinvest in the club as much as we possibly can."
Park then went on to address the tension between the Ibrox board and Club 1872 following another year of stand-offs and the vociferous way in which former chairman King has criticised the hierarchy.
There has been no working relationship between Rangers and Club 1872, who are the sixth largest shareholders in RIFC plc, for some time now but Park has expressed a willingness to get round the table with the influential supporter organisation.
Park said: “Can I just add personally and on behalf of the board that we have absolutely no problem having Club 1872... The problem between the board and Club 1872 is quite the problem.
“I would like to see it resolved as soon as we can. But until the reluctance to sign an NDA, the same as every other individual does, creates a problem. But Club 1872 are welcome any time.
“We need supporters. It’s not my intention to fall out with anyone. I’m speaking on behalf of myself but I believe the board would agree with that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here