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Sports Direct is a bona fide business, and a very successful one too. Douglas Park and John Bennett are bona fide businessmen, successful ones. I don't think you're being naive, I think you're being hopeful, you're being optimistic. I think we're all guilty of doing that when it comes to football. Despite all evidence to the contrary we cling to hope, we 'keep believing' to quote the great Marvin. I think some supporters had become so dismayed with the team in recent months that they're welcoming any change, without properly analysing it. They're hopeful because they wanted managerial change at almost all costs and now it has arrived. The new management team are a known quantity too, so why not be hopeful. I'm different. I'd resigned myself to a poor season because I'd accepted the need to rebuild the club. To lower costs, to change the make up of the squad and to allow someone time to try and build something. I'd accepted it couldn't be done in 6 months and was willing to give the players, management team and directors time. So I'm disappointed by this change and I'm disappointed we've ripped up the plan. Barry Ferguson was a wonderful player and a good captain for the club. But I've seen nothing to suggest he's capable of being our manager and he certainly hasn't achieved anything to warrant getting the position. Now, neither had Gerrard, or Souness. Both were gambles that paid off. While John Grieg didn't and neither did Ally McCoist, or to a lesser extent Stuart McCall. So I can understand why many people are hopeful, are feeling positive and looking forward to games again. It's not been a lot of fun recently, I absolutely get that. But I think the message I'm getting is the bulk of our directors now want out, they've had enough. I think if we'd just shown a bit more support and accepted there would tough times during this it would have come good. That's my 'hope' showing, my blind faith despite evidence to the contrary. I'd rather the club was owned by people who care for it deeply, that's my preference and I remain extremely nervous about the 49ers and what they want with us, whatever random Leeds fans might think of them.

Calm down, calm down! Coming to ya on a dusty road, Hope, I've got a truck load. I have have been monitoring my MyGers Account this morning and note currently, I am only five points short of being appointed the next Rangers Gaffer. Attending the Rangers Ladies fixture against Hearts on Sunday should trigger immense feelings of well being.

This 'leap of faith' and 'something has to change' narrative is based on nothing but hope. We're not fighting relegation, the bailiffs aren't at the door, the debt we have is owed to people who, certainly until very recently, love the club and don't want harm to fall on it. But so many want them chased out of the club because on field performances have been poor at times. Our support's demand for instance success remains unquenched. Gerrard took 3 seasons to win the title. We gave Gio a year before hunting him out the door, Beale get less than that and Clement got 16 months. At least new owners know that we're not interested in structure or building something, we want instant success or blood. Fire a manager every year and that should keep a decent percentage of our support happy. Our club was taken to the brink of extinction not that long ago, did we learn nothing from that? So many of us seem willing to gamble everything once again. Clear out the people who care and bring in the venture capitalists. What could possibly go wrong... Ironically I think our current directors have had enough, the appointment of Ferguson was the signal that they simply want out now. They're no longer even trying to improve things. They've given the support a big dose of staunch liberally sprinkled with nostalgia and hope it buys them enough time to clear off without losing a fortune. It's worked, many are brimming over with anticipation for a new dawn under the former Alloa manager's stewardship. We're no longer a serious football club, we're some kind of reality TV, soap opera. It's telling that the only people I've seen who seem happier than some of our support at the events of the last few days are supporters of rival clubs.

Yeah, he was just a youngster back then. Only thirty one or so. Most men mature to the point where they stop discreetly flicking the Vs at photographers when they turn forty. We should be in the clear.

We need to build foundations but most of the support just want jam today and to hell with the consequences. After buying shares, I very much doubt that the American takeover will throw much of their money into the club. In time, they will be wanting to take significant money out of the club.

Oh, it'll not last long 😬😁

I am assuming it is a short term appointment until the end of the season regardless of how well they do.

Aye, lets appoint a guy that's took Killie from a European place to fighting to stay up in a single season.

Britain is pretty much owned by foreign money.

I'd expect an upturn in energy and performance levels (not difficult) and wins against Kilmarnock and Motherwell. Thereafter, it gets more complicated.

See, you're a well adjusted, honest, decent person. You wouldn't take money out until it was making money. Unfortunately that's not how everyone thinks and even a cursory glance at how a number of football clubs have been run will show exactly what can happen if the wrong people are in charge. Bloody hell, it wasn't that long ago it happened to us.

After 2012, we continued to rack up the losses and now 13 years later (post 17m loss with another on the way), the support want millions spent on players and a league title, yesterday. A new scriptwriter (Scottish or American) who mentions patience and foundations isn't wanted, he would quickly lose popularity.

There was no alternative, for them. The took the leap, and fled to Bolivia. Their problem was that they continued to rob and steal. Thus, the Third Act became the Final Act, and ended badly. What the story needs is a reboot of that Third Act, with new scriptwriters, who will not be interested in ringing the curtain down, and will ensure that the lead characters do not repeat the mistakes of the past. There is no alternative, it seems clear. Will this happen? I don't know, but I do know that the audience has no control over this..... Doncha just love suspense? Actually, what the club needs now, short term, in fact, immediately, is not Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but some True Grit.

We're finally in agreement.

The Club is underperforming on and off the park. It posts scrotum tightening losses every year, and the team, which has just turned in two of the worst Rangers' performances I have ever seen - at Ibrox, and on the spin- is struggling, bereft of confidence, without leadership, with a pronounced sick note culture, and out of domestic competitions. The road to Hell, my late mother would say, is paved with good intentions. If you seek an explanation, look no further than who is in charge. There are two principal issues - 1. Fans (qua fans) in the boardroom 2. The myth that skills are always transferable. We may speculate about divisions among the board members and major shareholders, and lack of leadership, which would not have helped, to say the least. So, we are where we are, and the options are very limited. You have bought the ticket, now take the ride.

Said nobody, ever!

Brutal team, even more brutal pitch ... hope no-one gets injured.

I'm not brave enough to weild a red card. I just wave a yellow card around then run away.

There's certainly a higher risk involved than sticking with the status quo. However it would be good to get some excitement back into the club and, as you say, these investors seem to be surprisingly largely positive, and it's potentially better to go with them than wait for another investor to come along that's not as good. My major concern is how they see us fitting into the structure (are we just going to be a Leeds feeder club?) but there's not much we can do but wait and see (and hope).

Give the red card to anyone who calls being cautious about all this, suspicious.

We should all watch this. Main thing I took away from the American guy was the marketing angle which has not been exploited nearly enough by the club. The Rangers diaspora (my cousin is in Melbourne) appears to be an untapped resource.

These people have a track record of running sports businesses. They may take an interest, a controlling interest, or the whole damned shooting match. One thing is clear, the support will have little or no say. What is also clear, clear for some time, is that that change is needed, and I see only one division of cavalry coming over the hill.

You said that you were suspicious of the motives of someone who raised questions ("talk down") and was cautious about the leap of faith on a largely unknown. That was an idiotic statement and par for the course. I don't doubt our capacity for falling for the next saviour with wealth off the radar. This is obviously different to 2012 but to go with blind acceptance and without due caution, is for the stupid.

To be honest Ibrox has become quite a sad place in more ways than one. Even the European games have been a bit flat and I think there is a deep malaise because the supporters sense we are in a very bad way as a football club. We need tens to hundreds of millions to get us out of this. Not only is the structure of the club a mess, so is the stadium and the team. The board are no longer willing to give more loans and I don't blame them for that. I just can't see where else we can get the amount of funding we need to get us back to challenging and overtaking the wahoos. Prior to this news breaking we were on a totally downward slope. If it doesn't go through we still are. We tried the sugar daddy, we tried the opposite, so now we try this. They probably will all end the same way but it should be good while it lasts.

Yeah, I was the same but having spoken to a few Leeds lads I know and then listening to this, I'm starting to get onboard with this.

I honestly don't see it. Our last few interims, outwith Ferguson, have been: Steven Davis, Graeme Murty (x2), Jimmy Nicholl, Stuart McCall, Kenny McDowall, Ian Durant. I share your dissatisfaction with Ferguson, but the irony is he probably has the most managerial experience out of those when they were put in charge, outwith McCall's 3 year spell at Motherwell. I was very much expecting an appointment like this - hence the reason why I would have preferred to keep PC until the summer.

Just confirmed my take on our ex manager a total idiot for waving away money he was due

I've been remaining cautious but watching that has got me all excited.

If in the 10 short weeks he is in charge, all does is instill a bit of the below into the squad, it will have been a worthwhile exercise. Been missing since Gerrard left.

Dodds looks like the main man when it comes to the sessions.

It's too simplistic to suggest that it's all down to woeful decisions. Yes, that's part of it, but so is the ambition to win the league and do well in Europe. They could have reduced budgets and playing quality (!) to balance the budget, rather than willing to overspend with the knowledge that they may have to put in financial support, and we'd potentially be even further behind in the league and out of Europe. Yes, they've made mistakes and they're having to help fund the running of the club but I don't believe anyone can suggest that it wasn't done with the underlying hope that we'll be successful. To be fair, they're hardly likely to show the support a business plan, of which I'm sure there will be one, and they'd face criticism for it if part of their plan was offering financial support from the investors as you've shown. However they have suggested several plans in the past and they seem to last around 9 months before they seem to drop them. They have lost the support from a chunk of the support and as such, you're probably right that they are a busted flush, particularly as a viable alternative has appeared, something I thought was extremely unlikely a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for not saying naive 😄 They were a parcel of rogues. This is a bona fide business. Am I still being naive?

The foreign ownership of British companies should be banned. This includes all football clubs.

The schedule in the coming weeks is dreadful, so I expect the doom-brigade in full hysteria mood soon. No matter the fact that they have little to work with, given the size and status of the squad.

Ungentlemanly, and conduct unbecoming. On a par with giving the old Harvey Smith to the press and photographers. I wonder who criticised Ferguson and McGregor for that?

I don't have the answers. However, I think we belatedly hit on the potential way out of a deep hole when John Bennett finally decided that it required austerity, patience and a slow build of a solid foundation. Now, with an impatient support on their backs, the board made too many mistakes, errors of judgement and general fcuk-ups on the way to that point and after it. Hence, the current board have little credibility. That doesn't make a largely unknown alternative the answer, whatever business speak they may come up with. Our impatience and subsequent actions mean we never get out of the dammed circle. I think we need to employ patience for a change. Being impatient actually means the whole thing will take longer.

Impossible task. Even to nominate a 'least bad' player defeats me. It's equally difficult to suggest the worst performer. Send them all a dildo. Yellow, if possible.

Morning BM ! We find ourselves in a difficult position and there aren't many obviously good options that I can see. I don't think the proposed 'American takeover' will be what a lot of the support seem to think it will be. It might start loudly but I am not sure it will end well. A lot depends on potential European League restructuring. The major shareholders have to make their choices. The reason for no one dominant shareholder at Rangers post 2015, were made very clear.

Apparently the quantum is higher than has previously been suggested. _-------_ Philippe Clement is entitled to a significantly higher pay off from Rangers than has previously been suggested. The Ibrox hierarchy confirmed on Sunday night that they had taken the decision to remove the Belgian as their head coach. The final details of his settlement are currently being thrashed out between the Ibrox side and Clement’s representatives. Reports last week claimed that Clement’s settlement figure was £1.2 million but the figure is significantly higher. -___- Logic suggests the later will be more accurate but we'll have to wait for the accounts to see if we get the truth.j

McGregor looks so chuffed.

Maybe the fab four are paying Rangers for the opportunity. Probably too much to hope for but at least they won’t be expensive and the end of the season is the end of the story.

The remaining league fixtures certainly have a lot more interest now. Billy Dodds looks like he's been up all night celebrating.

When you order Steven Gerrard aff wish

Rodgers will have to buy a Popemobile to top that 😂

Possibly. It's just my opinion. I'd prefer PC to Barry Ferguson.

I wanted him gone myself - at the end of the season. As outlined elsewhere, we're in the middle of a takeover, we're searching for a DoF and we're conducting a club review. It doesn't make sense, to me, to appoint a permanent manager now, so keeping PC around was a necessary evil. The alternative is Barry Ferguson.

I just don't really get the logic. A coach from within, aye fine, makes sense. A young coach that's done well elsewhere and for whatever reason is available, yup, come hold the torch for a few months. But an ex player that's never really been anywhere near the club in terms of coaching or the likes?. Makes zero sense.

You keep mentioning this, but isn't it better that we're a basket case? They've then got value to add. There's a reason they're not looking at buying Them.

At some point we have to get behind an external offer. If the status quo continues, we are going to die a death of a 1000 cuts. The danger we face is being so frightened to move forward that we'll chase away someone / consortium who'll be good for us in the medium to long-term. We simply can't stick with the status quo if we have any ambitions to move our club forward.