Tannochsidebear

I am not saying the first line of scouting should be agents.It is just not financially feasible to pay hundreds or thousands of scouts across the world. If we also had hundreds or thousands of Scouts, you would create an organisation that is extremely difficult to oversee and open yourself up to people taking financial advantage of the club. In my vision we have to have a small group of Topscouts working from Ibrox\MP who have a full time job in making contacts all over the world and when given tips the knowledge and vision(that word again) to follow it up. Riemer van der Velde was not a top player but he can spot talent when others miss it. One example was the signing of Afonso Alves.(now at Middlesbrough) The scouts of Ajax were also scouting Malmo at that time. Ajax signed Rosenberg who done nothing for them and herenveen signed Alves who brought in +15mill euros. I know Alves is not doing too good at the moment but i don't think Herenveen will be losing sleep over that.

Scandinavia is a few hours flying from Glasgow it would be simple to have a scout at games on a regular trip.

Every single professional and youth professional player are on a registered list. these lists are available to all clubs as far as i know. A Rangers scout picking up an unknown player from Copenhagen park is a fantasy in my opinion. It can happen per chance but not on an organised fashion.

A Scouting team creating contacts and going to watch prof games and professional youth games over the world, is the answer imo. Let Malmo pick out the boy in the park. we have to know when to pay malmo 500.000 for a million pound player.

I see where you are coming from, and to suggest we can afford hundreds of scouts around the world would of course be ridiculous. I would have thought we could, however, target up to half a dozen countries where sell-on fees are likely to be low and who have a decent record of bringing through quality players who can settle and play abroad (Scandanavia certainly fits this bill) and place our scouts accordingly.

With the greatest of respect, I see no reason to even look at South America for talented youngsters. There is no proof of anyone coming straight from this region and going straight into British football and doing well. South Americans generally have to go to their native language speaking countries, (Portugal, Spain) to settle into European style football before being able to come to our much faster, less technical game.

That is why I suggest we stick our modest budget to target an area with proven success rates, and where we can pick up players for modest fees and we have a good idea that they will settle in without too many problems.

Can I just say that you are absolutely 100% spot on with your assessment that we need a technical director with football knowledge instead of a (supposedly) commercially backgrounded CEO. As long as this TD keeps out of the manager's remit, things should work fine.

What, you haven't heard of the team who are sitting top of the Budesliga? They are a sensation at the moment as they are from a town of 3000 people.

Nope, never heard of them.

Other than the Spanish football on Sky, there is not much exposure of the German, French leagues on a professional channel here.

I would normally only keep an eye on the German league if we had an opponent in our CL group or upcoming EUFA tie etc.

An excellant article, and very well researched by the looks of it. I am sure I am not alone in knowing nothing about these clubs history ( I hadn't even heard of the German team).

I am not sure how relevant the examples are to a club of our stature and demand for success, and using agents as the first line of scouts is very dangerous IMO, but I am sure it is something that could be looked at in more depth if it was felt that it could provide value.

Good reply by the RST there, get your retaliation in first and it may have some effect in opening their eyes before they go spouting their mouth off.

As a poker lover myself, you have hit the nail on the head with your analogy.

Agreed.

Good luck with the race night.

And under the terms set out in the OP, your signed shirt wouldn't have had to have been someone doing you a favour, but actually donated by the club with their thanks for your support, together with a pair of Bar72 tickets or a special edition print of the stadium. Surely that would sell a lot more raffle tickets.

I have not seen the dog-eaters dive on tv. He conned me as well as from my seat I though wee Naisy dived in and fouled him.

If it is such a blatant dive, how can the ref and his boss both come out and say they got every major decision right? That is certainly a major decision as it provided them with their 2nd best chance of the game, and their only shot on target that I can remember.

I like him , maybe a wee bit overated i agree but is up and coming , i think you mean Thomas Ulfalusi had a cracking game vs us last season so agree with you there

Thats the chap. Most impressive opponent in UEFA cup last season for me.

But surely there weren't 50 people on these 30 coaches? Would a better average not be 30-35, which could result in under 50%?

 

Your experience with fans on the CCCS is very interesting.

But there are quite a few double deckers!!!

No McCulloch or Broadfoot??

You have not taken this seriously have you?

One name jumps out at me though, Micah Richards? The young English CH? Why? At least with the rest of them I can see why you would pick them as they are all top quality. Not seen a lot of the boy, but from what I have seen, I doubt he deserves to be in that company. I am sure there are plenty of great CH's around Europe. The CH for Fiorentina that played really well against us for one. But that sounds like I am Walter's chief scout.

Changed days indeed, I remember early seventies at our RSC Dinner Dance [ok ok], but a good way of raising funds for the next season. We had John Greig, Alex McDonald and Stewart Kennedy all attending, and usually a young reserve, they would sign autographs and get photos taken with memberrs. Some players would even give us a song, especially AMcD. I think all Clubs tried to have Alex attend their do's.

You go further back than I can chilledbear, but I loved our dances at Edmiston House in the 90's. A certain Ian Ferguson would normally be chief chanter, ably backed up by bomber, McCall and Durranty.

Those were the days right enough eh!!

Fair points, and a good argument as to why the RSCs should be looked after. However I guess it depends where you park as there are obviously a large number of bears who don't go by bus and my view is that they would be in the majority, but I'll admit that you could be better placed to have a more accurate view on this.

 

It'd be interesting to know how many CCCS people are like who you describe.

 

No, none of the perks in your article would make me rejoin. I already get 10% off in the shops, for example.

 

I left my club due to family commitments, and the club subsequently folded shortly afterwards for a number of reasons but partly due to the timing of games (eg 6pm on a Sunday) and a large number of members found themselves unable to attend.

 

I now tend to take my son to the away games now, and I prefer the flexibility and comfort that not being an RSC member gives.

Fair enough.

For every bus at an away ground you probably need about 10 cars to equate the numbers. The recent match at Pittodrie is one example. There must have been about 30 buses in the bus park beside the ground. That equates to around 1500 tickets out of the 2200 we get. Like you, I would be keen to see the splits, but it is unlikely this would ever become available information.

I obviously have no facts to back up how many CCCS members are like the ones I mentioned. But if there are about a dozen or so examples of it on our bus with 50 members, and this is replicated around other buses which I can think of no reason why it would not be the case, then that is why I came to the conclusion I did.

For further example, our RSC has 50 members. After work commitments etc, probably around 40 will go to any particular game. From that number around 10-15 will get tickets from the CCCS directly. The RSC will get perhaps another 10 from their allocation. This means the rest are made up from CCCS members not intending to go to the game, and passing their tickets on to us.

I will post my reply to this article in here seeing as RM is currently being repaired.

 

A very good article which gives some feesible and constructive recommendations for ways of improving the current relationship between the RSCs and Rangers Football Club. I have been an RSC member for the last 8 years and in that time it has become pretty evident that the club are valuing the contribution of RSCs less and less.

 

A few years ago our club would generally recieve enough tickets for every away game to satisfy the demand of most of our members our members. And for matches like Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Celtic all of our members would recieve tickets. In comparison, for a club with 23 members and 30-plus years of following Rangers to every game, home and away, we recieved only 5 tickets for Celtic Park on Sunday. We also recieved a grand total of 2 tickets for matches at both Pittordie and Inverness this season. I see that as akin to a betrayal from the club.

 

David Murray has reaffirmed time and again that he wants to distribute away tickets to Ibrox season book holders rather than RSCs. I believe that this is simply to control what kind of supporter goes to these games. This was particularly heightened after the Villareal fiasco. The last thing we want is for away game atmospheres to go down the route of the Ibrox matchday and if the current trend of tickets going away from RSCs then this seems inevitable to me.

 

The economic slowdown is also affecting many RSCs, mine included. Bus companies are raising their prices pretty sharply due to running costs and therefore we are having to raise our prices just to stay aloat. This is where i feel the club should be helping us out by maybe providing a small fund, not alot, to each RSC so that they can keep the prices for their members down. It is the least the club could do given the amount of money RSC members shell-out every season going to support the club.

Firstly, on your point re Murray. That is of course a bit part of the problem with the current way of thinking at the club. DM thinks supporters are a total nuisance, and RSC's probably the worst of the lot (apart from the RST of course). This thinking has to change. Yes there are still some buses who leave far too early and get too tanked up, fine if you can handle it but we all know that is not always the case, especially with the younger bears, and it is those same ones that always seem to forget what songs are "acceptable" these days! The tarring with the same brush effect is certainly in use here.

As for a fighting fund for RSC's, that is part of what I was meaning in my article when I mentioned the annual fundraiser. With the club's help, each RSC could run an event with the proceeds split between the club and the RSC. If the club donated some prizes (signed shirt, pair of tickets etc) for a raffle/auction at the event, the event could surely raise enough for both aprties to get a worthwhile turn out of it. I am sure your RSC already does some fundraisers throughout the season, so therefore I am sure you could see the benefit of getting some prizes donated by the club, and perhaps a player appearance for a photoshoot with our latest trophy.

The current thinking is poles apart from where it should be, and I am not sure if there is the will to change at the moment if I am being honest, but that is not to say we just shrug our shoulders and do nothing.

Interesting article.

 

On the away tickets issue, does anyone know what percentage of tickets for a typical away game to RSCs and how many go to CCCSs? Do RSCs get a proportion of their tickets through CCCS?

 

I was a member of an RSC throughout the 90s and got all of my away tickets through it (for every game). Now I just apply through the CCCS like other ST holders and just get my 5 or 6 a season. I think that some justification needs to be given as to whether it should be the RSCs that get extra tickets if there are some available.

 

One thing I couldn't figure out was the amount of empty seats down at Killie at the last game. Why? Could the club not take more and allocate more to both sets of bears?

 

Although I'm no longer a member of an RSC, it appears that there is virtually no communication between the Assembly/WWA and the average member of an RSC. This make a mockery of the whole supporter set-up and needs to be overhauled, but that's a whole different subject.

 

TB makes a great point on the club getting the RSCs on board. Just think of what could be achieved if that was the case, rather than the RSA (Assembly) sitting in their ivory towers deciding how they are to spend their (the club's) �£30K.

 

I'm sure if Murray or Bain were approached on the subject they would just point to the Assembly. That's a lazy answer as the Assembly doesn't achive a great deal and has no way of communicating to the average bear.

 

Quarterly meetings similar to the sort that occured in the WRC would be the way to go with major delegates meeting with SDM and MB to put their views across and allowing the club to put their cards on the table and explain what they see as acceptable and what is not and getting that message out to the rank-and-file.

 

Messages that are old tend to get forgotten about and need to be reinforced. this neds to be done by word-of-mouth and messages on the screens or in the programme will just be ignored.

 

SDM/MD, the RSCs are there. Help them AND use them and both sides will see the benefits....but don't forget about us CCCS guys.

The problem with the CCCS is that there are very few guys like yourself that really really want the tickets for your Kilmarnocks and Motherwells. I believe that a large number of ST holders only tick the box in the hope of getting a celtic ticket.

There are a lot of members of my RSC that get their pals to tick the CCCS box and we take any tickets they get. We also have members who are always offered tickets for unglamorous games from ST holders who fall into the above category.

I quick look at the number of buses at any away ground and a quick calculation of the number of tickets allocated to Rangers for that game will tell you that a very large percentage of bears still use the buses to travel to the games.

I have every respect for bears like yourself who prefer to use their own transport to go to the games for any variety of reasons, and of course we must look after them as well, but I feel that while the RSC's are the large majority of travelling fans, they should be put to the forefront of the thinking at the club.

Would any of the perks mentioned in my article make you consider rejoining a RSC? What would make you rejoin?

Is it just down to the buses running in your area and the people running them?

What purpose does the Association now serve? Whilst I have every respect for John MacMillan, I fail to see how an organisation that represents so few RSCs can be meaningful.

It is difficult to see a future role for the Association. Like you, I have every respect for John, and he does a thankless task keeping things going.

The Association did come to the fore earlier this season when the 5% issue came to the fore. They went to several SPL clubs and arranged to buy tickets for their member clubs without them having to buy coupons in the paper etc. As the Association holds a database of every member's details in every member club, it was able to provide enough comfort to the clubs (Hibs & Hearts especailly), to get full allocations for their members. The fact that the Association was not part of RFC was a major factor in the other clubs dealing with them, as they would not deal with Bain or the Assembly due to them feeling agreived about the 5% issue.

So in certain circumstances, the Association can be quite useful, hence the reason for the remaining clubs still paying their dues and remaining members.

But a long term future is unlikely as long as the Assembly is the big daddy within the club.

Can we have an open thread where all Gersnetters can post any items of this nature and then bombard SDM with them. Maybe, just maybe, instead of sticking his head in the sand and ignoring bad publicity he might take it on.

Your not serious are you Gordy?

Have you seen nothing of Murray this last decade?

He is as interested in the lies printed about Rangers and Rangers supporters as he is worried about going to the cashline hoping he has money left in his account.

Now when anything negative is printed about him personally, that is when you see a full and active PR offensive, but only in those circumstances I am afraid. There has been nothing recently to suggest this is likely to change in the forseeable future.

In all seriousness, could you imagine the reaction of the press, if SDM did allow a clued up fan loose on these people (not saying that I'm clued up!)....

 

First up, if it were me, I'd ban any reporter who printed lies about Rangers or our fans. Secondly, I would challange every negative story printed or reported in the media - this would be done by pointed out facts and done in a professional manner.

 

With Rangers employing such a high profile PR firm, you think this would be already happening. I'd save SDM a fortune....

 

Cammy F

It really could be that simple couldn't it.

If the filth that print these acts of pure fiction knew that their words would be checked for accuracy and any lies would result in retractions being saught and for continual errors, banning orders in place, together with complaints to their bosses and if necessary the PCC, it would soon become too much hastle for them to try to get away with lies, and wouls ensure that only accurate stories are run.

If we have done something wrong, we can have no complaints if we are criticised for it. But these acts of pure fiction could be so easily stopped if the will was there from someone at the club.

All we have ever asked for is fair treatment, nothing more, nothing less.

GERS LATEST - Kirk Broadfoot to miss Cup tie against Forfar but could return to facce Killie on Saturday. Nacho Novo also out but Kyle Lafferty fit and ready.

The above is an official club text message I received about 90 mins ago. It looks like KB's foot was just badly knocked and has settled down well.

Incidentally, the same text service reported at 1130am this morning that KB would miss next 2 games minimum.

Must have been a good physio session from 1130am to 1pm then!

I have been astonished at the amount of bears that think that was a good point at the piggery, and that the fact our enemy are in poor form means we should go on to win the league this season.

A convincing victory might well have seen them implode and made it easier for us to win the league. But they have won the title the last 3 years by being able to go on lengthy runs of wins. The fact they have not done so, yet, this season, is the only reason we are still in touch with them.

Like the first piggery game last season, we blew the chance to finish them off, and it came back to bite us when we ran out of steam at the death.

I am trying to tell myself not to over-react and that this year will be different, but sooner or later they will hit a run of form, can we be confident of winning 3 or 4 successive away games while maintaining a winning home record.

We have not won 4 SPL games in a row since September. Just a thought.

Such is the lack of quality of refereeing in this country just now, I actually thought he had the best game from a referee at CP in quite some time.

Wish Burley would GTF and take the Tartan army t@igs with him.

 

Someone should tell him that Derek Johnstone made his debut for the Gers in 1970 cup final versus the Septic Scum and scored at the tender age of 16

 

Even at that age he could have been capped as central defender or striker

 

Scotland dont need a prick of a manager who insults Rangers players.

:thup:

I think it will be a close, fairly negative game like the Ibrox meeting in December, but with us coming out just on top by 1-0 or 2-1. I dont see us getting beaten, so a draw with them still to come to Ibrox would not be so bad.

It is absolutely ridiculous to even mention Fleck in the full international team at this stage in his career.

You have to be careful with talented youngsters, and I cant see what harm it will do to give him a few games at U-21 level to see how he adapts to the very different game of international football.

Scotland have no chance of qualifying under Burley anyway so give the guy a break and let him develop naturally.

3 games in the SPL ffs, really.

I really wish Walter would concentrate on playing our best 11 in our best formation.

Unfortunately he has proven time and time again that when it comes to big games we are far more concerned with countering the opposition formation and tactics than letting them worry about us.

Please, just for this once, tell yourself that they are in poor form and will be more worried about us than we need to be about them, and play an attacking formation to score goals.

5 in midfield with Boyd on the bench and I will scream.

Not quite sure what it is or the point of it, but I have just subscribed anyway!!