The profit and loss of the Old Firm balance sheets provided a battleground as fans from both clubs picked over their summer transfer business. Calvin Bassey's megabucks move to Ajax from Rangers has triggered a war of words between fans who offered more than a penny for their thoughts.
Fraser Davison, Glasgow, said: "In response to Hotline caller John Bruce's assertions regarding what Rangers have made in transfers, European qualification and where the club has come from in last 10 years, can I remind him they have chewed through almost £100 million in loans and handouts to get where they are. They are running at a vast loss year on year."
Cameron Hall, Edinburgh, said: "While it is undoubtedly healthy for the rest of Scottish football that Rangers have finally embraced a modicum of financial reality, the fact remains that they have cumulative losses of over £100 million over the last decade. Now that they are finally looking like making their first annual profit in ten years, they should probably take into account the investors who bankrolled their previous huge losses and are likely to want some of their money back."
John Scott, Grassmoor, said: "Rangers and Celtic fans need to wake up to the fact they are now mere stepping stones to bigger things. No matter how big they believe they are, they are now unable to keep their best players. If you can't keep your top players there is no way you can compete with the truly big clubs in England and Europe."
Robert Pender, emailed: "There are so many clubs trying to cherry pick Rangers players and it is proof of the quality within the club. The fact we are replacing them with good players plus young guns shows a healthy future."
George Wilson,West Sussex, said: "The logic of the Celtic supporters is a strange one. When a Rangers player is assessed he is a poor player and worth virtually nothing. When the same players leave for large sums, we have drastically weakened our squad. Celtic spent £13 million to keep players they already had."
John Bruce, emailed: "There is no better place to display your footballing wares than the shop window of a European final. As soon as the Rangers fans discovered that we were going to Seville, we knew that we would probably lose some of our top players. We can't criticise the club for taking the huge amounts of money involved, nor can we criticise the players for making their dream moves with the life-changing salaries involved."
Chris Lowe, Yoker, said: "Hotline caller Glen Mitchell says that Rangers only won a trophy because of covid and Celtic were hamstrung at every opportunity, he then goes onto to brag about 20 trophies in the last decade. May I remind him that Celtic only won these trophies as a result of a severely hamstrung Rangers who weren’t in the Premiership for four years and were rebuilding for three years after that. Your granny could have been the manager of Celtic and won these trophies as there was no competition."
Gordon Ashley, Ayr, said: "Celtic will need to be wary of some of these Rangers players as Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo and Ben Davies were all offered to Celtic and were refused by Ange Postecoglou. They will have a point to prove in the first new firm derby of the season. Their new striker Malik Tillman doesn’t look up to much though so no worries there."
Gerry Kelly, emailed: "There was a Rangers fan on the Hotline bumping his gums about Bassey going for £20million or more but Celtic have been selling players for £15 to £20 million for years. Rangers have sold one or two players so well done but do they want a paper hat and a balloon to go with that or a gold star?"
Gerry Milligan, Erskine, said: "If Aaron Mooy does arrive at Celtic then can we expect a bit of dynamism in the midfield? Let's hope he's not going to be a clone of Thomas Gravesen."
Gordon Ferguson, Kilwinning, said: "Words fail me, how can you possibly introduce VAR mid-season? It's amateurish and shambolic and will court controversy at such a crucial moment of the campaign. The SFA need to get it sorted as Scottish football's reputation is at stake here."
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