Tannochsidebear

Just had text and phone call from Tam Cook's travel club for the upcoming Hamburg friendly at £245 for the day trip. Tickets distributed in Hamburg on match-day. Other than the large number of Bears in Hamburg/Germany, this could see a very large number of bears going to this game given our early Euro exit before most Bears had a chance to go anywhere.

Having just read the title and narrative (missed it before) in your earlier post, I would guess he has interviewed Bain anonymously, or another of the ditched Directors with a grudge. NO doubt he also has the same HMRC source that has been leaking things to date. It looks more like a scare story on the tax case than anything new, but I suppose we dont have long to wait and see.

Dont think he went undercover, he has just been doing it the old-fashioned way, speaking to old associates of Whyte, digging up what he can find through contacts, Companies House, etc. Got the heads-up on this a few weeks ago from a good source close to him. He has probably been sifting through forums as well as there was a lot of info on Whyte during the takeover about his past etc. It is his job to authenticate this info and I would trust him to be absolutely factual as he is a very good reporter, but how it is edited and cut is what worries me more. The remit was to try to find out if Whyte has any money, where he got it from, is he legit, can he be good for Rangers? Obviously BBC Scotland will have already got their optimum answers before they started, so it will be interesting to see if he has found anything to back this up.

The group continues its work as and when it can, and has recently been very active in the dispute between the Blue Order/Union Bears and the club/stewards/police regarding the last 2 home matches which we are confident will get resolved this week in advance of our next match. It is also about to meet with the top man from FOCUS (the anti-sectarian police unit) to discuss a lot of things fans are wanting to know about and we hope to publish the results of this in the next week or two. VB wanted to go down a particular road with regard to one area of the Group's work, and the rest of the group did not agree on that being the right course of action at this time, and they felt they would prefer to leave the group as a result. We wish them well with their forum and have no problem with their decision. The group remains active with representatives of supporters clubs, the Association, the Assembly, the RST, Gersnet, FF, RM, TBO and the club itself.

The same journo tried to do a programme on Murray, but so intricate was all his smoke and mirrors it was impossible to do so without inside help and this couldnt be achieved. You can guarantee it wont be slanted in a sympathetic way, and will be sensationalist and borderline libel.

I cant argue with any of your financial argument there Zappa. I am not sure if the RST needs to charge for membership for a specific reason or it is just for fundraising. Perhaps if it does not need to charge for membership under its rules (or Supporters Direct's rules) then a free membership would be beneficial for a relaunch. I will note this and ask at the AGM on 2 October. My original point was however (tenner aside) that too many Bears prefer to snipe from the outside than put in some graft and join and try to be a positive influence to make a difference for our club. If you truly object to the RST for financial reasons, then get involved with the Alliance/Assembly/Association/local RSC etc. Im sure you get the point.

MD was on the RST board from the beginning, and FF was a driving force behind the creation of the RST, and to my recollection has always been pro-Trust.

It was a sub-committee of the RST set up and some members outwith the board were invited to attend with various remits. The idea behind team 2 was to look specifically at membership recruitment, but apart from 1 meeting and a sub-forum that quickly went very quiet nothing was progressed. I dont think it is accurate to compare the Working Group with the RST or the Assembly or any other group as it is a collective of all groups working on a very defined set of issues. There are a number of very important issues outwith the self-imposed remit of the Working Group that these much bigger organisations should be working on/looking at. I wasnt aware there were only 16 on the RST board at the moment, and agree that is a shame. The apathy amongst our support is quite disheartening.

Wondered what happened to the team 2 meetings rbr, never heard another thing about it since that meeting! KP is now running his own bar in Spain, so I doubt much time would have been spare in recent months to devote to the RST. I always fail to understand why the RST is proclaimed as being a 1 man band. There is a board of 20, including a chair, vice-chair, treasurer and secretary, none of these positions have ever been filled by MD. Can 1 man really take 19 others along with him on everything for years and years. Any RST board member I have ever asked, past and present, are insulted at the suggestions that the 20 man board is 1 plus 19 stooges.

The exact same answer can be used again and again regarding the RST. Pay £10 to join, and influence it from the inside if you feel they are going down the wrong road. The AGM is on 2 October, so no better time to get involved. They are also always looking for new board members, and for Bears to offer their expertise in any area to assist their forward progress. Is it not better to try to make a difference for our club, than to sit on the sidelines (or on a forum) and snipe that they are useless. I am not, and have never been, a board member of the RST, but I am a member and while I am not happy at the lack of progress over the last few years, feel it is better to try to be constructive from the inside, than take the easy option of sniping from the outside.

Perhaps the Danish cup winners would be the best side to draw there in a very tough looking group. I would much rather be in timmy's group as I wouldnt be worried about any of them, with perhaps the Portugeuse mob being the only decent side there.

MEETING OF RANGERS SUPPORTERS CLUBS AND ORGANISATIONS AT IBROX STADIUM ON 24 JULY 2011. Around 100 representatives of Rangers Supporters Clubs and fans group organisations held a meeting at Ibrox Stadium on Sunday to continue their call for the self-policing initiative to eradicate sectarian and offensive singing which has proven so successful in recent times. We will continue to ask that fans eradicate all singing of The Billy Boys, references to Fenians, and FTP. Other songs which have been incorrectly challenged by some observers like The Sash and Build My Gallows, which contain no sectarian references at all, will continue to be allowed after discussions with the club, Police officials, and legal experts. The fans were congratulated for their tremendous backing of the team during both the run-in to last season and during pre-season where we travelled in huge numbers to the friendly matches without incident. Many of our fans feel that the level of scrutiny and media attention is not even-handed. In particular, Celtic fans continue their disgraceful and offensive singing in support of the IRA, witnessed again at Easter Road on Sunday despite calls from their Manager and other spokesmen for it to cease. Yet again though, there has been no comment from the media and the relevant authorities. Similarly, there was no comment following the Hearts v Celtic match back in May when the same offensive singing by Celtic fans was a feature of the whole match. No longer will the Rangers support sit idly by and be the only support under the microscope while others continue to sully the name of Scottish football shown on live television across the world. We are well aware that in the past we have had our problems, and we will continue to be vigilant, but in this new era for the club the fans are determined to play our part, and all we seek is a level playing field where all other clubs are under the same scrutiny.

His point that it took the scum time to settle last season is rather skewed by the facts that Celtic won their first 8 league games. Hardly a slow start. Of course, we won our opening 9 games!!

Not the slightest bit bothered. All I want from pre-season is for the players to stay fit, get their pre-season training done, and get their necessary match sharpness ready for the first competitive match, in this case Hearts on 23 July. To me, nothing else matters. Yes, it can be good for confidence if the strikers are banging in goals already and the defenders are keeping clean sheets, but do you really think that when they run out against Hearts and watch the flag unfurled and know they are the defending Champions there could possibly be a shortage of confidence? Cant see it myself.

I dont know a single Rangers fan that would give that smelly scumbag the time of day never mind his opinion on signings for the club. As usual, he makes it up as he goes along. Ignore.

This is the replacement for the weekly Rangers News, which is no more. I have to wonder what they think will be the draw of a monthly publication with match reports in it for games that are long gone, plus interviews that will very soon be old news. I suppose if they make better use of the website for exclusive interviews etc it could be a valuable addition, but I doubt it would be better than a properly run weekly Rangers News.

There are quite a number of players needing to be brought in, only 18 days until the main kick off, and only 21 days until our CL campaign starts. I think I am right in saying that we are four first team squad players down from the end of last season (the 4 loanees), and that number of players was not really big enough to start with, so we really need to bring in about 8 players just to have a squad to play with. I am confident that Ally/Smith/Whyte are working frantically to tie up deals, but I am guessing that we are now onto our second choices in most positions, or the clubs are playing hardball and it is taking longer than expected to tie down our first picks. Either way something really has to start happening, and very very soon. It is not good to throw a half dozen or so new players together, with a new manager, and expect them all to work well together right away, so a few friendlies to gel the new team would be advantageous, but time is slipping away quickly.

Trying to force through a lop-sided piece of trash in the close season when football fans are on holidays and certainly not having meetings etc to discuss these things was a clever move. However it was so ridiculous and badly written that it was fairly easy to rip it to shreds and as more and more people (non-RC of course) came out and ridiculed it, including the committe in Holyrood who are supposed to examine every bill in detail, it was doomed. Hopefully this will give us time to prepare proper representation, lobbying and make this bill, if required at all, a fair and just law for all, not just for the MOPES. I can see it disappearing into the dust if the 2011-12 season progresses without any major flashpoints.

Should be easy enough. Keep checking the Rangers website for the public sale date, and you can buy them online and collect them on the day.

Confirmed on SPL website, the Hearts game is now live on Sky at 12.30 on Saturday July 23. Also, our game at St Johnstone is live on ESPN at 12 noon on Sat July 30th. FYI other live games declared are hibs v scum on sun 24th at 12.30 (ESPN), Dunfermline v St Mirren on Mon July 25th at 745pm (Sky) and Sheep v scum on Sun 7 Aug at 1215pm (Sky)

The timing change for the mailshot is not surprising in the slightest. On taking over, CW promised the current board it was business as usual for them until the end of the season, at which point on Monday 16 May it is expected that the old board will be gone in its entirety, and at that point the recruitment of a new board of experts will begin. A new CEO is the obvious big appointment as CW is not expected to be 100% hands on after the initial 6 months or so it will take him to get to grips with the club. Other important appointments are expected to include new PR people to tackle our pathetic media positon. While it is obviously early days, and putting aside the many financial questions for one minute, what many of us really really want is someone to breathe new life into our club, defend it, nurture it, and run it professionally, all of which has been sadly lacking for the last decade at least, and the signs are that the new owner is on this exact wavelength also.

This is obviously in response to a huge number of press enquiries to ask for our comments on this, and the arrests in Ayrshire this morning. While I agree we should have made absolutely no comment on either matter which have nothing to do with our club, we know our club for the last few years have always pandered to the continually offended, rather than defended the customers, sorry supporters. It will change, and I am hearing good things already in that regard, but obviously the CEO is still in place until after the Killie match, and as usual has been badly advised on this statement.

I cant see anything other than a comfortable victory, perhaps another 4-0, but without the penalties and red cards this time!

Glad to see Whyte come out and back up my theory all along that this would come to nothing. My experience with these EBT's would indicate that as long as all the paperwork has been done 100% correctly, and the EBT has been set up exactly within the loophole in the law, there is nothing to worry about, apart from the fact that HMRC will almost always challenge the validity of the EBT in the courts, for two reasons. One being that if the paperwork is even a bit incorrect it invalidates the whole EBT, and secondly to pressurise businesses from using EBT's as sometimes they will believe it is not worth the risk and the hassle or knowing that you are going to be challenged and it is really out of your hands if it is going to stand up or not. Murray being that type of businessman that will always take a risk, he would not have been too bothered at the outset of HMRC challenging and all the bad press the club will get as a result, better that he is able to offer a player a better salary structure than just PAYE. I have not believed that this tax case will come to anything right from the outset, have frequently said so, and obviously I hope I am right for all our sakes, and this statement from Whyte is what I expected to hear from the old board, who now yet again are exposed as muddying the waters to keep their jobs. Can it really look like anything else, given they have been receiving the same advice and no liability was mentioned in the accounts?

thats a great laugh to read again just now.