Sir David Murray, the Rangers chairman, took a swipe yesterday at a section of the club’s supporters that he said was expressing “bile” on a daily basis and tarring the reputation of the club.

Murray, who was facing some angry questions at the Rangers annual meeting in Glasgow, said that some supporters “handed the club’s head on a plate” to those critics in the media who have taken Rangers to task over their problems with bigotry in recent years. Murray and Martin Bain, the chief executive, targeted a website culture among fans where bigotry is known to thrive, given the safety of the anonymity it affords people who post comments on it. Rangers have repeatedly been embarrassed by one supporters’ website, where a core of fans flaunt their beliefs and mangled syntax in equal measure.

“I don’t think within our club we help ourselves,” Murray said. “We have people involved with this club who put bile — that’s the word for it — on websites every day. Half of our problems, I believe, are self-inflicted. Some people who are supposedly Rangers supporters need to have a hard look at themselves. Not all of our supporters are pulling in the right direction and they hand us to the media on a plate.

“People on the internet hide behind a nom de plume and all they do is play into the hands of our critics. We have to police ourselves and not give the media ammunition.”

Murray, who is approaching his 20th anniversary as Rangers owner and chairman, claimed that the club had made great strides in recent years in terms of stopping the sectarian chanting of supporters and added that he would be meeting Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, for discussions about the subject next week.

“In the 20 years I’ve been at this club there has been a vast, vast improvement on the of sectarianism at the club,” Murray said. “Then we don’t help ourselves by giving people stuff on a daily basis.

“But all the problems with Scottish sectarianism should not be just put at the feet of Rangers FC. I intend to take that up with the First Minister again when I see him in the next week.”

Bain expressed his regret over the faction of supporters who have tarnished Rangers’ image and referred to the rioting that took place in Manchester after the Uefa Cup final defeat by Zenit St Petersburg in May as another instance of a minority of supporters ruining the occasion for the majority. “On the back of Manchester, we were absolutely defensive of the vast majority of fans who went down there,” Bain told shareholders. “Ninety-nine per cent were commended by Manchester Police for their behaviour, but, as usual, a small minority spoilt it for the majority.

“Sometimes it is difficult to defend yourself when, internally, people undermine us and hand our critics a big stick to batter us with. I ask you as supporters to do your bit to shout down some of the people who are so-called Rangers fans, who undermine us and give sticks to our critics to beat us with.”

Murray reiterated that he intended to sell his 90 per cent stake in the club as soon as he could find a buyer. In the recent past, Murray has complained that the image of Rangers had in part hampered that process.

“I have made it quite clear that eventually I have to go — I don’t want to be doing this for the rest of my life,” Murray said. “I’ve got a huge business to run and my business needs me as much as Rangers need me. I could have sold the club two or three times, but it’s not about money for me, I’ve said that repeatedly. Please trust me, I won’t sell you short. I’ve only got the best intentions for Rangers.”