Board Booed And Heckled At Rangers AGM

Rangers chairman David Somers struggled to make himself heard as he delivered his annual statement amid boos and heckles at the club's AGM at Ibrox Stadium.

Speaking from a gazebo on the pitch, Somers, and the remainder of the board, were roundly booed from the majority of the assembled crowd in the Broomloan Stand on their way to the makeshift stage.

The Monday morning meeting was held little more than 12 hours after manager Ally McCoist was removed from his duties and placed on gardening leave, with first-team coach Kenny McDowall put in charge for the remainder of the season.

Somers, new chief executive officer Derek Llambias and brothers James and Sandy Easdale, were greeted with chants of 'out, out, out', and 'sack the board' as the meeting opened.

Rangers' current financial state means they need to recoup the bulk of their £8.3m annual losses before the end of the season to keep the club afloat, but Somers was keen to apportion any blame for their plight to his predecessors in the Ibrox boardroom.

Amid the jeering there was laughter as Somers admitted: "We have got more work to do," and even louder laughter when he said: "We need to rebuild the board with suitable people."

New CEO Llambias, who was appointed on the back of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley's £3m loan to the club, was introduced to booing but he did prompt some applause following his address.

The former Newcastle managing director claimed he had helped the St James' Park club "stand on its own two feet" and would roll up his sleeves to get Rangers back on its feet.

"Not everything I do will be popular but everything I do will be in the club's long-term interests," he said.

Somers asked fans to 'refrain from any disruptive behaviour' saying: "If anyone gets too rowdy I will have to ask you to leave" before sparking more jeers when announcing he would take two questions at a time, further enraging supporters by saying: "When you get to be chairman of Rangers you get to do it your way."