Ibrox Noise’s article recently on Dan Purdy and his position at Rangers certainly got a few cats among the pigeons. We analysed the technical director’s performance because his main duty at Ibrox is recruitment and scouting. Previously, his head of department was Kevin Thelwell, but essentially Dan Pardy has taken those responsibilities on. He was appointed early last June of 2025, so every single signing since then has certainly seen Pardy’s influence play a big part in the transaction.

Fan reaction and contradiction

The curiosity to the reception of our article recently was the amount of criticism aimed at us for criticising Purdy’s performance. Ironically, these criticisms were coming from the very same fans who have been criticising the players themselves. These are the same players that Pardy and Thelwell have signed. There is absolutely no reconciliation here when it comes to logic, argument and emotion.

Fans want Rangers to be doing well. We all do. Consequently, some fans are over the top when it comes to being positive. They will criticise anything they perceive as negative. Yet they still criticise the players heavily themselves.

A circular argument

The very ones whose signings are being criticised. This creates a roundabout loop. It is a catch 22 if you like. Pretty much every signing last summer has been roundly criticised. Not a single one has been a significant success.

Unless we count the strange anomalies. Youssef Chermiti had brief success. Emmanuel Fernandez has shown odd promise. But besides them, for a grand total of anywhere between £35M and £45M, we cannot say there has been value for money.

January window under scrutiny

That has continued in January with three signings who have not exactly shone. There is a little disagreement on Chucky. Overall, though, the January transfer window has certainly not strengthened Rangers. Only Rommens offers any real exception.

And yet, fans come in slaughtering Ibrox Noise for criticising the last two transfer windows. That directly reflects Dan Purdy’s performance. They claim we have nothing positive to say.

Emotion over logic

The same fans, we guarantee, are slagging off those players on match days. It is really quite ironic, and it is constant. Fans will never be particularly logical on the whole. That probably includes ourselves.

We are human too, shock horror. But Rangers fans, like any football fans, live heavily on emotion. Results matter. Goals conceded matter. Everything feeds that emotional response.

The ongoing dilemma

Fans will always be emotional and logic often takes a back seat. It only returns when it is convenient. That is the problem. In debating these topics, emotion clashes with logic.

It is a paradox of love for the team and sound reasoning about it. These two do not blend well. When Ibrox Noise calls something out, the criticism against us is usually emotion based.

Final thoughts

The number of times we receive criticism with no rationale is amusing. We get told we are talking p*sh. Maybe sometimes we do get it wrong. Shock horror, again we are human.

But generally speaking, we would like to think we have a reasonable grasp of football and our club. That said, it does not really matter. Fans will be emotional. Logic does not always get in there including for Dan Purdy’s Rangers position.

The marriage between the two remains a dichotomy. It is something we will always have to deal with.

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