Barry Ferguson sends Rangers fans message over Sydney Super Cup PR mistake

Memo to Rangers : If you want to know how to p** off your own fans then just keep on keeping them out of the loop.

That’s one of the biggest reasons for all the anger and frustration over the last few days since word leaked out from Down Under that plans were in place to stage an Old Firm game in Australia.

The fans knew about it over 24 hours before it was confirmed by the club and the only big mistake is the way the whole PR side of things has been handled.

Rangers fans might not like the idea of teaming up with their old rivals to play a friendly on the other side of the planet. I understand.

But if it was explained correctly from the start then maybe they could have learned to live with it.

James Bisgrove has said the club will make as much from eight days in Sydney as they would from winning the Premiership. This trip must be worth around £3m.

As much as fans may not like it, I’m sure they can see the commercial benefits from agreeing to take part and the money should then help strengthen the team with better players.

But they were made to feel as if the club wasn’t coming clean and that’s where the anger kicked in.

Rangers allowed Celtic to package the tournament up as a homecoming for Ange Postecoglou and made it look like Rangers are just a willing sideshow to the main event – which is almost as far from the truth as the Opera House is from the Armadillo.

Trust me, Rangers are a big deal in Australia and my old mate Craig Moore has told me fans down there are buzzing over the prospect of the game.

This isn’t an Angeball world tour. It’s about one of the biggest clubs in the world meeting fans in another country. That’s the message Rangers should have put out from the start.