Mr Green and Opportunity Knocks— For Aberdeen?

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Good Morning,

In the last week, we have seen a number of strange occurrences in Scottish Football, which if taken together might just point to a very different land than the one we were lead to believe we live in just two short years ago.

First of all there was the report from a firm of well known accountants which pronounced that a significant number of Scottish Football Clubs had, in fact, sold more season tickets for this coming season than they had in the course of the last several years.

Then we had the spectacle of the National team travelling to Wembley and playing very well AND being cheered on by a very large travelling support who appear to have been full of fun and who acquitted themselves well in the big smoke.

This morning I read that today’s match at Pittodrie is a sell out — with the old stadium being packed to the rafters for the visit of Celtic. This is the first time that Aberdeen have been able to sell out the fixture for some 6 years!

Not only that, various Celtic supporting websites have lead with articles saying that the return of a strong Aberdeen and Dundee United are to be welcomed– in fact not only welcomed but positively wished for.

In contrast, stories abound about the in fighting on the Ibrox Board. There are surreptitious share dealings and all sorts of company jockeying being deployed by the rival factions who are trying to gain control of The Rangers. Further, there is the suggestion from some well informed parties that not only will Ibrox and the Albion be sold and leased back to the club to generate much needed immediate cash, but that Murray Park has been sold off completely and will no longer be available to The Rangers for any purpose whatsoever!

Clearly, there are big troubles at the club which will not assist in the stated intention of rising to the very top in Scottish Football.

In between all of this, the debate goes on about Campbell Ogilvie, Press manipulation, the correspondence  between Media House and the SFA, and between The SFA and Ibrox re the relationship between Charlie Green and Craig Whyte and so on.

Standing with my business hat on, I looked at all of this and wondered what it all meant, and pretty quickly reached the conclusion that we are now in a time of supreme opportunity for some of the clubs in Scottish Football—- particularly Aberdeen FC.

There is a view abroad, that in the absence of the “Strong Rangers” that Celtic Football Club will win the SPFL title for almost evermore — or at least until they are toppled from the top spot by the rise of a strong Rangers club somewhere towards the end of this decade or early in the next– because we are assured that they will be back– in one form or another– in a rather Arnold Schwarzenegger  like fashion.

That return or initial rise if you like– its timing and its manner— is dependent on a number of things– not least the exit strategy of Charlie Green and his cohorts.

If it is true that The Rangers are going to part company with Ibrox and the Albion, that they have taken on a loan of funds which attract a rate of interest that amounts to 15% per annum, and that there are set figures for buying the old ( and decaying ) stadium back any time soon, and that they have yet again hawked the season ticket money, then the already flawed Ibrox business plan is burdened even more by interest and rent payments of an additional £3M per annum and rising!

It should also be noted that the accounts for old co from the mid naughties onwards boasted that season ticket sales, merchandising, corporate hospitality and so on had reached unprecedented levels—- but—- the club still did not make an operating profit without strange internals transactions such as the repurchase of media rights which added £15M on to the P&L’s AND the sale of Jean Alain Boomsong!

Accordingly, the current position will not make for good financial reading.

So– let’s presume that in the current climate Celtic are out of sight and will always be champions for ever and a day. What do the rest of the clubs say in the absence of the Ibrox club without whom they have been told they will perish?

Well, If I were in charge of Aberdeen FC I would look out across a city with an inherent population of some 220,000 souls sitting in a county which takes the population up by another 40,000 or so. I would note that the compact city also houses two universities and a number of colleges — all of which attract visitors to the city— and that its position as the oil capital of Europe also draws in a substantial number of itinerant workers.

Further, personal knowledge shows that many who studied at Aberdeen University or Robert Gordon’s in the 80’s left the city as Aberdeen FC fans and no matter where they have ended up in life they still make the journey back to Pittodrie when they can– especially in good times!

Alas, however, Aberdeen has not enjoyed ” Good Times” of late— in fact not really since ……….. the arrival of David Murray at Ibrox!

If you cast your mind back to the pre Murray era, Aberdeen were a force not only in Scotland but Europe as the recent nostalgia re Gothenburg has reminded us.

The city has an economic micro climate which suggests that it can ride economic hardship better than most and so all things considered this current period provides a great opportunity for the Dons.

Unlike Dundee United, Hearts, and Hibs, Aberdeen FC sits in a large one team conurbation and should be on the doorstep of a populace which can fill Pittodrie every single week …… IF that fan base can be motivated.

And there lies the rub– how do you get a notoriously fickle fan base out of the armchair and into the stadium?

The late Bob Crampsey once described Pittodrie by saying ” And there are the masses of Aberdeen fans, masquerading as rows and rows of Empty seats!” yet in their heydey an Aberdeen crowd on a visit to Glasgow were among the noisiest– and to this football fans eyes — the scariest ( in a good sense ) supports to be seen.

Well, at this juncture, Derek McInnes and team need only look at every other football club in the land ( bar Celtic ) and determine that come next May those others will be below them in the league. If Aberdeen maintain a strong league run keeping everyone behind them then there is the possibility of a huge revenue swing in favour of the Dons– such a swing that would put them in an even stronger position for the following year.

Further, Aberdeen are a European name. Perhaps a European name from yesteryear and not the recent past, but the pedigree is there and as such there will be those who remember the heady European Nights both home and away. Reviving those memories and that reputation– at least to an extent– is not beyond the club, and with no disrespect to Motherwell and St Johnstone both of whom are liable to lose key players or even a manager between seasons, Aberdeen may just be of a size to consolidate each year rather than scramble to maintain the momentum of one good season which comes along every now and then.

Financial management and football rewards can go hand in hand when combined properly, and of all the clubs in Scotland who can benefit from a level playing field in terms of proper football governance, Aberdeen FC are uniquely placed in my opinion.

That is not so say that The Arabs, or the Hibees or anyone else cannot benefit– on the contrary— but the Dons are the most obvious candidates in terms of potential structure to really motor forward and regain a by gone status.

Such a situation, and the recognition of that potential, should be borne in mind by all at Celtic Football Club, as last year they struggled for a period in the league while they concentrated on their European exploits. If Celtic want to go further and further in Europe ( and why shouldn’t they ) they will have to be wary of any club which is capable of reigniting its fortunes from a lowly position or a position of having to look back at glory and potential glory rather than looking forward.

Further, with the way things are being organised at Ibrox, there is absolutely no guarantee ( some would say likelihood ) that an eventual challenge to a perceived dominance by Celtic will come from that quarter, and life in the top flight for any returning Rangers could prove very difficult if the likes of Aberdeen get their act together and start to produce the type of home grown team of old.

For now, I sense a degree of optimism about the Dons– not just on the playing front either.  They have a fan base, they have a business model and a good young manager, and any comparative business exercise must conclude that they have every chance of rising above most of their rivals in the league, in terms of revenue, in terms of brand development and business expansion.

If I were an Aberdeen fan I would like to think positive and be ambitious in this climate, whilst at the same time casting an eye back to the days when they were top of the tree.

As one Aberdeen supporting ( but now Edinburgh based ) friend put it to me:

” Ah, those were the days my friend, those were the days……………”

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About Trisidium

Trisidium is a Dunblane businessman with a keen interest in Scottish Football. He is a Celtic fan, although the demands of modern-day parenting have seen him less at games and more as a taxi service for his kids.

2,310 thoughts on “Mr Green and Opportunity Knocks— For Aberdeen?”


  1. Resin_lab_dog says:
    August 20, 2013 at 11:11 pm
    ——————————–
    Thanks for the vote of confidence R_l_d.

    Like everyone here (hopefully, and not some paid PR person) I am a fan of Scottish Football.

    I still support the same team as I did as when I was first lifted over the turnstiles in 1976 as a kid.

    ———————————————
    toby says:
    August 20, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    Absolutely.

    My question was not just for ecobhoy, it was for anyone to answer. He does seem to have some sympathy for RFC fans though, as I would have for the fans of any other club. Personal allegiances aside.

    I agree re the reaction of Rangers fans with regard to info coming from someone other than a “Rangers Man”. This is a major failing. The news is out there, sticking your head in the sand until Walter and Ally comment is just to ignore the message. Even Leggo seems on board now. Good God. But, to be fair to the former manager and current manager, if they were told what they wanted to hear, by a bunch of Spivs looking to make a quick £, I doubt they would have questioned it. But they should have. I suspect Walter doesn’t hurt for cash and could well do without the grief and Ally is just a Rangers fan who isni that clever – and a crap manager into the bargain. I don’t for one minute imagine that they wish the club any harm.

    Fan groups seem to be too busy bickering among each other to see the bigger picture.

    Rangers are about to run out of money again and they are too busy arguing about who fits the Blazer best.

    No wonder everyone outside of Rangers is having a right laugh at this.

    McColl does not seem to me to be a stupid man – although some Bears question why he’s not just writing a cheque to be the next SDM – the fact that he’s not just doing that to me signifies that perhaps he is the right man to be involved in the Club.

    Anyway, no doubt further bad news/good news coming this week, dependent on who you support.


  2. The Glen says:August 20, 2013 at 11:55 pm 

    To be fair tomorrows sports headlines will be Celtic’s inept performance.
    Glen, to be honest there arent enough Rangers fans like yourself on blogs like this and thats maybe the one point I tried to make.. The other side perspective helps shape the other and this blog, as was RTC, was stronger for contributions like yours.


  3. One of our contributors the other day in a ‘dark night of the soul’ moment expressed a fear that this forum was a handful of bampots speaking to each other, having no effect, (I paraphrase), the rash of new posters, amongst whom I number, bear testimony to the many others of us out here, in awe of the heavyweights, grateful for your contributions, your capacity for research and analysis, your erudition and wit, your patience and courtesy ( rare on the net fora) altogether, slightly intimidate , me certainly. Any meagre contribution I can make cannot match the stuff I’ve learned on here and RTC over the years. There are many, many of us lurkers out here glad you people are doing the heavy lifting to expose what’s under the rock of Scottish society. Nil Desperandum. The dam is creaking, I’ll try to mix a few more metaphors in future posts.


  4. Re: .Kyle’s comments. Football like every other sport has a symbiotic relationship with alcohol and gambling. The problem arises when participants, like players or jockeys, have a bet on an event where they have an influence on the outcome. Whilst the general point being made by Kyle is that ‘everyone’s doing it’ the most worrying aspect of that statement is, if they are why should supporters part with cash to watch something which is effectively corrupt?
    The SFA has an absolute responsibility to protect the integrity of the game, that means gambling should be treated in the same way as using performance enhancing drugs or bribing officials.


  5. Tif Finn says:
    August 20, 2013 at 9:50 pm
    11 0 Rate This

    Lord Wobbly says:
    August 20, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    ================================

    Seriously, you don’t think professional football players move from country to country, playing for different clubs in different leagues, making contacts as they go through their career. Maybe getting calls from their contacts elsewhere that a specific bet might be a good “investment”.

    Or that they have team mates with contacts in different countries playing in different leagues getting information from elsewhere, or inserting influence elsewhere
    >>>>>>>>>>>
    That reminds me of the 92-93 European Cup win by Olympic Marseille. It turns out that players in other teams were offered financial incentives to ‘go easy’ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-story-of-marseilles-tainted-1993-cup-triumph-2222683.html
    In the above article Mark Hateley states that when he was sent off against Bruges and therefore subsequently banned for the crucial Marseille game ‘I knew that something had gone off there’.
    He later claimed, in 2011, that he had been contacted by an OM representative after the tie at Ibrox who told him he would be ‘financially rewarded’ if he sat out the return leg.
    http://www.europeancuphistory.com/bribe.html
    Rangers signed the triumphant Basil Book from OM (after claims of bribery were made against Tapie) in 1994 for £2M.


  8. Tif Finn says:
    August 20, 2013 at 8:14 pm
    17 1 Rate This

    I disagree. Football and football clubs receiving funding from the betting industry in no way justifies football players betting on games. To make it games that their own club is involved in is so wrong as to beggar belief.
    ————-

    Well, the way I heard him he was pointing out the hypocrisy of football authorities embracing betting companies while being ‘opposed’ to betting at the same time. It was bordering on self-justification, of course, but at the same time the valid point I felt he made was asking why football is so cosy with betting companies. I’m with the poster NTHM who posted earlier yesterday that alcohol and betting sponsorship have no place in sport. The huge influence of betting syndicates alone (both seen and unseen), suggests to me that money from gambling companies is sponsorship the sport can do without.


  9. The Glen says:
    August 20, 2013 at 11:55 pm
    11 0 Rate This
    ———-

    Glen,
    Your earlier question is not something I can answer, but I do have sympathy for your situation.

    I suppose because of the ‘loyal’ mind-set of many fans, they will only change course if an authoritarian figure from among their own ranks speaks up for common sense and decency on a whole host of issues, also the non-football ones. Perhaps a new financial collapse will lead the current club to take a time out. I honestly believe a complete shut down would have been best before, and it might still happen. It could just give thinkng fans the chance they need to see that Ibrox has not only been manipulated by moneymen, but also by people who have an undisguised poltical agenda. Being at a distance myself though, for all I know the new generation of fans may actually lap all that jingoism up.

    Otherwise Firhill is a nice wee ground and the Jags are playing attractive stuff, without any of the non-football issues that you find elsewhere in Glasgow. Clyde are moving west again too. I sometimes wonder if the increased numbers at Firhill are, in part, boosted by lapsed bluenoses who’ve re-discovered the joy of just going to a Scottish match, free of foreign obsessions that kept the poison of the ‘OF’ going for so long.


  10. The Glen says:
    August 20, 2013 at 10:39 pm
    If you, or any other poster were a Rangers Fan (apologies if that is too much to imagine for some folks), sitting down with other Rangers fans, what would you be suggesting at this point in time?

    Unfortunately there is no wee guy in a bunnet, telling the truth, and spelling out his intentions for The Rangers.
    ====================================================
    Perhaps I’m wrong, but as far as I can see the majority of Rangers fans somehow think it will all just end up okay and they will completely dominate Scottish football within 2-3 years. There may not be a wee guy in a bunnet, but plenty of people have spelled out to them the facts of their current predicament and they won’t listen unless it’s a Rangers man who says it. Even then it has to be a Rangers man of the level of Walter or Ally.

    So I’d suggest to stop shooting the message just because they don’t like the messenger.


  11. I’ve always seen Charles Green of adopting the Lyle Langley approach to The Govan Club. He probably seen that their fans were as gullible as the inhabitants of Springfield

    For those of an older vintage type Lyle Langley into YouTube and watch the first result. Don’t think you can put you tube links here

    http://youtu.be/AEZjzsnPhnw


  13. JLeeHooker says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:06 am
    A couple of early announcements from *RFC today

    ************

    Quote:
    “Rangers International Football Club plc
    (“Rangers”, the “Company” or “Club”)”

    😈


  14. Glen

    Firstly, the fans were and are in no way responsible for the corporate disaster zone at Ibrox. One need only look at the reaction of Celtic fans to last night’s miserable result, to understand how hungry for success footie fans are.

    That being said, the actions of the rangers support, have been completely counter productive. If there is a way to make a bad situation worse, we can almost rely on the Ranger’s support finding it. This whole mess was created , and is being perpetuated in the fabled Blue Room. However, instead of assembling in the Albion car park, and, demanding that the board either went or sorted it out, the support and their leaders turned on everyone else, and laid the blame on external “dark forces”.

    If Rangers fans wonder why they are struggling through the lower divisions, its not because the club was punished. All the powers that be, wanted rangers in Div one, the actions of the Rangers support during the “days of rage” made that impossible. The people who claim to speak for your fans, are the biggest collection of wing nuts in Scottish Football, and are an absolute gift to the minority of people who really do want Rangers to disappear completely.

    I am afraid that there is little hope for Rangers unless there is not only a massive change in corporate culture, but an equally seismic change in the fan culture. Unless that happens, then Rangers will at some point imitate the fabled Oozlum bird and disappear up it’s own anal orifice.


  15. Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
    August 20, 2013 at 9:56 pm
    Lord Wobbly says:
    August 20, 2013 at 9:44 pm
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I cannot see anything wrong with a player betting on games in other leagues. How can there be a problem with someone in Scotland betting on the EPL or La Liga?

    I can see that there are huge problems with betting on games in your own league though. This should not be allowed under any circumstances.
    —————————————
    doesn’t even have to be that complex though, 2 former team mates could simply bet on the time of 1st throw in in a game and both agree to punt the ball out of the park in the opening minute
    ……………………………………..
    Funny you should say that….a number of years back at Upton Park….West ham kicked off…and the big centre forward immediatly turned and lumped the ball staright out the park on the half way line for a throw in….it was so bizarre questions got asked?


  16. Back in the day you could spread bet on time of first throw in.

    Kicking it out immediately gave the maximum possible win to sellers

    It was subsequently dropped as a betting option


  17. Disappointing result for Celtic but over the piece maybe you would have to expect bobbing in and out of the Champions and Europa league for years to come.

    It should be equally as difficult for the Kazaks to travel to Scotland. They are 6 hours ahead.

    A 7pm kick off would be the equivalent of playing a game at 1am for them.

    Exposing players to two years of European football followed by the best leaving for a rake of money remains the crux of the business model.

    A lot of fans will be hurting right now but most of that will be down to the loss of morning after bragging rights.

    Unless we see a fundamental change in the player development strategy from bottom up in this country, can we expect anything different when all our teams have to rely on uncovering transfer bargins from outside our own league?


  18. Paulmac2 says:
    August 21, 2013 at 9:13 am
    ===============================
    Paulmac – Matt Le Tissier tried and failed at it but even this short report on the BBC shows why professional players should be banned from betting on football at all. Even apparently innocuous bets that appear not to influence the outcome of a game do – if you’re worrying about the bet you’re cheating the fans and the game. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8236108.stm


  19. Paulmac – Matt Le Tissier tried and failed at it but even this short report on the BBC shows why professional players should be banned from betting on football at all. Even apparently innocuous bets that appear not to influence the outcome of a game do – if you’re worrying about the bet you’re cheating the fans and the game. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8236108.stm

    The amazing aspect is that Le Tissier clearly doesn’t believe they did anything wrong because it didn’t affect the outcome. Yes, Matt, but you were attempting to defraud the betting company, you colossal idiot.


  20. blu says:
    August 21, 2013 at 9:40 am

    I wonder would Le Tissier have been so convinced that putting the ball out for a throw in wouldn’t have effected the result of a game had the boy from Karagandy had been playing?


  21. Now that Ahmad has sold up, for a healthy profit, and the board convened a meeting to dispense with the consultancy that never was, what next?
    Are the shareholders going to be placated with the chairless board’s statement?
    Are the audited accounts at the printers?
    What’s Ally’s view as a shareholder of the team?


  22. Glen

    Heres a guy – George – on Rangers Rumours who is actually doing something. (Also sounds like hes very angry to the point of losing it) I only say that as he believes the DR to be the appropriate channel for his wrath. Oh and mucho caps lock.
    =====================================================

    21 Aug 2013 02:01:31
    ED. I am hoping to repost this every day till I leave to come up early Friday. Hope you can see into reposting Wednesday and Thursday and Friday I need as many Rangers Fans as possible to see it. Thanks-

    This is for baybear larky etc Rangers Fans that have common sense regarding what is ACTUALLY going on a Rangers Football Club

    Sick fed up trying to get posts past the ED’s on here in which I detailed what has ACTUALLY been going on from the beginning SDM to CG the use of Duff and Pals to Blue Knights not being preferred bidder and CG and pals winning the end game.

    I have posted ACURATE facts on all these goings on based on my PERSONAL involvement in the legal, admin and general tidying up stages of Company Sequestrations.

    That and the fact I have friends I went to school with in 2 important areas regarding the Rangers ‘heist’.

    PF and Police, I AM NOT DOING THE ‘MY BAST PALS AUNTIE KNOWS SNOWY THE DOG ROUTINE’, THESE ARE PALS FROM SCHOOL AND UNI THAT HAVE JOBS IN THESE 2 IMPORTANT AREAS TO KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON.

    I won’t even attempt again trying to put facts and names even using ***** FED up as not being posted.

    I AM F*****G SICK FED UP WITH THE WHOLE ROTTEN LOT OF THEM SO I HAVE PASSED THE FULL FILE OF FACTS OVER TO ONE OF THE PEOPLE CONCERNED AND THIS IS NOW BEING HANDED TO THE DR IN THE HOPE THE TRUTH COMES OUT AND AUTHORITIES CAN DO SOMETHING BEFORE THE END GAME AND 2ND ADMIN. WHICH IS 100% ALREADY IN MOTION.

    THINK SDM- ANDREW ELLIS- CW- D&P -CG- RIGHT THROUGH TO THE CURRENT BOARD, ALL TRYING TO AVOID CLARITY AND OPEN HONESTY ON ALL THE FACTS WE NEED – ACCOUNTS – OWNERSHIP OF ASSETS – WHERE HAS £30m PLUS GONE?. THE 3 QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED AT THAT JOKE MEETING WITH THE ‘FANS’ GROUPS.

    I REALLY HOPE THIS IS POSTED ED? REMOVE ANYTHING YOU FEEL WILL ALLOW THE MOST OF IT IF I HAVE SAID ANYTHING ‘UNPOSTABLE?

    BEEN TYPING THIS FOR A YEAR NOW GIVING UP. HOPING THE POWER OF THE PRESS WILL SAVE OUR CLUB BEFORE 2nd ADMIN AND POSSIBLE ASSET SALE DISASTER.

    Yours as always in RANGERS. george

    I have not told one lie or made anything up in this post for some personal reason on here I am just sick tired and totally ill with reading the numerous varying opinions on here some trust ally some trust CG others trust McColl others the Blue Knights. I AM FED UP FELLOW BEARS, THE PEOPLE DOING THIS ARE PRO’s AND THE DIVISION OF OPINION IS FOR SURE 100% EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT AND NEED TO CARRY THIS OUT

    ——————————————————————————–

    21 Aug 2013 01:58:04
    I TRIED TO POST THIS AS A MAIN POST NOT JUST AN ANSWER TO YOUR COMMENT ED. PLEASE POST THIS FOR ME IN WEDNESDAY BANTER I AM PUTING A LOT OF EFFORT INTO COMING UP FROM LONDON FOR A WEEK AND PRINTING FLIERS ETC ETC

    I SHALL BE AT THE MAIN DOOR AS IN THE MAIN DOOR THE ‘BOARD’ AND PLAYERS WALK THROUGH IN RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB TRADITIONAL MAIN STAND 12pm FRIDAY 23rd.

    I WILL WEAR A HAT OR SHIRT MAKING CLEAR WHO I AM “PROTESTER NUMBER ONE. GEORGE” JUST TO START THE BALL ROLLING. IF IT TURNS OUT I MAKE A CNUT OF MYSELF AND IF I AM WRONG AND THERE ISN’T A LARGE SUPPORT FOR THIS REAL RANGERS FANS DEMO THEN I WILL BE SAD BUT I WILL BE HAPPY AT LEAST I DID SOMETHING BEFORE THE END GAME OF 2ND ADMIN AND THE POSSIBLE SALE OF IBROX AND OTHER RANGERS FC ASSETS. Okay Ed I will retype it later tonight if it does not appear.

    The basis was I AM TOTALLY FED UP WITH NOBODY TAKING THE LEAD ON A REAL ACTUAL PROPER LARGE SCALE FANS DEMO.

    I AM CANCELLING WORK AND FAMILY TIES HERE IN LONDON TO COME UP ON FRIDAY MAINSTAND AT MAIN DOOR OF IBROX 12pm AND HOPE OTHERS SHOW UP I WILL BRING 3000 HAND OUTS LISTING THE ACTUAL FACTS AND THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED FROM THE ONES WE HAVE SEEN IN OUR BOARD ROOM TO THE OTHERS BEHIND ALL THIS.

    IF ENOUGH PEOPLE TURN UP FRIDAY I AM INTENDING PRINTING OFF 30000 OF THE SAME FACT SHEETS AND A FEW LEGAL SUGGESTIONS YOU couldn’t PUT ON HERE AS TO HOW TO KEEP UP THE PROTEST AND DRAW ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW TO OUR CLUB FOR THE F*****G SECOND TIME!

    I WILL BE AT MAIN DOOR MAIN STAND AGAIN IF I don’t GET ARRESTED (BELIEVE IT OR NOT I HAVE CONSULTED A LAWYER ON THIS AND I DO HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WITH ACCUSATIONS AND NAMING NAMES ETC ETC) TUES 5pm B4 BERWICK GAME.

    I DO NOT CARE IT IS WORTH IT HOPING TO START THE PROTEST THE THE MOB FROM THE EAST WOULD HAVE DONE BY NOW

    IF THIS TAKES OFF I WILL ARRANGE THROUGH ONE OF THE TOP LAWYERS IN GLASGOW THAT HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THIS TO SET UP A FANS COMPANY AND DEPENDING ON HOW THINGS GO NOMINATING SOMEONE WE ALL AS GERS FANS CAN TRUST TO BE THE FIGUREHEAD OR LEADER OF THIS PROTEST (my only choice John Grieg?) AND POTENTIALLY BE ACCOUNT SIGNEE HOLDING FUNDS THAT CAN ONLY BE RELEASED ON FULL BACKING OF THE FAN BASED PROTEST GROUP WE NEED TO THINK HEARTS AND HOW SOME EURO TEAMS WORK WITH FANS BEING MEMBERS AND FULL CONTROL OF OUR OWN CLUB. NEXT GAME 31ST SAME 3 HOURS B4 KICKOFF IBROX DOOR AND FLIERS/BANNERS. george

    TO ALL REAL RANGERS FANS PLEASE CONTACT EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND THEIR FRIENDS EVEN FROM OTHER CLUBS. WE NEED SUPPORT TO SAVE OUR. O-U-R! CLUB FROM THESE PERSONS. {Ed001’s Note – good luck mate – it is what is needed, someone to stand up and say enough is enough.}

    ——————————————————————————–


  23. tom_farmery @tom_farmery 3h
    #Rangers story re. Charles Green is on P52 – not resignation story. Article isn’t online. If you want to read you’ll need to buy the paper.
    View details ·
    =====================================================
    Anyone got the details of this story?


  24. hahahahahahahahahahahaha – Sevconians really don’t do irony!

    Just spotted this on FF – the thread caught my eye as I’m also from Nairn originally.

    ——————————————————————————————————————————-
    Original post
    Guys

    Shameless plug for a wee team

    my hometown club – Nairn County – are trying to raise £4000 to fix the main stand roof.

    Think they have raised £3500 to date, so not far to go.

    Anyway, they have a Signed Rangers top for auction

    Signed by the following:
    Willie Henderson
    Andy Goram
    Dougie Bell
    Graham Roberts
    Tom Forsyth

    Online Current Bid £50

    Details here

    http://nairncountyshop.com/Auction_Items.html

    if you have it in your hearts to help a wee club, i’d appreciate it.

    Reply

    Well how is it they afforded to attract the best players in the HFL over the summer ?? Naw sorry mate , ye can afford the best players in the league, ye can afford to fix yer roof.

    —————————————————————————————————————————

    I’m bookmarking that thread, pretty sure those words will come back to haunt them!


  25. Not The Huddle Malcontent says:
    August 21, 2013 at 11:31 am

    “Well how is it they afforded to attract the best players in the HFL over the summer ?? Naw sorry mate , ye can afford the best players in the league, ye can afford to fix yer roof”

    A cracker 😀


  26. The Glen at 10.39.

    Interesting comments, thanks for posting them. I have many died in the blue-wool RIFC friends. Some of them for over thirty years. And they make the same points that you do: particularly when digging into their pockets for justification to buy their season tickets. Because if they did not, they would be letting down (without a hint of irony) the ‘club’ they and their fathers have supported all their lives. One dare not mention ‘holding companies’ at this juncture as it induces a deep and enduring depression.

    Firstly, on a personal basis I feel their pain. And I wish this had not happened to them. And then yet another commission, report etc exonerates their club, mitigates the penalty or imposes fines they cannot pay. Then yet another rule is airbrushed out of existence, altered, changed or simply outrageously ignored, by footballing and other authorities to ensure that whatever incarnation of RIFC exists is able to limp on.

    As regards your post, you answered your own question. You paid no heed to the many warnings. That’s what you should have done. Paid heed to them. Now, it does not matter that they came from internet nutters, Celtic fans, or persons who were vilified like Phil Mac because the truth was there – in black and white – for ALL to see. Whyte’s history of not paying VAT, tax and even his own former employees. Then there was the list of his companies which went into liquidation. What made you think he went into this venture with a different agenda? What made you think such a shyster was a fit and proper person to run Ibrox? Ditto Green. His past is equally chequered. And the Sheffield fans all warned you what he would do, what he did to their club. Green even warned you himself. Said he would plant potatoes on a pitch if it made him more money than football.

    Sadly, there is very little you can do now. Because the time to take action has passed. You all sat back and allowed, even praised, Whyte and Green when they took control of your club. You all ignored incontrovertible evidence that they were not fit and proper persons who had a history of asset stripping and avoiding social fiscal responsibilities. You all sat waiting for a saviour. A Mister to doff your hats to. Even now, you are asking non RFC fans ‘what can we do?’ With a sense of fatality, of well, see there was nothing we could have done.

    Well, we all told you not to trust them and to organise yourself properly. And you shot the messengers one by one. Don’t ask those outside the club what to do. Such a passive response. We will never feel your passion for RFC, despite being able to empathise to a degree by imagining if it were our club. In Celtic’s case it very nearly was and Heart are precariously on the brink. Ask each other what to do. Organise. Like the Hearts fans are doing. What do you want? Why are you not getting it? It is not as if RFC fans are unable to spring into action when it suits them, when people with a self-serving agenda press their buttons. Stop indulging in aggressive military rhetoric against imaginary enemies. Instead, combat those very real enemies within your own club who have their avaricious snouts in the Ibrox trough.

    If there is one crucial piece of advice anyone should be giving you it is adjust to the harsh reality that there is no white knight with a magic chequebook who will waft away your woes. And you can’t do that until you adjust to the financial realities of life in the lower leagues. The reality that your club died and asset stripping vultures are picking over the bones of the phoenix. You will not rise to the SPL again by either the fans or the club/holding company indulging in the same financial policies which brought about your downfall in the first place. By all means talk about when you are back at the top but the harsh reality is that you have to first stay alive to get there. I realise it is very difficult to lower your expectations as supporters but spending a ridiculous sum of money relative to the rest of your part time league on full time staff, players and five star hotels suggests you are functioning with the same financial recklessness which led you to liquidation in the SPL. Which, in turn, suggests you will suffer the same consequences.

    I am sorry if this seems a harsh response to a most genuine post but you did ask and it is exactly what I tell my RFC supporting friends when they pose the same question. They don’t like the answer either.


  27. Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:23 am

    I sometimes wonder if the increased numbers at Firhill are, in part, boosted by lapsed bluenoses who’ve re-discovered the joy of just going to a Scottish match, free of foreign obsessions that kept the poison of the ‘OF’ going for so long.

    ————————–

    There may be a smattering of lapsed bluenoses at Firhill, no more than that. I wonder how they felt when they heard the howls of derision from the Jag’s fans when the Jambo’s sang their wee ditty about wading through a particular fluid. The Thistle response?

    “Sevco, Sevco, sing us a song…”

    😀


  28. Proper PR

    Harmonious collegiate expressions were exchanged yesterday in marbled chambers during pleasantry exchange’s resulting in wholehearted instant consensus seamlessly delivered to the magnificent supporters who remain dear to our wallets.
    .
    .
    [am available @ £10000 an hour [+VAT] – if interested pl. contact twopandapr.com c/o @tsfm 😉 ]


  29. yikirta says:
    August 21, 2013 at 12:08 pm
    7 0 Rate This

    Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:23 am

    I sometimes wonder if the increased numbers at Firhill are, in part, boosted by lapsed bluenoses who’ve re-discovered the joy of just going to a Scottish match, free of foreign obsessions that kept the poison of the ‘OF’ going for so long.

    ————————–

    There may be a smattering of lapsed bluenoses at Firhill, no more than that. I wonder how they felt when they heard the howls of derision from the Jag’s fans when the Jambo’s sang their wee ditty about wading through a particular fluid. The Thistle response?

    “Sevco, Sevco, sing us a song…”
    —————–

    You heard that kind of singing at the Thistle v Hearts match? 🙄

    Well done Jags fans for the howls of derision.


  30. Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    5

    0

    Rate This

    yikirta says:
    August 21, 2013 at 12:08 pm
    7 0 Rate This

    Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:23 am

    I sometimes wonder if the increased numbers at Firhill are, in part, boosted by lapsed bluenoses who’ve re-discovered the joy of just going to a Scottish match, free of foreign obsessions that kept the poison of the ‘OF’ going for so long.

    ————————–

    There may be a smattering of lapsed bluenoses at Firhill, no more than that. I wonder how they felt when they heard the howls of derision from the Jag’s fans when the Jambo’s sang their wee ditty about wading through a particular fluid. The Thistle response?

    “Sevco, Sevco, sing us a song…”
    —————–

    You heard that kind of singing at the Thistle v Hearts match? 🙄

    Well done Jags fans for the howls of derision.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I just hope they don’t treat the Motherwell fans so dismissively when we sing to them about Maryhill slums, dustbins, big rats and treats on Saturday.


  31. WRT The Glen.

    You will find many sympathetic posters on this site. We all welcome sensible input from Rangers fans.

    The problem is that we may well now be past the point at which the latest incarnation of Rangers can be saved.

    We don’t know for certain but no reliable information ever seems to come out of Ibrokes. Everything is spun or obfuscated with recent utterances showing significant signs of panic and a siege mentality.

    Some major catastrophe seems imminent.

    Bearing this view out is the report in The Times today that Green’s strategy was to bring in an ‘outside investor’ – I guess soaking up the unissued shares and patching up the finances short term..

    This however does not address the current basically flawed business approach of pretending to be a Premier League team with all the trappings – and costs – whilst enjoying lower league revenues. It is just not sustainable for the next few years as Rangers try to carve their way to the Premier League.

    If they do by some miracle reach that target then they are likely to be in a fairly impecunious state. Not what will be needed at all.

    The answer you seek is this : Rangers fans need to recognise that the current brand of ‘Rangersitis’ is highly damaging to the short to medium term health of their club. This is in terms of their attitudes, expectations and inability to appreciate just what has happened and why. Does anyone ever ask just why sympathy is in such short supply for Rangers?

    There may as a consequence of the above be NO long term future for their club in anything like the form they desire.

    Medicine has to be taken and surgery is also likely. Grasp those nettles and Rangers may survive. Fans groupings should find a figurehead and jointly demand changes. STs many have been sold but a boycott of Ibrokes would be a telling action none the less.

    However, I have my doubts that anything other than a corpse is likely to be salvageable.

    Scottish football needs a strong grasp on reality – most clubs already have this, others who do not will struggle and possibly disappear.


  32. so, Charles green has gone…and with a somewhat disappointing whimper too!

    but what was he there to do? someone obviously felt he was needed in a consultancy role to carry out some function. What was it, and is it now no longer required – or will CG be replaced by a.n.other – and if so – Who?

    Who appointed CG to his role?

    Surely there must be some reason for his return.

    Also, I assume his role had some connection to Ally McCoists role – otherwise, would it not have been easier to simply tell CG to shut up about all things related to the playing team and to focus on his job. Leave the announcements to the official rangers webpage and pr legend Gym Trainer.

    His departure was coupled with an announcement he was selling his shares – who exactly agreed that? the board? the Old Nomad? the new Nomad? the new broker? given the size of his shareholding, surely he can’t just announce he is dumping the shares as this would have an affect on the share price.

    as usual, so many questions….are they being asked?


  33. Not much added to TSFM knowledge from Tom Farmery:

    Rangers and Charles Green may finally have parted ways after the former chief executive exited as a paid consultant, but last night an influential shareholder told The Times that Green’s removal represented an Ibrox board trying to please the fans without realising the urgent situation facing the club. Rangers have reported that funds have fallen to just £10 million despite selling 30,000 season tickets.
    “His removal shows how incompetent the board is, “the shareholder said. “They think that getting rid of Green is a way of winning over the fans. The board is living a complete dream and a lie when they say the club is safe.”
    Green was chief executive from December until April, when he resigned after allegations about his dealings with the former owner, Craig Whyte. During his tenure he was fined £2,500 by the SFA for making racist remarks about a colleague and he left his £360,000 a-year position with a 100 per cent bonus after Rangers won the third division title last year.
    He returned as a £1,000-a-week (sic) consultant on August 2 with the intention of appeasing some of the club’s investors after the Rangers share price dropped to a low of 41p. But, according to the shareholder, Green’s ambitions were about regaining control in the boardroom.
    “I know for a fact that Green told at least two institutional investors that he’d be on the within a week and told them what his plans were. His plans were to bring in an outside investor,” he said.
    Green recently said that questions should be asked of Ally McCoist, the manager, should Rangers fail to win a trophy this season.
    Although Green now has no official connection with the board he does hold five million shares in Rangers, about 7.7 per cent of the total. He has always maintained that he would give first refusal of his shares to Sandy Easdale, who owns McGill’s Bus Services with his brother, James. Market regulations state that those shares cannot be sold until December.
    Words by Tom Farmery


  34. I have to disagree slightly with what some people are saying with regards Rangers’ finances.

    As far as income is concerned they aren’t really analogous with other lower league clubs as far as income is concerned. For example how many other clubs have sold 34,000 season tickets in those leagues, or have home attendances in excess of 40,000 (albeit some may be free tickets). Their income is probably on a par or greater than every other club in Scotland other than Celtic.

    If we adjust the number of season tickets by say one third, that would equate to them selling around 23,000 at “full price”. How many SPFL premier sides do that. Their other incomes will also be equal or greater than those clubs (other than TV but we are told that is derisory anyway). Rangers in short have the income of one of the top clubs in Scotland, probably in at number 2 in reality.

    Their expenditure is the problem. The wage bill of (we are told) around £7m is almost certainly the second highest in Scotland, but still only a fraction of Celtic’s. It may even be sustainable at their level, but I personally think it could have been halved and still won the division they are in quite comfortably. It would still be up there with the premier league clubs. However if you take that excessive spend, and add it to other operating costs (principally Ibrox and Murray Park) the whole thing simply does not add up. Those other costs could not have been cut by a huge amount. There were no massive redundencies, they still need stewards, they still need Police, they still need insurance, they still need electricity etc etc. Those running costs (non player salary) have to be around £14m.

    The expenditure is quite simply too high, based on the income achievable. I have seen nothing significant done to improve that situation. The club should have been re-organised significantly, with every bit of expense which was not absolutely necessary removed. That should have been done when the administrators came in, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t for the simple reason they all assumed the club would be debt free and would be playing in the SPL. They would have no repayments to make, or interest being charged. The cost cutting would be the removal of paying people the money they owed them.

    That opportunity was missed, the club was liquidated, and the new club was formed by people with no interest in a long term plan. They needed the fans onside to buy season tickets and shares. Cutting costs to make the club viable would not have done that. So they simply didn’t do it. Anyone taking over now will have an absolute flustercluck to try to sort out. In my opinion the reality is that starting a new club is possibly the only viable option now.


  35. Glen
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_and_dump

    Your “club” has been stolen from you.

    First, you need to accept that the current version of Rangers does not deserve your support. Accept that it is an abomination spawn from the greed of those who have no connection with the old club.

    Simply let it go – financially & emotionally – and work with others to have a plan in place to pick up the pieces afterwards.

    Think FC United of Manchester or AFC Wimbledon. Both new clubs; but seeking to attract supporters disenfranchised by the actions of their former club’s owners.


  36. The Glen says:
    August 20, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    What would you suggest the run of the mill Rangers fan do?
    __________________________________________________________________________

    The Glen, I have read many of your posts and take you for what you are: a decent Rangers fan who is suffering through the gradual dismemberment of your once beloved club. As with a great number of my own friends who are sufffering similarly, I have genuine sympathy for the experience you are going through. If it was my own club I would be doing the whole gamut of emotions: pain, fear, embarassment, grief, anger and more.

    It is hard to answer your question in a positive sense now . From what I can gather from much better informed posters here on TSFM, it is entirely likely that the machinery is already in motion, taking the current incarnation of Rangers towards a now unavoidable liquidation event. Perhaps someone smarter than me can come up with a viable survival route that doesn’t involve Knights on whiter chargers, billionaires with off the radar wealth and all of the other chimeras that have been used to lead the Ibrox faithful a merry waltz up the garden path. T

    It has been suggested that there was a time when the Rangers fans could have acted to mitigate this situation. If only they had listened to the warnings etc. There is probably a good deal of truth in that. That they did not respond to the warnings, however, is potentially instructive for their future (if indeed there is a long term future for a club playing at Ibrox).

    To my mind the problem with / for the Rangers fans is largely cultural. Their collective persona is defined by their self-perception as The Establishment Club, embodied ever more frequently of late by that most hateful slogan, WATP.

    For me, WATP ranks with “L’etat? C’est moi.” as a most obnoxious statement of Divine Right.

    This mindset, ironically, is what has allowed the Spivs to keep the corpse of the old club dancing to their tune, whilst managing to fleece the support and other investors (some of them even from institutions – perhaps ought to be in institutions) for upwards of £20m.

    Having been immersed in an all-enveloping sea of pro-SDM propaganda for 20 years, having the misplaced perception of being somehow a part of The Establishment, having an obsessive sense of loyalty to the Powers That Be etc. – none of these things prepares the fan group for resisting the calamity that has befallen them. Resistance is for those who oppose the State – why would that figure in the mindset of those who so closely identify themselves with the State?

    How the future will pan out for the current incarnation of Rangers is beyond my powers of crystal ball gazing, but there are some pretty dark clouds looming. If the Gers fans want to influence events then they need to mobilise a sufficiently large, coherent and financially effective group that can potentially impact on cash flow at Ibrox. Even then, it is entirely possible that the Spivs will simply dispose of the assets and turn over the land etc for whoever will give them the biggest profit. (cf Green’s comments wrt potatoes and Ibrox.) Dislodging the Spivultures from the corpse may not be possible int he foreseeable.

    To my mind the fans groups should be thinking of even more radical solutions.

    A football club without fans dies. If the fans are serious about getting clear of the Spivs, maybe they have to consider withdrawing allegiance from the current incarnation, in its entirety, saying goodbye to the Big Hoose and all of the previous set up.

    Instead they could look to start afresh. A new club. Free from all of the baggage of the past. Dedicated to sporting integrity, financial propriety and open to all. Starting in whatever division is open to it and working its way back through merit. That would be something to be proud of. Is it too far to go? Well I sure ain’t holding my breath. Sorry. Would love to be wrong though.

    Whatever the future holds for Rangers, the fans need to learn the lessons of the current debacle. Ditch the WATP mindset and start asking questions of whoever is in charge – demand information, transparency and accountability – be prepared to withhold financial support, march against the Board, hold street protests, write to the papers, the MPS and MSPs, call the phone-ins and expose the liars and the lamb-eaters.

    In short, organise effective Resistance to the Powers That Be.

    It won’t come easy, and it won’t come at all until there is a broad realisation that they are not The People. They are just fitba fans like the rest of us.

    Edit: What HP just said too!


  37. Tif Finn says:
    August 21, 2013 at 1:36 pm
    ==========================
    I think we are both on the same page with this. This is just not a sustainable business as presently operated.

    Scottish football needs a strong balance sheet.


  38. Zilch says:
    August 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm
    It won’t come easy, and it won’t come at all until there is a broad realisation that they are not The People. They are just fitba fans like the rest of us.

    ————————————————————————————————–
    Thanks. This is one of the best comments I have seen on here, and that’s saying something.


  39. How many of the recent comments in response to The Glen would have been tolerated on any of the Rangers fan blogs?

    I suspect very few if any….

    That’s part of the problem.

    Scottish football needs fitba fans to unite against spivs.


  40. redlichtie says:

    August 21, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    The ranger’s fan blogs and forums, are currently part of the problem. There is nowhere for the likes of Glen to get a fair hearing in the Ranger’s social media sphere


  41. Re Glen – With the fan base that Rangers have, there must be a model that will enable them to reach the top division and be competitive again.
    But that will only be achieved with the income generated going towards the team, stadium etc instead of lining the pockets of spivs.
    The first thing that needs to happen is for the fan’s groups to unite with clear, stated principles. I would suggest that these include getting rid of current owners and a board seat for a fan’s rep.
    Once the current season ticket money is exhausted, if the spiv believe they will not gain any further cash, they are unlikely to hang around.
    A united fan’s group could boycott season tickets, share issues etc.
    They would have to be prepared to accept a future that may not include Ibrox. If you threaten to starve the spivs, they will revert to type, realise the gravy train is over and make a deal at a reasonable level, but only if they feel it is the only option open to them. If not, the gravy train keeps running.
    With united fan ownership/significant shareholding and a sensible business plan, their income would see them return to the top league.
    They need leadership from the fans, get organised or keep getting shafted


  42. The Glen says:
    August 20, 2013 at 10:39 pm
    ecobhoy says:
    August 20, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    “An ‘enhanced but perfectly balanced Board’ is such a wonderful concept when watching a ballet performance, FFS get real we are talking about a football board which the Legend WS has described as dysfunctional.

    It’s time to get the tackety-boots on and fight for the survival of the club never mind dreaming of it being stronger and more prosperous than ‘at any time in its history’. Seems as though the new PR company has been told what the fans expect to hear and I hope to gawd there are some who refuse to swallow this garbage.

    At this rate there really is no hope for Rangers and if the Bears swallow this claptrap then their club is truly doomed.”
    —————————-
    ecobhoy, a genuine question:

    What would you suggest the run of the mill Rangers fan do? If you, or any other poster were a Rangers Fan (apologies if that is too much to imagine for some folks), sitting down with other Rangers fans, what would you be suggesting at this point in time? Like I said, this is a 100% genuine question.
    ——————————————————–
    @The Glen

    I have always made my position on the site quite clear and it is that I don’t hate Rangers and have no wish to see it destroyed and I hope that its support are capable of combining to exert control over the club’s future as footballing fans who love football but who recognise it’s just a game at the end of the day and isn’t about life or death and following agendas which have nothing to do with sportsmanship, honesty and fair play.

    It’s also very hard to know how this story in finally going to end or even unravel so a solution probably remains elusive for the moment. But for me Rangers fans desperately need to start publicly questioning everything that involves their club. By that I mean questioning the club and not be deflected by nonsensical conspiracy theories deliberately designed to divert their attention from where the real problems lie. They really must open their eyes and minds or they will continue to be led up the garden path and not just by spivs.

    I have sat with many thinking Rangers fans, particularly since February 2012, and discussed the problems facing Rangers. I genuinely believe they have to find their own solutions because externally ‘imposed’ ones won’t be accepted IMO. The guys I’m talking about are professionals and businessmen but they won’t voice their opinions publicly – they know what the elephant in the room is capable of if woken from its slumbers.

    However it’s plain that this is a complex problem and I see it as basically falling into three areas: Footballing; Finance; and culture. The footballing side mainly comprises on-field success and the financial one is also fairly self-evident. But the three are joined and intertwine in various ways.

    The cultural one is the biggest problem IMO and a much more difficult area to resolve – btw it doesn’t include the footballing history of the club. I personally have no problem in football supporters being members of legal external organisations but I believe it can often cause problems when traditions and beliefs from such organisations become fused and then confused with the reason for supporting a football club.

    It becomes more than desperately wanting your club to win a match and transcends into an absolute need to win every match to strengthen the link between the club and external organisation and its beliefs and goals. We then get to this IMO nonsense of WATP and the even more laughable: ‘our rightful place at the top of Scottish Football’. These aren’t simply stupid claims but deeply held beliefs that have become dangerous and corrosive for Rangers in the eyes of others and I believe a slowly increasing number of Rangers supporters.

    I believe that Rangers were without doubt the Scottish Establishment Club and in a ‘traditional’ sense this was probably true up until DM took control. I think by then a lot of change was underway in Scottish society and a lot of the old religious division really was fading away. DM was adept at dealing with the press and they were used to advance the Rangers position often at the media expense of other teams and, in particular, Celtic. So Rangers through a media ‘proxy’ remained the establishment ‘team’ in a sense and helped DM become an important member of the Scottish Establishment.

    But the real problem from that was that Rangers supporters were cocooned in a warm glow of PR driven coverage. I believe this was the crux of where an unquestioning and accepting mentality grew that the club basically could do no wrong. There were very few dissenting voices in the support re the madness of Murray’s spending and they got virtually zilch publicity from the media who found it easier to be handed stories about fabulous new signings than dig into the house of cards that was built on an EBT foundation.

    There is also the serious factionalism in the Rangers support which has gone off the scale in recent times and shows little sign of abating. I have always felt that this division suited those in charge at Ibrox as it reduced the ability of fans to create an organised and cohesive unit which might be able to start questioning the club’s direction and indeed change it. And many of those in charge of major blogs and fan groups/organisations were kept in line with the possibility of being rewarded with a blazer.

    OK so I haven’t really advanced any solutions but I think the bedrock problems have to be identified and the Rangers support have to decide what kind of club they want. Which, of course, takes us back to the financial and footballing factors.

    I, like a lot of Scottish football supporters including Bears, felt that starting in SFL3 gave ordinary Rangers fans a real opportunity to shape the direction of their club and to bring through Murray Park youngsters and get the financial side under control. It was always going to be hard because of the cost of running Ibrox and MP but if the cloth had been cut to suit then even if it had taken a year or two longer to get back to the top flight then they could have achieved it financially instead of facing a second administration.

    McCoist is possibly the worst manager they could have had because his lack of ability has meant an enormous amount of money has been squandered – from my point of view he was allowed to play with his train set so that the spivs could steal the whole rail network. Ally was needed just like Walter and IMO have proved very poor servants of the club but they helped rake-in ST and AIM money.

    So where are we? Without a sugar daddy of some description I see no possibility of the club surviving financially. So the fans have to start planning from the ground-up and I believe McColl is the only person capable of putting the right people together and I hope and believe it will be for the right reasons and that will require a clear commitment to ditch a lot of baggage.

    And the Rangers support may have to swallow some very unpalatable medicine and that could be by walking away from Ibrox if the next new ‘club’ has to lease it from the holding company or a third party property company.

    They’ve invested the flotation money and they’ve bought two lots of STs and in reality there is probably £5-6 million left in the kitty. Times are desperate and hard decisions have got to be taken by the fans but first they must wake up to reality, face facts and forget the PR whitewash and external enemy myth. The real enemy is within the walls and will never be conquered until there is a culture change in every way.


  43. Business v. Sport, and the SFA, again
    ==============================
    It’s ironic that whereas a year or so ago we where debating the perennial conflict between business objectives and sporting values – and we where then using terms such as financial doping, unfair / illegal sporting advantage, etc.
    The subsequent handling of RFC / TRFC issues appeared to indicate that business trumped sporting integrity in Scottish football administrations.

    Today, it would seem that wrt TRFC, the club’s own ‘business objectives’ trumps their sporting objectives. However, it would also seem that these business objectives are focused on enriching specific individuals.
    Some people have already sucked out plenty of cash from their association / investment with RIFC/TRFC – and there could be further payoffs to come.

    What is left behind could be a club whose sporting ambitions are at risk of being virtually obliterated in the medium-term – if not permanently, [unless some major new finance source is discovered].
    And all along, business has trumped sport.

    Down Govan way, it’s definitely ‘good business’ for some – but the ability to field a decent team to gain promotions and challenge for Cups could rapidly disappear down the drain.

    And the SFA will continue to watch from the sidelines, in silence ?


  44. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    But the real problem from that was that Rangers supporters were cocooned in a warm glow of PR driven coverage.
    =====================================
    I always think back to when Terry Cassidy was the Celtic Chief Executive under the old regime. I am not here to debate the merits of Cassidy as the constraints he worked under never allowed him a real go at making his job a success, so whether or not he actually had the makings of a good Chief Executive we don’t really know.

    What I remember Cassidy saying was the fairly straightforward line that when someone from Rangers says something it is believed. When someone from Celtic says something it is not believed. IMO he was spot on and the disgraceful media treatment of anyone in power at Celtic continued right through to the final days of Fergus McCann and beyond, while all the while the unquestioning David Murray love-in continued unabated.

    I really can’t find words to adequately describe the disgraceful behaviour of the media regards their role in Scottish football over the David Murray years, and for some it continues to this very day.


  45. The Bears do not know the power they have in their hands. Very few of the movers and shakers inside Ibrox are fully trusted. And, I sense that the support for Ally is gradually diminishing as rumours of his compensation package are bandied around. With some exceptions it is fair to say that most of the decision makers are repeatedly described as spivs, liars, opportunists, pocket liners, financiers with no compassion. We know most of them are inside the boardroom on occasion. We know where they are. They think they have the power but they do not. We have the power. Supporters have spent money. Will they ever see any of it returned. A profit may be unlikely. The pain has gone on too long. Difficult decisions must be made. Playing into the spivs hands is showing up at home games. That’s all. The shareholders who own a million shares here a million shares there have power only because they have pieces of paper. Those pieces of paper become less significant when supporters stand up and remove their attendances at home games. With this strategy the people we don’t trust have to sit up and take notice because their pieces of paper become less valuable. Who knows where this strategy can go but it sure will get their attention. Its all about empowerment. Power to the people.


  46. ecobhoy says:

    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    ref divided fans. I’ve often wondered if Celts for Change could actually be as successful now. One of the down sides of social media is that it can be more successfully used dividing people than uniting them, not to mention the possibilities of manipulation by company employees…..


  47. Eco. I dislike blowing smoke up any alleys but it is fair to say that I’ve waited all afternoon to read your response to Glen and I wasn’t disappointed.

    Would it be mischievous of me to suggest that a place to start for the sizeable rangers fanbase to start to exert influence might not actually be with RFC office holders themselves (if for no other reason than Ibrox being a fairly important gambling chip atm) but with corrupt institutions, who’s actions might not in fact have benefitted RFC however well intended, they might find themselves with a surprising level of support. It would of course need to specifically avoid a Dingwallesque “Thems were aw against us and they’re noo on the list” headline. Thinking more along the lines of your thinking mans support (them that live with the dozing elephants apparently 😀 ) that you referred to in your response.


  48. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    Good post Eco and Upthehoops I concur with your comment on the PR. From the moment Murray took over nothing was of any importance in Scottish Football unless he spoke. I used to think that whenever he spoke you had these open mouthed gaga slobbering journalist who viewed him like a kind of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh type Guru. When he spoke you listened, nae free love mind you amongst the journalists. It was interesting to see that he became very quite in the latter years of his tenure at Ibrox as like Bhagwan he knew his time was up.


  49. scapaflow says:
    August 21, 2013 at 5:23 pm
    ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    ref divided fans. I’ve often wondered if Celts for Change could actually be as successful now. One of the down sides of social media is that it can be more successfully used dividing people than uniting them, not to mention the possibilities of manipulation by company employees…..
    ============================================================
    I think you have touched on something I have identified for some time which isn’t exclusive to Rangers fan websites but has certainly moved into top gear since Rangers’ administration last year.

    There has been a concerted effort which I believe is clearly PR driven to influence the thinking of Bears which is much more widespread than just Ahmad’s clumsy ploy. Bears have been viciously attacked verbally on their own sites whenever they broke away from the ‘party line’. And you could see the various agendas to suit the new investors being actively peddled.

    Perhaps most disgraceful was the stoking-up of the traditional flash-points to divert attention IMO from what was happening at the club. But what I have never understood is why greater numbers of Bears didn’t come to this site and the likes of Scotslawthoughts. Perhaps many lurk and I hope they do and absorb some of the sensible debate that goes on.

    But between the media giving Rangers an easy ride and Bear websites riddled with posters who obviously ain’t fans but are pursuing a spiv agenda it’s seems hard for Rangers supporters to express themselves in an open manner.

    So your right, the internet can be readily used to really sow the seeds of dissent and then it provides the perfect anonymous medium to wage a guerilla war by impersonation. That’s the downside but the flip-side is the way we have been able to combine knowledge and info and provide news and analysis in a way that was previously impossible.

    Celts for Change may not have been as successful in the internet age but without the internet how much of the Ibrox story would have seen the light of day if reliant on SMSM and, just think, we would never ever have heard from CF.

    I could be wrong but I cling on to the belief that perhaps there are a lot of ordinary decent Bears out there who don’t frequent websites to rant and rave. If there are then these will be the people who will form the bedrock of the support for a new Rangers IMO.

    Supporters that are interested in football as a whole and not intent on world domination or destroying other teams or putting them to the sword. All these militaristic calls to arms have to be rooted out of the culture at Ibrox and anywhere else it rears its oh so ugly head.


  50. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    We then get to this IMO nonsense of WATP and the even more laughable: ‘our rightful place at the top of Scottish Football’. These aren’t simply stupid claims but deeply held beliefs that have become dangerous and corrosive for Rangers in the eyes of others and I believe a slowly increasing number of Rangers supporters.

    upthehoops says:
    August 21, 2013 at 5:15 pm
    I really can’t find words to adequately describe the disgraceful behaviour of the media regards their role in Scottish football over the David Murray years, and for some it continues to this very day.

    Zilch says:
    August 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm
    It won’t come easy, and it won’t come at all until there is a broad realisation that they are not The People. They are just fitba fans like the rest of us.
    ———————————————————————————————————————————————-
    Distilled to it’s essence – congratulations on the fine analysis.
    TSFM
    Asking the questions the media won’t ask – and providing the solutions, like Auldhied’s “Truth & Reconciliation”, that the ‘Scottish Establishment’ have singularly failed in their duty to do so.

    I can forgive incompetence – but there is a malignant core in positions of power at the heart of
    Scottish Society that manifests itself in the form of the toxic terraces and directors box in Govan.

    Nothing short of a revolution will be required to rid us of this blight – and it is the decent Rangers fans (Yes, they do exist!) that nead to lead the charge.


  51. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    30 0 Rate This

    “The cultural one is the biggest problem IMO and a much more difficult area to resolve – btw it doesn’t include the footballing history of the club. I personally have no problem in football supporters being members of legal external organisations but I believe it can often cause problems when traditions and beliefs from such organisations become fused and then confused with the reason for supporting a football club.”
    —————–

    The above is very well put ecobhoy. Although I am wondering why the professional people you mention won’t speak publicly, if they know where the problem elephant resides. Their silence could interpreted as acquiescence, by those within and without Ibrox.


  52. Smugas says:
    August 21, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    Would it be mischievous of me to suggest that a place to start for the sizeable rangers fanbase to start to exert influence might not actually be with RFC office holders themselves (if for no other reason than Ibrox being a fairly important gambling chip atm) but with corrupt institutions, who’s actions might not in fact have benefitted RFC however well intended, they might find themselves with a surprising level of support.
    ====================================================================
    I truly believe it is a bridge too far to expect Bears at the moment when faced with the possible financial destruction of their club to tackle ‘corrupt institutions’.

    I think it makes sense for Rangers to get itself sorted out in all the ways I mentioned in my post and if that is done under the likes of McColl’s guidance then I believe there’s a chance of ending up with a club whose management and fans see the benefits to be gained from being an integrated part of Scottish Football.

    If that can be achieved then we actually have a chance together of tackling corrupt institutions because don’t forget these institutions operate on a divide and rule basis so they are happy at an isolated Rangers fighting with other clubs.


  53. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/136637

    Beattie on Scotland: Rangers must change or be swept away by the tide

    The Ibrox club seem ignorant of their plight as they continue to waste money as if there’s no tomorrow
    Tuesday 20 August 2013
    by Douglas Beattie

    Scottish sports comment: Whatever else we may say about Rangers — and so much has already been said — it is clear that despite all they have endured this remains a club who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

    Basically they are living well beyond their means. They know this, but refuse to recognise it.

    Pride, that dirty old scoundrel, is getting in the way of reality. No matter who sits around the boardroom table or in the dugout, there has to be a concrete realisation that Ibrox is not the place it once was.

    The power and the glory in the Scottish game no longer reside therein. It would have been so much better had the financial smelting of 2012 been followed by a down-scaling of the entire operation.

    Sometimes it feels as though the very opposite has happened. Will no-one there proclaim it? Will no-one say the squad, the wage bill, the salaries and the transfer budget must be decimated — and much more?

    It would be easy to feel sorry for Ally McCoist who stands on the sidelines complaining about “dirty linen” being washed in full view and hoping football will still win the day.

    Yet isn’t the Rangers boss also culpable in some respects? He is, after all, demanding a signing policy which pays over-the-odds salaries to many among the first team.

    Having won promotion last season using a side which outstripped the rest in the old Third Division with a whopping 24 points to spare, McCoist has gone large.

    This is dangerous because it is taking place at a club which is down as much as £1 million a month. Think, for instance, of Lee McCulloch on a reputed £7,000 a week, and summer signing Jon Daly, aged 30, being paid around £5,000.

    Is any of this value for money? Highly doubtful, I would say, but there’s precious little which can be considered good value round Ibrox these days.

    There are plenty of folk who watch every scratch and spit of the Scottish game and will gladly tell you that Rangers are now nothing more than a “tribute act” playing out of Govan. They insist they are dead and gone.

    Let me be frank, the club itself is, at this moment, doing a more than passable impression of going through the very throes of death.

    On any given day it seems we may find shares being traded in their millions out of the blue, coups being hatched, rows with the press, threats of legal action, and in one case allegations of betting offences levelled against a prominent player — Ian Black.

    Such madness cannot go on indefinitely. Yes, Rangers are bigger and grander than any club in Britain ever to sink beneath the waves, but do not let that fool you.

    They remain in real trouble, pretending to wave and yet failing to spot they are in fact drowning.


  54. Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 6:40 pm
    ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    “The cultural one is the biggest problem IMO and a much more difficult area to resolve – btw it doesn’t include the footballing history of the club. I personally have no problem in football supporters being members of legal external organisations but I believe it can often cause problems when traditions and beliefs from such organisations become fused and then confused with the reason for supporting a football club.”
    —————–
    The above is very well put ecobhoy. Although I am wondering why the professional people you mention won’t speak publicly, if they know where the problem elephant resides. Their silence could interpreted as acquiescence, by those within and without Ibrox.
    ===========================================================
    Their silence is part of the Ibrox ‘culture’ and there is an element of self-perpetuation in it which of course makes it more difficult to deal with.

    However in the last couple of years I have really been surprised at life-long Bears who have not renewed STs. I’m not suggesting this is solely to do with the upheaval taking place at Ibrox and I believe it’s also part of wider societal and economic trends and affects other clubs as well.

    I was quite amazed last season when Rangers actually released a figure that I don’t think the SMSM picked up on but I felt was very significant and posted on it at the time. Basically from the previous season 9,000 ST holders didn’t renew. OK they still sold 36,000 but there was a 25% churn in support and I suspect a lot of the new ST holders were younger fans but I have never actually seen any breakdown on concession tickets sold.

    So I think losing 25% of your ST holders in one season could be interpreted as those fans not being ‘acquiescent’ but giving a real signal to the club.

    I also detect an element of ‘shame’ in what has happened to Rangers with a lot of Bears genuinely wounded and not really wanting to talk about things. I socialise with a mixed group of football fans from at least half a dozen clubs and we are pals in varying degrees so we have the banter about the latest Sevco debacles but not in an attacking sense.

    Anyway most people not on the internet I find tend to talk about the football being played rather than the nitty gritty of the LNS Decision and suchlike 😆


  55. As most of us know ,when Murray had press interviews these where all stage managed,scripted and delivered exactly the way Murray wanted ,yes sir,no sir ,three bags full sir,oh how these puppets must look back on these meetings ,fond memories to them ,I’LL bet ,to the rest of we can only see them as idiots,lambs to the slaughter an embarresment to their future families when all is revealed,number one example is Chick [St Mirren]Young the only St Mirren supporter who watches them from the Copland road stand ,brilliant eyesight Chicko,look how he was treated by the management and staff inside Ibrox,they sh@t on him at every opportunity and still he kept comming back for more,Chick you took embarresment to a new level,any time they needed to put info out there you where the person they wiped the stuff on the sole of their shoes on and you happily carried out their begging,now where are you Chicko I believe people actualy feel sorry for you and hope you quietly get on with the rest of your life,as for the rest of your press buddies Brenda’s clock’s are ticking and some have already jumped ship the rest don’t have much time left,some,the real low life will try and change their tune ,too late we know who and what you are,when the bears wake up their will be no hiding place for you and the ship will have sailed,the next few weeks will be the springboard for revival in Scottish Football as the final acts are played out,the end is nigh


  56. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    “… I also detect an element of ‘shame’ in what has happened to Rangers with a lot of Bears genuinely wounded and not really wanting to talk about things. I socialise with a mixed group of football fans from at least half a dozen clubs and we are pals in varying degrees so we have the banter about the latest Sevco debacles but not in an attacking sense.”
    —————

    It is quite a large number, but it was all lost in Charles Green’s spin machine of record-breaking crowds.

    The face-to-face discussions that you mention are probably the best. The internet can have a de-humanizing effect on conversation. It is a bit telling though that professional people chose to remain silent. Another development could be the polarisation of the support towards the highly-charged, hard core ‘let’s all stand for the national anthem’ crowd. At some point though, the agenda-driven types might not want to be associated with a club in such a state of chaos. Could be bad for the quintessential image, so to speak.


  57. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    I have a regular lunch with a retired former colleague, we talk about everything except RBS, he spent his entire career there and its all just too painful for him, so I can understand the “shame” argument. I can also understand people just quietly walking away, with the wing nuts firmly in control of the fans perceptions, who needs the hassle. I have a picture in my head of a skin head thug tearing down a mum and kids anti Green banner at Ibrox not so long ago.

    Hopefully when it all gets to the grizzly end, there will still be something left for the decent people to begin re-building.


  58. 1. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    So where are we? Without a sugar daddy of some description I see no possibility of the club surviving financially. So the fans have to start planning from the ground-up and I believe McColl is the only person capable of putting the right people together and I hope and believe it will be for the right reasons and that will require a clear commitment to ditch a lot of baggage.
    ——————————————————————————-

    I disagree Eco, I am not sure there is an obvious person to take control and lead Rangers to where they believe they should be. I say that because there seems to be a large percentage of the fans whose expectations are clouded based on previous managements, believing they derserve nothing less than being at the top of the pile is just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone mentioned so far are “real Rangers men” and to me that is the problem, they all have the same beliefs.


  59. Lot of black smoke from the spiv–spins
    Green & Ahmed just walking away selling shares? – Just like that……. quietly …eh?
    Awfully good for public consumption…………….+ so.much MSM simple blanket scrabbling
    Does look like there`s something more in play
    What are the pocket-liners really up to now I wonder?
    .
    [or what about the 20m or so going awol the past 8 months]


  61. As one of The Bears looking in, I’d like to thank Ecobhoy for his fair comments, don’t always agree what is said on here but, when I see proactive criticism I can accept it.


  62. north rd says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:25 pm
    2 0 Rate This

    As one of The Bears looking in, I’d like to thank Ecobhoy for his fair comments, don’t always agree what is said on here but, when I see proactive criticism I can accept it.
    ———–

    Bravo north rd. You should put your viewpoint across about what you disagree with on here and why. This blog really is trying to be inclusive.


  63. Danish Pastry says:

    August 21, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Absolutely, nobody has a monopoly on wisdom on here


  64. Things can be changed in Govan
    Football without fans is nothing
    Spivs without football fans are also nothing. They need you more that you need them.

    Football is a simple game and solutions can also be simple.
    Do something as fans or in the future you may have nothing to do on a match day.


  65. I guess now Green has gone there will be no need for anyone to ask an independent financial expert to examine the accounts of Celtic and Rangers and declare which is the healthier club! Thinking back to when he made the statement there was a lack of media comment. Did some of them quietly think he just might have a point? It would not surprise me in the slightest.


  66. Ever since Charles Green walked in the door he has been working a ticket for his real masters. And for the avoidance of doubt that is not the fans.
    He took a while to find his target audience. There was talk of starving the embryo club of cash until he left. Walter Smith wished the new club all the best. John Brown stood at the door shouting warnings to the fans.
    Then Charles, as I said having identified his audience, went on the offensive. Suddenly there was talk of t’ ‘istory despite him previously stating that the failure to achieve a CVA meant the end of the club. He was obviously put right on this score shortly after the CVA failed. In defending this aspect of RFC he won admirers. He then went on to say that the club had been relegated (something still claimed by the media yet) but if that had really been the case then they were the first club ever demoted THREE divisions for entering administration. Given RFC’s rush to court to defend itself in the past why did it not do so then if it truly believed what it claimed? Green won more fans. He then went on to threaten other clubs by saying that they would get even with the people who had kicked the club when it was down. This was more music to the ears of the fans. Green won yet more fans. On the first day of the league season, when rumour had it, ‘The Rangers’ had sold under ten thousand season tickets he made his ‘bogitory’ statement. This had the fans eating out of his big hands and more importantly season tickets being rapidly sold.
    In between this there was talk of five players arriving from the European Championships, nine players arriving from Newcastle United, and hotels being built.
    There is always a lot of talk on here of ‘The Rangers circling the wagons’ but you would expect that every so often someone within the circle might look out and think ‘there might actually be something in what is being said here’.
    That indeed is the problem as soon as the fans see through one aspect of this debacle it peels away like the layers of an onion until all you are left with is the feeling that you were conned. This might actually be the reason some fans continue with the charade. They cannot admit not only that their club has died but that they have been shamelessly played by a group of people who could not believe their luck when they stumbled across RFC in its death throws.


  67. scapaflow says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:40 pm
    Well said.
    Listening is the most underdeveloped of all of the senses.


  68. Danish Pastry says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Bravo north rd. You should put your viewpoint across about what you disagree with on here and why. This blog really is trying to be inclusive.
    ===========================================
    Agree with that totally. This site is a welcome opportunity for anyone to politely debate, no matter their views or club they support.


  69. upthehoops says:
    August 21, 2013 at 5:15 pm
    ‘… while all the while the unquestioning David Murray love-in continued unabated. .’
    —–
    Thank you,uth, for providing the one important point not specifically mentioned in the earlier cracking posts triggered in response to The Glen,

    namely, the part played by the SMSM in allowing and encouraging, by their blind partisanship and/or fear ,the whole of Scottish Football ( not just RFC supporters) to believe all of what we know now to have been sheer fiscal nonsense and lies from, first SDM and then from the last owner of RFC(IL), Craig Whyte,- and now from a succession of chancers and spivs who have almost killed a new club.

    Some simple basic questioning a long time ago might have dissuaded SDM from his folly and everything that has stemmed from that folly folly.
    .


  70. jean7brodie says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    Thought for a minute you were going to clock me one…..


  71. Madbhoy24941 says:
    August 21, 2013 at 8:07 pm

    1. ecobhoy says:
    August 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm
    So where are we? Without a sugar daddy of some description I see no possibility of the club surviving financially. So the fans have to start planning from the ground-up and I believe McColl is the only person capable of putting the right people together and I hope and believe it will be for the right reasons and that will require a clear commitment to ditch a lot of baggage.
    ——————————————————————————-
    I disagree Eco, I am not sure there is an obvious person to take control and lead Rangers to where they believe they should be. I say that because there seems to be a large percentage of the fans whose expectations are clouded based on previous managements, believing they derserve nothing less than being at the top of the pile is just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone mentioned so far are “real Rangers men” and to me that is the problem, they all have the same beliefs.
    ==================================================================
    I think you err in believing ‘they all have the same beliefs’. One of the major problems in the Ibrox support being able mobilise is the deep divisions within it which have become utterly poisonous the longer this debacle continues. Personally I believe a lot of this has been manufactured to keep them arguing with each other to let the spivs carry on with the job in hand without scrutiny or interruption.

    There is total war being waged on the internet between different Bear groupings fuelled I believe by the resources of ‘boiler-room style’ operations allied to a PR driven agenda which propagates the more complex myths and especially those that seek to deflect attention away from the enemy within.

    Btw it’s hardly surprising that the opinions of Rangers fans have been clouded by recent managements and owners in view of the depths they have taken the club to.

    I still cannot think of anyone at the moment who seems more suited than McColl. And I don’t believe for one moment that all Rangers fans subscribe to the ‘rightful place’ philosophy which you seem to allude to with the comments: ‘where they believe they should be’ and: ‘believing they deserve nothing less than being at the top of the pile’.

    However I have made it clear that Rangers fans are the ones who have got to decide what kind of club and support they have – it is their choice and I hope they choose wisely. Although I have clearly pointed out that IMO they need to make a clear commitment to ditch a lot of baggage. But it’s up to them and I firmly believe if they don’t then the club will again fail.

    They have to cut costs to the extent that they can afford to see a section of hard core support walk away and I believe that will soon be replaced. I also believe that McColl is capable of giving clear signals and will. But I could be wrong and, if so, he too will fail. But he has been clear he won’t put a penny into buying existing shares to benefit spivs and he appears to have withstood the PR onslaught mounted against him for that stance.

    He has also made it clear that he will not be investing huge sums of money in the club and has no intention of being a Sugar Daddy and that truly will be quite a bitter pill to swallow for Bears who certainly need to be weaned away from sugar.

    At the end of the day I see no problem in Real Rangers Minded Men being in charge at Ibrox as long as they create a financially viable operation and lay some hard truths on the line for the support. But at the end of the day Rangers fans will get the ownership it deserves irrespective of what you or I think.

    Personally I hope that some of the things I say might encourage Bears to think deeply about what they actually want and how that can be obtained – but it has to be their choice and there has to be a real majority behind it or it won’t work.


  72. scapaflow says:
    August 21, 2013 at 9:10 pm
    Thought for a minute you were going to clock me one…..
    ——————————————–
    Why?? 😕


  73. Ecobhoy, McColl probably is the best hope they have right now. It will be interesting to see how things go between now and the EGM, if it happens. The board’s compromise is, of course, nothing of the sort. Putting Blin on the board as an ordinary board member on his todd, will leave him in a worse position than Malcolm Murray. Effectively setting him up to fail, as he will have responsibility but no power. Responsibility without power is the prerogative of the crapped upon down through the ages.

    If McColl & Co reject this sham compromise, then we will know they are serious.


  74. jean7brodie says:

    August 21, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    saw jean and then my handle and thought oh oh I’m in soapy bubble, Mr Lummy here I come :mrgreen:


  75. john clarke says:
    August 21, 2013 at 9:07 pm
    ==================================
    The really sad thing for me is that for decades we were fed the lie that Murray was pumping millions of his own money into Rangers. Maybe the media can claim at the time they didn’t actually know it was a lie, but they didn’t exactly dig too deep to establish otherwise. What we now know is that Murray did not even use his own money to buy Rangers, he did not use his own money to finance the deals they could never afford, and he did not use his own money to clear the fabled £50M off the debt. We were told he was a business genius, who ran Scotland’s biggest private company. We were fed his nonsense that Rangers were the 2nd biggest institution in Scotland behind the Church of Scotland. We were told Rangers would be invited to a European League and Celtic would not have a ticket to the party. We were told he was signing Ronaldo, Mattheus, Vialli, Jardel, etc. Although none of them signed, unverified stories always appeared that Rangers offered more money than anyone else.

    I could go on all night, but I’m just upsetting myself. Yet there are still some people masquerading as journalists this very day who were complicit in one of the great deceptions of modern times. There is no other democratic country in the world this could have happened, of that I am utterly convinced.

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