Ibrox anger over their manager’s Celtic comments continues to grow.

On Sunday, following their game against Ross County, the Ibrox boss made some comments that caused a stir. Much of the mainstream media is raging and the reaction on Ibrox fan forums has been overwhelmingly negative. He spoke about feeling financially outgunned by both Spurs and Celtic, and many interpreted it as making excuses in anticipation of two defeats.

I wrote about this a few days back, agreeing with those who see these comments as the words of a man running scared. There was no need for him to say such things, and he’s paying a steep price in the PR battle as a result.

It’s not the first time he’s invoked Celtic’s spending power in this way. This isn’t just about preparing his fans for the challenges ahead—challenges that won’t disappear even if they remove him. This is a manager haunted by the reality that he simply cannot spend enough to keep up in this title race.

I’ve speculated that he might have been given certain assurances before taking the job—money to spend and resources at his disposal—which have not materialised and now won’t. I think he’s only now fully grasping the scale of the disaster he’s inherited, and it’s clearly not to his liking.

But as I wrote earlier in the week, all he’s really done is state a fact.

He is outgunned. Both on Thursday and Sunday, he faces teams with far more money and far better players as a result. Acknowledging that isn’t necessarily making excuses, but the repeated emphasis on it does make it sound that way. Stripped back, though, it’s an unchallengeable truth, and it’s that which their fans find hardest to stomach.

The scale of anger unleashed over this has been surprising—not just on the forums but also in the mainstream press. Simon Jordan, of all people, is the only one who has defended him, pointing out that he’s simply being honest. Jordan suggests it’s a dose of reality, and frankly, a lot of us think their fans are long overdue one.

But the problem is that once these things are said out loud, especially if repeated often enough, they become the new reality. That’s precisely what their fans don’t want to confront: a future without easy answers or quick fixes.

Another part of the problem is the manager himself.

He’s lost credibility—both with the media and the fans. Even a brief run of victories hasn’t been enough to change perceptions. They’re ready to believe the worst of him whenever he speaks, and much of that is his own doing. His bizarre comments in press conferences—especially the “don’t mention the VAR,” funny walk and the rest—made him sound as unhinged as Pedro Caixinha. Many of their fans were seriously embarrassed.

So when he makes remarks like these, they immediately jump to the worst conclusions. He doesn’t have the benefit of the doubt anymore—neither on nor off the pitch. The media senses his weakness, too. And as I’ve said before, one thing those of an Ibrox persuasion in the press boxes won’t tolerate is weakness.

The press that once lionised him has turned. Their loyalty lies not with the manager but with the club. The same people who once treated him like a messiah have abandoned him.

Many now believe he’ll be gone by Monday morning or at least entering the final days of his tenure. To them, he’s advertising fear, essentially admitting he has no clear idea how to stop Celtic. They’re unwilling to accept that what he said is a simple truth: no manager could turn that squad—or the club—around without significant financial backing, which isn’t forthcoming.

That’s where the raw anger and frustration stem from. Reality isn’t something they’re equipped to handle. An Ibrox manager must project strength and confidence at all times, even when he doesn’t feel it, because it allows all of them to do the same.

This is a strange club with strange fans who inhabit an even stranger version of reality—one far removed from the world the rest of us live in.