maineflyer

Geat reply Craig. I was tempted to comment on the NIAR claim too but felt so despondent that this sort of thing is still out there that I switched off the computer instead.

A top Scottish journalist then?

Mind you Murray looks more like a 10000 lb gorilla which could swing the argument in his favour.

Not so uneducated, you could be reading someone's script there.

What was the 10000 pound gorilla in the room - was AJ talking about the tax liability or David Murray. At the time I assumed the former but I'm not so sure now that he wasn't referring obliquely to the Fat Snake.

The ultimate nightmare for me would be seeing Ibrox sold off. Points deductions, relegation, ridicule would all be preferable to losing our home.

Well said rbr.

I never said that! (wink, wink)

Believe me I'm not advocating administration, when some very unpredictable things can happen. By the same token, I wouldn't advocate against it either because we may not now have too many choices left and if administration is the only way out then that's the way we will all have to watch the club go. Either way, I'm fairly sure Rangers will survive and the ridicule will stop if and when the club gets it's act together again. The concern uppermost in my mind is that, whether or not administration lies ahead, we still have to deal with the challenge of rebuilding and unless the right people emerge in charge we could still be in this mess ten years down the line. You look at the candidates for ownership and (in my ill-informed opinion only) Craig Whyte looks the best bet - since I know almost nothing about him, at least he isn't burdened by what I do know of the other contenders, at least the ones I know about. That's not an encouraging standpoint and I'm genuinely not encouraged. Reputation might need to be placed a little further down our list of priorities.

OFFICIAL: Whyte Deal possible in 48000000 hours I think this could be out by a whole zero.

It may just be where I'm standing but from here it look very much like the club's reputation has already been severely changed. In fact, the closer I look and the better I focus these binoculars, the more it looks like you couldn't change it for the worse if you tried. There could be a touch of fog in the air of course.

I agree with you but he must have some reason for leaving such rancid garbage on permanent view.

It's a great net for catching ammunition .... but they are fairly nauseating.

I heard it in the car while I was out with Mrs MF, who knows Rangers play in blue and come from Glasgow but that's about it ... she hasn't a clue who Chick Young is but even she reckoned he was a complete arse. Mrs MF is a decent judge of character, mine usually.

Amen to that, it's mostly a dreadful parody of the journalism we expect.

To be fair, not many of us are paid to state the facts. Even in the madness of contemporary media, there is an acknowledged intent to promote the facts. We, on the other hand, log on for a few minutes every day with no such obligation and little time or resources to separate fact from fiction. Usually, speculation is our only alternative to silence. On that basis there could be a case for treating Gersnet members with a kinder hand than journalists.

It's the oldest game in the book, isn't it. In fact it's called propaganda. You issue unfounded scare stories, based upon half-truth, inferences and a few crumbs of adjacent credibility .... and voila, you control the gullible. Because no one wants to be arrested, hauled through the courts. Of course what they don't tell you is that the same police would shite themselves if asked to arrest hundreds - a handful is OK but ffs don't ask them to cross the line and arrest more than that. It's time someone asked the offended to face up in this madness of accusation and victimhood. Of course there is overt and profound hatred and suspicion of Catholics in this country, it's self-deception to deny it. The real question is why? Why, in the 21st century, are so many people in a modern society still both angry and offended by the catholic church? And why are the authorities in this country so reluctant to debate this problem, because a problem is exactly what it is, for all of us, including members of the religious cult itself. If only more energy was devoted to addressing what causes so much negative feeling towards the catholic church instead of sweeping it all under the carpet by dismissing under the catchalls of bigotry and sectarianism. Perhaps if the catholic hierarchy was more geuinely concerned with improving it's image and spent less time attacking and manipulating every aspect of society outside the diocese, we might find a little more harmony in this divided land. All the Catholics are achieving, all that the government and police are achieving with this sort of strategy is to prolong and deepen the divide. Forget the songs, 'let the people sing', and let the catholic church start building bridges instead of resentment.

I posted this yesterday and couldn't see a single attributable statement to support it. Just an exercise in filling column inches. So fat haven't seen anyone else running with it so I guess it's just bollocks.

It's a sea of speculation, I can't see how anyone can be confident of anything right now.

Never mind that, I want to know who was doing the commentary

From the Mail Online....... Rangers chairman Murray considers giving up half of his personal pay-out By John Greechan Last updated at 10:20 PM on 3rd April Sir David Murray is considering sacrificing half his personal pay-off from the sale of the club - after standing accused of robbing manager-in-waiting Ally McCoist of much-needed transfer funds. Prospective owner Craig Whyte was left furious after the cost of his takeover was increased by the 11th-hour addition of a �£2.8million tax bill, relating to transfer dealings from over a decade ago. Whyte made it clear that, if he had to cover this unexpected add-on, the money would most likely come straight out of McCoist's transfer fund, with one insider declaring: 'There is only so far the pot of gold will stretch.' Sacrifice: Sir David Murray may be willing to help Rangers out But last night key figures involved in talks said that Sir David was now considering covering the extra cost out of his �£6million share of the buy-out. Whyte spent Mother's Day with his children and estranged wife, with whom he is still on friendly terms, at the family home - Castle Grant, in Grantown-on-Spey. But he'll be back at the negotiating table today, determined to hammer out the issue of an HMRC demand relating to the free-spending days of Murray bankrolling Dick Advocaat. Even if the takeover goes through, McCoist knows he'll only be working with a fraction of the funds available during an era when �£12m could be blown on signings such as Tore Andre Flo, the Norwegian striker who signed from Chelsea in 2000 and was sold two years later for around half that exorbitant fee. There were serious concerns, though, that Murray's refusal to bend on the issue of the tax bill - unearthed during the final stages of due diligence carried out by the buyers - would undermine the rebuilding project envisaged by Whyte. He has already been pressed for assurances on his willingness to invest �£25m over five seasons, with as much as �£15m up front needed to cover transfers and wages during the coming close season alone. Key figures point out that, despite improved debt figures reducing the overall cost of the deal, Whyte is still being saddled with a squad in need of serious investment - and a stadium requiring up to �£14m in refurbishment. The tax issue, unrelated to a much larger potential HMRC liability which has reportedly been removed from Whyte's future balance sheet altogether, was not described as a deal breaker by anyone involved. But Whyte, who believes he convinced members of the Rangers board that he was the right man to take the club forward at a meeting last week, was determined that the cost of another Murray mistake shouldn't be borne by rookie boss McCoist. Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1IUzy7DaB

You cannot limit the failure of the RST by saying they have only let down their members and the rest of us have no right to complain. The fact of the matter is the RST was set up for the benefit of all Rangers supporters and sought to have all supporters as members. While that might be unrealistic in a literal sense it is nevertheless objectively true. That the RST achieved such a disappointing total membership and then lost the majority of them is testament only to the unattractiveness of their performance and paucity of their achievement. The Trust may have represented only a tiny fraction of the Rangers support but they acted on behalf of all and, in failing in their task, the RST let down all of us. Worst of all, they wasted the chance to do good for us all. Every time the media wants the opinion of Rangers fans you read the same phrase "Rangers fans' chief said ..." and whether you like it or not, the wider community is only too willing to see the RST as representative of all Rangers fans - and the RST only too willing to talk on behalf of all Rangers fans (certainly, I've never heard the RST qualify the boundaries of their representation). The RST was such a huge missed opportunity that, to the shame of everyone involved, continues unaddressed even today. I hope they all enjoy their big dinner.

Btw, why would the police give lists of banned songs to Rangers and celtic? Are they expecting the two management teams to be singing these songs in the dugouts? Why wouldn't the police simply give the lists to the press and broadcast media so the banned songs could be made known to the public who (presumably) are likely to sing them at football matches. Are the police genuinely stupid or is this another cartload of half truth and bollocks?

Murray would need the bank's agreement to change his chairman, which might be forthcoming but not while these negotiations are ongoing. My worry is that AJ is being forthright because he knows or believes that Murray will not complete the sale to Whyte. It could be that someone else has entered the picture - if you were to want in at such a late date, or at least to make sure the Whyte deal doesn't go through and scupper your chances, you would quietly ensure Murray believes he can get a much better deal from you than from Whyte. That need not be a better offer for his shares either. Of course the whole point of exclusivity is that Murray should not talk to anyone else ... but we all know that's bullshit. Just speculating of course. I haven't a scooby what the hell is going on, just praying for a change of ownership and our willingness to change along with it.

I suspect the only arses it will bite are ours. It's a one way ticket unless and until someone says no and I wonder if that's possible in the apathy pervading society at the moment. One day perhaps, there's always one day.