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Presentation Over Content? I have attended a few dozen Club AGMs over the decades. Mostly, I have departed the venue thinking the event was a triumph of presentation over content; particularly during David Murray's tenure. Yesterday, I sat in the Auditorium accompanied by a calmness. The ambient blue light occasionally reflecting the lustre of the SPFL trophy. Pre-event, the lobby whispers were low and the sipped tea served to sharpen appetites for a Presentation confirming our return. The Hall was two thirds full, the empty seats were filled with contentment. The Blazers at the top table are largely the same as us, born and bred Rangers supporters. That's the end of the cheese, Rangers supporters have demands. The AGM began with a 10 minute video presentation of last season's Premiership goals. Next up was the the Company Secretary, James Blair. He introduced the Board and attending Advisors. He then ran through proposals, re-elections and, voting procedure. He handed over to Club Chair, Douglas Park who welcomed all and noted the attendance of the Premiership trophy. Managing Director, Stewart Robertson gave a short summation of the last year and current situation. He introduced Gio van Bronkhurst to loud acclaim. The next twenty-five minutes were taken up by Nick Thomson inviting Stewart Robertson, Ross Wilson and, James Bisgrove to sit beside the Premiership trophy stage left. The settee and lounge chair were filled and a relaxed discussion ensued reference Club finance, marketing and commercial activity, European Coefficient, Pitch, training ground and, contracts. Each were quietly, matter of fact impressive. Robertson emphasised the Club's Euro progress from 216th position to 41st. Further, the Club had contributed considerably in taking the National Euro position to ninth. Bisgrove extrapolated on the kit deal being worth £7-£9 million next year and Commercial activity growing up to £27 million as a new normal. Further, he claimed Rangers TV's revenue had grown 100%. Wilson talked about Gerrard's departure and claimed to be ready for it, van Bronkhurst's appointment within the week would suggest he was on the front foot. Robertson addressed the £7.5 million needed to finish the season, already raised and expects a small end of season profit. Nitty gritty issues ensued, all lifts at the Stadium were being renewed at the cost of £1 million. The kitchens catering for in excess of 2,000 hospitality customers were over 25 years old and along with all Stadium toilets would be replaced next. Academy has been improved, new Coaches appointed. Medical and Sports Science improved too, brought up to English Premiership standard. The women and girls side of operations has been made full time professional, it's important not an exercise in box ticking. Robertson finished with an update on New Edmiston House. The metal framework is currently being raised, and a new Manager, David Pyatt has been appointed to ensure it opens Autumn'22. The space will be big enough to host AGMs, Concerts, Dinners, functions, ..... etc. There will be a Museum and a two tier retail outlet. On match days, it will be the basis for a family match day zone. The current club shop will be converted into a Sports Bar and again be part of the FanZone plan. Bisgrove ended with notes on Club Partnerships, £3 million this year, will be a comfortable £7 million next year and, still room for growth. Wilson expanded upon Contracts, relaxed about reviewing older player contracts at the end of the season, non contributors will be allowed to leave and, there is a set wage structure that will NOT be broken. James Blair then moved the AGM to questions from the floor, there were more than a dozen but I will concentrate on the four most important. George Hoggin on a Club'72 proxy asked about loans secured against the Edmiston Club and rate of interest? John Bennet answered - £13 million in new loans secured at 6%, we were paying Dave King 8% and, others have offered between 9% and 13%(these have not been taken up) because the 6% coupon is now the benchmark. The Board have driven down the cost of funding. Eddie Simpson representing the Blind Party made two points, firstly because of Covid the Party has been moved from behind the dug-outs and has been subsequently separated. Secondly, the Blind Party no longer received Away tickets. Robertson promised a solution would be found for the first but the second was dependent upon away clubs. The Rangers Blind Party emanates from Bill Struth's time as an Officer in the RAMC, his decade of rehabilitation work with veterans after WW1 included introduction of Blind Party Commentators. The Blind Party are a much valued part of the Rangers Family, every accommodation should be made. David Ferguson asked about the Ticket Office, pointed out it was often closed and most queries go unanswered. Robertson accepted it was verging on shambolic and a new Customer Service Manager with improved accompanying software was necessary immediately. Stated it was now a priority. Charlie Murray from Linwood made the most heartfelt plea. He related the experience of being a disabled Rangers fan, the facilities are disgraceful, sight lines appalling, positions open to the elements, if rain is predicted some do not trap due to flooding, ..................... finished by stating, "I made the very same complaint three years ago". Robertson accepted all points, Park intervened stating the issue had been widely discussed ay yesterday's Board meeting. An assurance was given, necessary improvements will be made soonest. The facilities for disabled Rangers supporters should be the best in the world, they are fellow Rangers supporters and most deserving. Time for the fans in the Stands to grasp this nettle, starting Saturday. There was a final question from an anonymous chap grabbing the mike. He made the point Rangers are held to a different standard by the general media and had a pop at Humza, James Dornan and, Susan Aitken. All perpetrators in, 'tell a lie often enough' -this brought a reply from David Graham, "all we want is balance and fairness, we take a long term approach, more scalpel than chainsaw". The AGM concluded.

In two league fixtures this season between Rangers and Hibs, Ryan Porteous has been the difference. I wonder if Irvine Welsh is reaching for his machete? We should be told.

Pleased to hear that facilities for disabled supporters is to be prioritised at last. The present wheelchair allocation is a disgrace.

I'm actually in the office tomorrow and I'm going to inform the Leith tramps (there's a few) that Beaton is handy with a handshake and was told to give a late penalty to us. 🤣

I don't think it was a penalty.

Tom English on BBC "Ryan Porteous has done something pretty stupid. He's prone to doing that, particularly against Rangers. He's cost Hibs again tonight"

First domestic clean sheet in 9 attempts.

He's a debauched looking bastard, that Hibs' manager.

I hope a sense of negativity doesn't develop towards Dave King. Whatever he does to protect his personal interests, which he is entitled to pursue, his role in the club's recovery is clearly established and the least we owe him for that is respect.

Sounds like a problem from seasons gone by. We already have a solution to it anyway. When we want more in attack we swap a defensive midfielder for an attacking one. Consider Davis out for Arfield against Livingston.

John Sillett, former manager of Coventry City, also died today making it a very sad day for football. What he did for Coventry in the 1987 FA Cup was amazing and I am sure he will never be forgotten by the club's fans.

Your opinion, Stato, and you're entitled to it. But I don't agree. For me, we can do a lot better. We didn't play high enough, we weren't making the right decisions, gave the ball away too often, were too slow, and we were lucky to come away with 3 points. Of course, the result is great, 3 points and puts pressure on them tomorrow. But, again, surprised that you thought our performance was so complete.

Astonishing there’s any debate about the penalty. Stonewaller in my book.

Cue: three days of 'Porteous - victim' in all organs of the Scottish media.

The feeling of negativity has already been developed, from his misleading (at best) comments in trying to encourage fans to invest in the C1872 share issue rather than allowing their funds to go to the club, to charging interest on his loan (I'm not convinced he had to do that), to him now trying to limit the club's ability to raise further funds. That doesn't take away everything that he's done for the club, for which we will always be grateful, and yes, he's now entitled to pursue his personal interests but when they are against the best interest of the club then we are, in turn, entitled to criticise him.

This removes an attacker in favour of playing 3, sometimes 4, fullbacks. Why do people imagine that this would help with anything?

He came to Liverpool as a striker and was initially a bit disappointing in that role, especially when compared with John Toshack. Bob Paisley turned him into one of the best midfielders in Europe and, according to Paisley, was the player who attracted most interest from continental clubs. I saw most of his games at Anfield and, once he had settled in, I don't think I saw him have a bad game. He was a lot more consistent than the more glamourous players, Dalglish and Souness, and was highly influential in the success that Liverpool had during his time at the club.

Let`s start with the officials et al ... Hibernian FC vs Rangers FC Easter Road, KO 19.45 Referee – John Beaton 😝 Assistants – Frank Connor and David McGeachie Fourth Official – Nick Walsh Missing: Filip Helander (Knee), Nnamdi Ofoborh (Heart), Leon Balogun (Thigh) Doubtful: Kemar Roofe (knock on the leg, trained) Live on Sky Sports Football and Rangers TV

We dominated them for most of the match but could have definitely played much better. We won, that's always the main thing at tricky away grounds.

I thought Kent had overran it yet again but glad Gio kept him on as long as he did

Our keeper has not had a save to make, clean sheet, we've had 14 shots (4 on target), 60% possession, 78% pass accuracy, won at one of toughest away grounds (unbeaten there in 8), and 3 more points on the board. Aye, must do better.

Some of their play acting was comical. Can someone tell Porteous you're either a hard man or a diver - you can't be both. 🤣

Who is the biggest cheat in Scottish football? Kyogo or Porteous?. Great win tonight. Kamara MOTM for me, closely followed by Bassey.

Great result. That was a difficult match. Really happy to see Porteous cost them another match.

IMO, there is little point in playing 4-3-3 if you're front 3 are not high up the pitch and pressing.

I think the formation is okay - the players just need to be more forward thinking and accurate with their passing.

I'd like to see more of Aribo on the left, Hagi in the middle and Kent on the right.

Kent and Barisic have been awful.

Well, that was mince.

I'm a bit bemused by Arfield being in the bench too, he's really lifted the team in recent games.

Terry Munro's passing was mourned by many but I had no idea Dave King was the perpetrator.

I didn't say no one should criticise him. His entanglement with the dubious Club1872 is something I've openly criticised. All I said was he deserves to be treated with respect for the good things he undoubtedly did for Rangers, the best of which was to hand over the reins in an orderly manner.

FOOTBALL | GRAEME SOUNESS Graeme Souness: I looked at Ray Kennedy and knew everything would be alright – he should be considered a great of the English game Liverpool legend pays tribute to his former team-mate and expresses sadness that the game didn’t do more to help him when he fought Parkinson’s in his later life Graeme Souness Tuesday November 30 2021, 7.00pm, The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/graeme-souness-i-looked-at-ray-kennedy-and-knew-everything-would-be-alright-he-should-be-considered-a-great-of-the-english-game-789b6089r Ray Kennedy was one of the most underrated players I played with, a man that you looked at in the dressing room before a big game and instinctively knew you would be all right. The European Cup semi-final of 1981 is a great example — nobody gave us a prayer away to Bayern Munich in their stadium until Razor put us in front inside the final ten minutes. He was always a man for the big occasion. I remember watching him when I was still an apprentice at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring the winning goal against us at White Hart Lane to clinch the title for Arsenal in the last league game of the 1970-71 season when they went on to do the Double. I remember clearly thinking then, “I want to be him, a young player in the first team, winning things.” Ray loved his clothes and was always immaculate, a big, handsome man with that sallow skin he had. He was a striker then and Bill Shankly’s final signing for Liverpool in 1974, for a club record £200,000. It was a stroke of genius by Bob Paisley later to convert him into a goalscoring midfielder. I was the poor relation when it came to scoring beside Ray, Terry McDermott and Jimmy Case in that midfield, which was definitely the best in terms of goals that I played in at Liverpool. I was the odd man out by not getting into double figures. We had Jimmy on one side, Terry scoring close to 20 goals and Razor getting about 15. It wasn’t just about Kenny Dalglish and Dave Johnson up front. They also all did the hard yards the other way to support the defence. When we won the title in my first full season at the club we conceded just 16 goals in 42 league games and only four of them at Anfield. Ray wasn’t brilliant at anything, but he was very good at everything. He never gave the ball away, was a threat on the far post, and he had a silky touch and intelligence. People don’t regard him as one, but we have to talk about him as a great of the English game. After all these years, I still can’t tell you if he was naturally right or left-footed because he was so good with both. Ray made bad balls into good balls. If your head was down and you dropped it somewhere into the area of the far post on the left-hand side, he’d make your dodgy pass look like a really good one because of his anticipation, his timing, his power, his bravery and his determination to go and make that ball look good. When you talk about people scoring goals on the far post, he epitomised that because of his physique and football brain. Ray and Jimmy were incredibly close, through thick and thin. Ray was the senior member of that partnership and Jimmy was his partner in crime. Ray had been around the block and Jimmy was his apprentice, but he loved Ray and learned quickly from a good teacher. Ray had a dry sense of humour and nobody was keen to take him on in the banter stakes. It wasn’t just that he could cut you dead with a one-liner, he also had a serious, forbidding side to him and people were wary of that because he was a big powerful man with a real physical presence about him. I’d have loved to have him in my teams when I later became a manager. When I went to Newcastle United, I saw more of him and it saddened me to see how Parkinson’s had robbed him of his quality of life. The PFA should have done much more for him than it did because it made him a shadow of the man I played with. My great sadness is that he lost half his life to that awful condition — after having achieved so much before it affected him.

Yes but to be fair the board has hardly been sitting on its arse doing nothing. The task facing them is enormous and resources very limited. I'm not known for sympathy towards directors but they're not superheroes, just businessmen doing their best to move the club forward. It's easy to rearrange priorities in retrospect. but I see enough to suggest the overall direction is positive and hopefully most things will be addressed in time.

Agreed, but the board made similar noises 2 years ago, and there's been no progress, but other (vanity) projects such as Edmiston House have got off the ground. Everyone, anyone?

Given the %s involved, we can be fairly sure it's King. I'd doubt that dilution is the main reason for it, and more that it increases his chances of getting cash for his shares.

Safe standing is a luxury item. Decent disabled facilities are an absolute necessity and the club should e judged on its willingness to value its disabled supporters. By the sounds of it, this is now at least accepted by the board. On a brighter note, who thought during the dark days that we would ever again get to the stage when the support had respect for the directors?

Having sat in the enclosure, seated directly behind supporters in wheelchairs for two seasons (that's all I could last before moving) the view from there is not great. Ideally we should be able to allow wheelchair access supporters better viewpoints in the stadium. I know it has challenges due to mobility and fire escapes etc But there must be a way. And I believe the club needs to prioritise this over any safe standing initiatives as much as that wont go down well with some.

Please can enter the draw - thanks. Looks a great prize.

Can you enter me please.

To go 3 at the back you need the right players to do so. We don’t have them at present