"The fact is we changed our strategy at this football club before it became dangerous for our health.
"Football clubs chase dreams sometimes, but we changed in time and now we need three years of patience.
"I read about the near-£50m loss at Leeds and also about the problems from leasing players like Mark Viduka rather than buying them outright with interest.
"It gets to a stage where you have invested and you have to realise those investments have not paid off.
"On the field we ploughed money into the team and didn't do as well in Europe as we feel we should have with that sort of investment.
"Having said that, we recognised then that we needed a few years of recovering the situation we had found ourselves in. We had to balance the books again and we knew that.
"We have not got to the stage where Rangers won't invest again in players though, far from it."
McClelland also added: "We have a strategy blueprint now and the investing in the youth side is a big part of that.
"We will attract additional funds into that, but you are looking at perhaps four years for it to pay off with players in the first-team.
"We invested significantly in our infrastructure at Murray Park which we have yet to see the fruits of. But we will.
"I think the fans understand that and accept the position that arises when you invested as we once did."