Andrew Cavenagh has declared Rangers’ Old Firm rivalry with Celtic as among the best in world football and is confident the tables can turn in terms of current dominance while he is at the Ibrox club’s helm. The United States-based healthcare executive was installed as Rangers chairman last month. The takeover by the consortium he leads along with new vice-chairman Paraag Murathe was ratified earlier today at an extraordinary general meeting at a Glasgow hotel. The pair later met reporters at Ibrox as they continued their first day of public activities as the new owners of Rangers. Cavenagh told shareholders that “sustained winning” and “winning sustainably” were their watchwords with the majority shareholders having pledged to invest £20 million into the club in the first instance. With the consortium unwilling to specify what portion of this will be spent on squad reinforcements, some have questioned whether this will be enough to overhaul Celtic. Rangers’ rivals are currently way out in front on the field as well as off it, where they have been nourished by regular Champions League payments. Cavenagh stressed that he knew what he was getting into. He was asked if he had taken soundings from predecessors, including Dave King, John Bennett and Donald Park, and he confirmed that he had. “I have met with all three of those individuals as well as other shareholders and former directors and former staff and I think they have had good advice and been open,” he said. “The quick answer is I have had time to speak to other people, not just those three, about what lies ahead.” Asked how far away Rangers were from once again realising their full potential, he replied with what sounded like a manifesto rather than a time-frame. “I would give you the simple answer which is we have been finishing second and we would like to finish first,” he said. “We are one position away from where we would like to be.” He was confident that the gap can be bridged. “We relish that challenge,” he said. “We are impatient, we are competitive, and so we look forward to the challenge. In terms of the rivalry, I think rivalry is one of the things that makes football great. Our rivalry with Celtic…Rangers wouldn’t quite be the same without that rivalry. It’s top five in the world. Boca-River Plate, Lazio-Roma, Celtic-Rangers, those would be the three that come to mind. It’s fantastic to have that rivalry. We look forward to the challenge.” “We think it is achievable or we wouldn’t be here,” he added. “We don’t think it will be easy. It is not going to happen instantaneously, but we will strive to improve the on-field performance and we will continue to build the infrastructure of the club. If we didn’t think we could win we wouldn’t be here. We are here because we think we can.” A college goalkeeper and fervent fan of what he grew up to know as soccer, Cavenagh went into more detail about the circumstances that brought him into both Rangers’ – and Scottish football’s – orbit. He recalled where he was when he took the call that changed his life. “I was on the upper east side of Manhattan outside a coffee shop about to go to a New York Yankees game,” he recalled. “I’ve known about Rangers forever as a football fan. So when the phone call came to ask if I’d have an interest, it was a lightning bolt moment.” The call came from from a Scot called Les Allan, who is a Hearts-supporting, California-based banker. “I had met him six months prior,” explained Cavenagh. “He knew our group was interested in a rare but good opportunity in football. Les called me and I said, ‘Absolutely’. Three seconds later I was on the phone to Paraag. “The last few months have been an incredible experience,” he added. “One of my favourite moments in life is the five minutes before the match kicks off when you can feel the electricity. “I was lucky to go to the match at Parkhead (v Celtic in March) and it was incredible. I learned a couple of new phrases and gestures when I was there! But it was a fantastic experience. “It was the first match where our fans were allowed back in and we had 2500 fans there. But they were incredibly loud and vocal in showing their support. It was one of the best football experiences of my life. “I’ve been a football fan all my life. I’ve been to five World Cups and five European Championships. I’ve been to countless matches. I think I did 14 new stadiums in the last year. “It’s a physical experience when you walk upstairs at Ibrox. You walk up the marble stairs to the Blue Room and in the trophy room in particular you can just feel the history. There’s no other way to describe it. You walk in and instantly feel indebted to the people who have come before you. “But you also have the desire to do everything you possibly can, not just to improve the history, but also improve the trajectory.” While his talk of “magical” Ibrox will sit very well with fans, it’s the planned upward curve in the team’s fortunes that really interests them. “There is real work to be done,” Cavenagh acknowledged. “I think everyone is aware of that.” New manager Russell Martin, whose players returned to training this morning at the Rangers Training Centre, has his work cut out. One of the key questions as he seeks to build a squad good enough to properly compete is whether he will be forced to sell bankable players such as Belgium international midfielder Nico Raskin in this self-sustaining model of growth as outlined by Cavenagh. “We won’t go into individual players, or even this summer’s window with any specificity,” said the chairman. “But the world of football is one where you acquire players and they move on for bigger fees. That is part of the financial model for any club. At any club that is not one of the top five in the world, players are not permanent. Players will at times move on and clubs will make a fee for them. It is good for the club and good for the players.”