AS anyone who has managed Rangers or Celtic would probably attest, you are never more than three defeats away from a crisis when you occupy those particular hot seats.

While that widely accepted truism applies to events on the football pitch, Castore, the new Rangers kit supplier, may well be feeling it resonates just as strongly in business too.

Castore, owned by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, was unveiled as the Glasgow club’s replica strip supplier amid much fanfare earlier this year.

It came to Rangers as the brand of choice of Sir Andy Murray, who is a shareholder in Castore, and talked in ambitious terms about challenging “at the very highest level” of the sportswear market. It was also unabashed in its bid to woo the Rangers support, declaring: “Rangers is a club that embodies this mindset. The most successful club in the world with success in its DNA.”

For Rangers, finally freed from the restrictions imposed by its previous commercial deal with Sports Direct, it seemed to be a huge step in the right direction. Castore appeared to be a brand that spoke its own, ambitious language. But, much more importantly, the revenue earned by Rangers from its merchandise would flow into the club’s coffers in a way it had not done for years.

Things went swimmingly initially, with fans embracing the new strips and attitude. Tens of thousands of the home, away and third-choice strips have been eagerly snapped up in recent weeks by supporters, safe in the knowledge that the money they have invested will ultimately filter through to manager Steven Gerrard’s transfer budget.

Indeed, with more than 100,000 strips already sold, at a price of roughly £60 for an adult size and £45 for a junior top, the sums raised could have a significant bearing on the team’s ability to stop arch-rival Celtic on its quest for a historic ten league titles in a row.

But it has not taken long for the first signs of strain to appear at Castore in terms of the Rangers deal. In early August, an investigation was launched after 2,000 packages carrying online orders of strips via the distributor Hermes were found to have been damaged in transit. Claims were made that the packages had been deliberately targeted on account of carrying Rangers and Castore branding, but Hermes found no evidence to substantiate those assertions after its investigation.

Shortly after, separate distribution difficulties arose when it emerged that thousands of kits pre-ordered by fans had not arrived.

Rangers attributed the problems to a third-party courier. Fans were offered refunds and new distribution arrangements were put in place.

While Castore was able to distance itself from these early problems with the spotlight placed on external partners, it moved firmly into the firing line with the controversy that followed.

Last week, the brand was forced to issue an apology after it emerged fans had noticed that some replica kits had been made in Turkey and others in China, with claims that there was a noticeable difference in quality between the two. Castore explained that this was because the kit made in China was “actually the pro version, with the Turkey-made strip being the standard replica version”. The pro-shirt, Castore said, had not been due for general release until August 24.

Unfortunately for the sportswear brand, the controversy did not end there. In the same statement, it went on to apologise to fans after concerns were raised over the quality of “junior lifestyle sweatshirts” sold in the club’s store. The brand said a decision had been taken to outsource the manufacture of the item owing to “both the high demand and short timescales required for an August release… which is not common practice for Castore”. The item was withdrawn from sale, with refunds offered.

Judging by the response of supporters, patience would appear to be wearing thin for a company which has promised so much.

Fan-owned Club 1872, which is the fifth-biggest shareholder in the club, said in a statement on Monday that it “has grown increasingly concerned over recent weeks” over the scale of the distribution issues, and the quality of some products.

The group expressed sympathy given the “tight timescales” Castore faced in releasing new products in time for the new season, which have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. “However, those challenges do not fully explain or excuse the poor customer service or lack of reliable communication around the quality and delivery issues that have occurred,” it added.

Clearly, confidence in Castore’s ability to deliver has been shaken, with fans expressing frustration at the club, too, over the effectiveness of its communications with fans on the issues.

The financial problems which have engulfed Rangers in recent years have been a source of acute embarrassment for supporters.

Fans had waited a long time to be able to buy merchandise knowing that the club, and not Mike Ashley’s Sport Direct, would benefit. Of course, that remains the case with the Castore deal, but there is no doubt the initial excitement that met the relationship has soured.

But perhaps some sympathy should be shown towards the challenger brand.

Although it is a relatively new company, Castore entered the relationship with promising credentials. Its products evidently impressed Sir Andy Murray, no mean feat given the demands he requires on court, and it raised £7.5 million of funding to support its expansion in February of this year. Phil and Tom Beahon had previously won a START UP foundership offered by the careers service at Newcastle University, to help get their business off the ground.

However, the brothers will have quickly discovered that it is one thing to meet the needs of an individual sportsman, and quite another to satisfy the demands of a major football club. Indeed, while they were no doubt warned to expect intense scrutiny before they linked up with Rangers, the appetite shown by fans for their products may well have taken them by surprise.

It is certainly not unusual for companies to run into teething problems when faced with extreme demand. Even the most carefully constructed business models and forecasts can quickly become meaningless in the face of such rapid growth. The problem for Castore is that it is having to do its growing up in public, all while attempting to make a dent in a market dominated by such long-established players as Adidas and Nike.

It will certainly hope to learn its lessons quickly and be given the breathing space to do so by Rangers fans.