Bluedell

I'm sure a lot of what you have said is right, but he's put in �£60m to the club.

Murray has said it. He was letting people know that PLG didn't want to buy anyone prior to the whole Fergie thing kicking off. His version of events seems to stack up, but....

Tell a lie often enough and people start to believe it. You can't just allow people to continue to peddle lies about us when it has a detremental impact on the club, and some of the abuse of the club, its player and fans has been dreadful over the last few years. The frustrating thing is that it isn't a consistent approach. Murray will use his full resources to defend himself but not anyone else as MF points out earlier in the thread. The club seem to be paying for PR but not getting value for money, but they are quick enough to jump to Mirray's defence.

So you agree that when Murray appointed him he did have credibility. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Murray went out and got a guy who was generally regarded by the guys in the know as being one of the best young managers in Europe. It was well publicised that Murray took advice on it, and did everything I would hope he did before appointing a new manager. What did Murray do wrong in his selection process of PLG? Of course you can voice dissatisfaction with Murray, and I have already said that some of what you said is valid. Why do you think I said that you couldn't? I'm quite happy to pin his failings on him as well, but I can also discuss things like the JJB deal objectively and highlight that there are pros and cons to the deal, and not just dismiss it as ludicrous. I didn't say that you were blaming him for everything, just pointing out that not everything that he had done was bad. There is a difference. I gave my opinion on specific areas that I disagreed on, and gave the reasons. Not sure why that has to evolve into Murray being blamed for everything.

It's a bit on the bland side. Not that appealing.

So PLG wasn't a credible manager when Murray brought him to the club? You are quite correct to criticise Murray in a number of areas, but not everything he has done is that bad. If he hadn't done the JJB deal, I'm sure you would now be criticising him for not maximising the club's revenue, so he is in a no-win situation there. There are well-documented downsides to the deal, but it's still a great deal financially for the club. Hardly ludicrous. We do still own the catering. We have just sub-contracted it. Nothing wrong with that in theory. The quality isn't great (but most stadium catering isn't), but we don't have enough information to say whether it's a good deal overall or not. There are a lot of areas that you have quite correctly highlighted where Murray deserves criticism, but he has also done some good things over the years. The problematic thing is that we need him more than he needs us at the moment. We would struggle to survive without his guarantee of the revolving credit facility at the moment, and there isn't a queue of people with both the ability and the desire to take it over.

As ar as I am aware, it will just be the RSA board members/representitives of the bodies that make up the RSA.

Unfortunately the Assembly does not allow its ordinary members to attend any of its meetings. It's by invitation only.

So that he is not cup-tied when he is sold.

When Ferguson plays the team always looks like it has more structure. That would have helped last night, rather than the team looking like 11 strangers.

The new tie is very smart. I also loved the old tie. Far nicer than the �£8 effort, which i wouldn't wear.

You may or may not a bigot, but if you go along to a football game and and shout it, it is very easy to be labelled as one, and there is nothing on the face of it to differentiate those who aren't bigots from those who are. It's just not particularly helpful, either to the club or to those who wish to make a serious point. If people want to make a point then why not change the words to something like "the pope causes aids in Africa"? Far more effective and fits in well to STB, but there are too many brain-dead out there who cannot see the big picture and refuse to express their feeling on any other way.

There are plenty of reasons for people to criticise the pope. However neds or whoever going about singing *** without any reasoned arguments come across as bigots and allow those who criticise on a more constructive basis to be lumped in with them and do more damage than good.

I think Furman showed today that he's not ready to be a first team regular.

Included on my season ticket.

I might go for a Marcus Gayle (?) one. The wording under it: Played 4 games badly.

A new owner who was able to take the club forward would be most welcome. Fresh enthusiasm and new ideas would do a lot for the club. However who is going to buy the club knowing that a bad result on Tuesday would result in a �£10m+ loss for the year? A buyer would know that and realise that if that happens 2 years in a row, all he is going to do is pump cash into the club. Not an encouraging scenario for any potential buyer. Spending? Most, if not all of last season's cash has gone already. The supersized Ibrox? In this instance I don't go for the usual smoke-screen. My feeling is that the lack of finance available from the economy generally and HBOS specifically have resulted in the plans being shelved. Whether this is permanent or not depends on who long the current economic problems continue and how long Murray stays around.

If Boyd was starting in preference to anyone, it should be JCD rather than Miller, based on last night's performance.

NOOO. It's so 1980s. Can we not move on and get something else? It may have worked during NIAR, but it's not really appropriate now with the gash that appears on the pitch.

A job for Frankie, me thinks.

Yes, there is.

RANGERS Chief Executive Martin Bain has spoken for the first time on a number of important topics as the new season opens. He revealed record season ticket sales, explained the reasoning behind the five per cent charge on the sale of away tickets and insisted work is still being done to bolster the squad ahead of the new campaign. During the interview, the Chief Executive also announced exciting plans for Ibrox that will make it amongst the most cutting-edge in European football. He said: "We are well on target to set a new record of 44,000 season ticket holders which has been achieved as a result of our new ticketing strategy enabling a higher saleable capacity within the stadium. In the past four seasons we have reached highs of 42,500 but on the back of last season, the demand for the coming campaign has been such that we will hit the new record figure. "Last season was a journey beyond all expectation for Rangers supporters and was what we all aspire to, which is Rangers competing at the highest level in Europe and on all fronts domestically. The last day of the SPL season was our only downside. "Our new strategy aims to make football more affordable to families, and to maintain and create a great atmosphere in the stadium where supporters are safe. It wasn't just about pricing however, we also wanted to provide some additional benefits to season ticket holders. The first of these takes place on Friday with a free training day which will be a great day out for families. "To date the initiative has resulted in an 11 per cent rise in juvenile season ticket holders with many more on the waiting list and we are absolutely delighted with the ongoing response from the fans. "We had 19 European games last season and with the financial pressures in our economy today we could not have asked for more from our supporters, their commitment has been second to none. Tickets for tomorrow's Kaunas game are going really well and the Liverpool match on Saturday is fast approaching sell-out. "Last year we identified the need to address the playing surface and other aspects of the stadium infrastructure, resulting in the commitment of capital expenditure for an interim overhaul. We have ensured that the items invested in are easily transportable should our long term development plans come to fruition. "First on the agenda was restructuring the pitch and Walter Smith told me yesterday that he is delighted with the new playing surface. "Despite the inclement weather in Scotland we are confident we will have no problems with our pitch this season and let's hope it is the same scenario at every other SPL ground. We have invested in our pitch and it would be good to see the other clubs investing in a similar way to avoid the problems of last season. "Our next priority was to introduce a fully integrated stadium entertainment system. This will be phased in from the first SPL home game where our new state of the art LED perimeter advertising system and LED scoreboards will be unveiled. "The perimeter advertising will run the complete length of the Copland, Broomloan and Govan stands. In September we will install LED jumbotrons, giving Ibrox one of the most ambitious media and entertainment systems in British football. We plan to introduce the system into the concourses thereafter. Even the dugouts, uniforms and Club ties are changing!" Rangers begin the SPL campaign on August 9 against Falkirk, one of four clubs who have refused to accept the Old Firm plan of a five per cent charge for the sale of away tickets. Bain remains unrepentant at the approach taken and commented: "It is incredulous that despite our attempts to explain this rationally to other clubs, some of them continue to refuse to accept our approach. Rangers supporters travel the length and breadth of the country, often paying premium prices for grounds which are often found lacking in their overall facilities. This is about our fans. I believe they more than pay their way in Scottish football and we want to alleviate some of the financial pressure. "I am also disappointed at the other clubs lack of understanding of our continual efforts to make it as easy as possible to distribute their tickets with minimal cost and effort on their behalf. We help maximise ticket sales for SPL away grounds to the region of �£2.5million, but accept that this comes at a cost, hence our proposal for the reciprocal arrangement. This would allow us to remove the costs currently borne by our fans. "I am surprised that other clubs have failed to realise that we have maintained a core fan base for away matches and that base may drop off given the convoluted systems they are operating to sell tickets to Rangers fans. "The actions we have taken have been in the best interests of our fans and the Club and we hope this is recognised by our travelling support, despite the complicated and difficult route that may now exist to obtain tickets for fixtures that were once easy to obtain." The Rangers Chief Executive hopes that those who choose to sell to Old Firm fans directly will ensure that they take all the responsibilities which accompany this decision. He said: "The SPL guidelines are such that every person who buys a ticket has to supply their name and address, and I now look to the SPL to ensure that while these other clubs have taken it upon themselves to sell these tickets that they record all these details. That said, it is unfortunate that I won't have the same level of awareness of whom the tickets are now being sold to. "At this stage Falkirk, Hibs, Hearts and Dundee United have indicated that they will sell tickets to our fans themselves and we await confirmation of the official response from the remaining clubs." Although the signing deadline has passed for tomorrow's Champions League qualifying match with Kaunas, the Chief Executive insisted that work is still being done on the playing front. He said: "We are still working hard to make sure we have a squad capable of challenging on all fronts. "The nature of Rangers is such that we are constantly linked with players with no foundation. But we are used to that and know what our priorities are. I am confident through experience of transfer windows in recent years that there will be movement, both in and out, in the weeks ahead. Walter has a core squad to meet the immediate challenges, although we are disappointed to have picked up a couple of injuries at this early stage." http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~1353740,00.html

I doubt Liverpool would have wanted to play us last weekend.

No inside information. Just an analysis and understanding of the accounts that are publicly available.

Agreed. Our biggest problem with last season was the lack of creativity. Walter's done nothing to address that.