RANGERS fans today threw their weight behind the Newcastle supporters aiming to remove Mike Ashley from power at St James' Park ahead of public protests this weekend.

 

Anti-Ashley events have been planned for before, during and after Sunday's Premier League clash with Tottenham as fed-up fans get set to boycott the game and vent their fury at the way their club is being run by the billionaire businessman.

Representatives from the Sons of Struth have been in dialogue with those behind the rally, who have set up the AshleyOut.com website in a bid to pile the pressure on the Tyneside chief.

Rangers fans saw a lengthy campaign against Ashley and his allies pay off when Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were removed from Ibrox and a new board installed last month.

And SoS chief Craig Houston is happy to help his Toon counterparts after organising a range of displays and protests against Ashley in recent months.

He told SportTimes: "The Newcastle fans seem to be gathering a bit of momentum now and hopefully it is not too late for them.

"Ashley's claws are in deeper than they ever were at Rangers so they have got some task ahead of them and they will need to get together and stick together.

"The fans will be there long after Ashley. They are the only constant in football clubs.

"It is about how long it will take and, unfortunately for them, there are millions of reasons why Ashley will be harder to move from Newcastle.

"We have had a lot of dialogue with the Newcastle fans and we are more than happy to help them and support them.

"We have got a meeting being organised just now and we will discuss potential joint actions going forward and where applicable.

"They can pick our brains as much as they wish and see if the ideas that we had that were successful can be of any use to them.

"We are more than happy to help them because of the common issues we have."

The Light Blue legions may have got their wish as Llambias and Leach were booted out of their club, but Ashley still remains a thorn in Rangers' side.

The Ibrox board hope to hold talks with Sports Direct within the next fortnight and Houston is confident the new hierarchy will fight the club's corner.

He said: "Fortunately now we don't have Ashley's men controlling our club but we are still dealing with the historical issues.

"There are still things that need attended to, we will still owe him £5million, and there are contracts that are in place that we need to get to the bottom of.

"I am confident that the board will do the right thing for Rangers Football Club."