simplythebest

Thought they were all boycotting because of the football?

 

Did you not also join in on the "they ain't real fans" crap over yonder?

 

Read the other thread where my past comments have been discussed to death, not getting into it again.

 

I think the football's played a huge part, hence why I still doubt it'll be a sell out and the good feeling could wear off very quickly if what we're getting on the pitch remains the same.

 

However, we've seen attendances of 10000-20000 quite regularly this season, obviously you've got to expect a big bounce from that.

I'll be at Ibrox as I have been all season and make no apologies for it.

 

However on Tuesday I'm looking forward to hopefully having much more people around me, it's been depressing seeing the place so empty so often.

Won't hold my breath on it

What are we supposed to say mate, the club will die if we don't. Everybody wants promotion but King and whoever are building in a safety net.

You don't have to go that far but we still have a more than realistic chance to go up via the play-offs and should be doing all we can to achieve that

Bye Derek!!

I think king letting me down would finish me. Fortunately I think that's highly unlikely.

 

I have a man crush developing.

Remember and put the man crush aside at times so we can give the scrutiny that anyone in his position should now have.

 

Very good interview.

I think Llambias is just trouble making, surely King wasn't bluffing about having a nomad sorted?

Who would chair the meeting ? There is no NOMAD and no Directors left. Easdale cant as he isn't a Plc Board member. So who chairs the meeting ?

 

Perhaps they can do it via video link?

But how can the EGM continue as planned with no Directors and no NOMAD ?

 

Long as someone chairs the meeting it seems it can go ahead

When the apology isn't tempered with notions that don't tie up with reality?

 

It's like the stormtroopers all running to Luke saying we always wanted you to win. But the empire was a good idea wasn't it.

 

I admit to faults and mistakes, I'm completely against the regime and have been for a while now.

 

If you're expecting some kind of perpetual beg for forgiveness and me to apologise for every single opinion I'd ever held though then you'll have a very long wait. And I don't believe you're that unreasonable

If you say so . Just interesting that McMurdo got a free pass for a while and still has supporters yet if you go into a topic about SoS or RST all you get is widespread hatred.

I can't speak for other people, i distinctly remember saying Bill was an arse a while ago when he banned critical comments from his blog.

 

I know we haven't always agreed in boardroom issues mate but give me some leeway, nobody has paid or planted me I've only ever cared about the club. If I was interested in continuing agendas I'd have backed Llambias and co over King, I didn't because I believe King provides the better chance of us getting out of this mess

You weren't the only person I was addressing - if I was I would've quoted you. Clearly the cap fits though...

 

First of all, we do have different rules on here and I'm very proud of them. A cursory look at other forums - especially the likes of RM - make me embarrassed to be a bear at times. I'm stunned they allow the type of regular abuse that helps no-one - abuse you seem happy to, not only tolerate, but take an active part in. Retracting is fine and I'm glad the penny has finally dropped but, quite frankly, you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

I think the credit given to the fan groups and the individual people you clearly detest has been largely fair. Yes, a few people may have went OTT with respect to the praise but it's interesting how you're prepared to talk about that but not of the personal threats and abuse handed to them which have been much more widespread and regular. Those that take part in such crap or indulge it are a disgrace. Balance indeed.

 

Of course this still doesn't make Graham or Houston or any other board critic better than anyone else. I don't see anyone suggesting as such - all I see is disappointment in that our fellow fans would rather turn on each other instead of focussing on those who have put out club's future under threat. Yes, we may not all have agreed with boycotts but when we see how folk were lied to - particularly when it comes to buying merchandise - then it's no wonder so many fans said enough is enough. And I'm glad they did as, make no mistake, if we hadn't then our money would still be going elsewhere rather than for the betterment of our club. Unfortunately, as long as these various onerous contracts remain in place, it may remain the case that most of our cash doesn't go to Rangers but Sports Direct. Is that fair? Is that positive? Is that worth backing Mike Ashley? Incredibly, we still have people suggesting it is more agreeable than putting a selection of Rangers fans in charge.

 

Moving on, you are right that ultimately the board have caused their own downfall and I wouldn't disagree with the selection of examples you highlighted in that respect. However, where your argument falls down is that before these examples there were many more and the spine of the boardroom - or at least the decision-making process - has remained the same since 2012 where early on people were questioning the intentions of Green who was brought in at the last minute via the back door. Throughout that three years of exposure by the same fans you're happy to abuse, it's become gradually clear to most people of intelligence (as you put it) that the intentions of a long line of people were not in the interests of the club. It may have taken you until January of this year to recognise that but the lack of trust has been present for a damn sight longer for those of us in receipt of the lawyers letters and threats. I'd argue that when directors are posting secretly on abusive forums, PR companies employing people to do the same including writing blogs filled with blatant propaganda while attempting to stifle open debate with the majority of fans then it's clear that we had a regime not interested in transparency or debate but merely spin and control. It was also clear that some fans - a small minority thankfully - preferred to concentrate on personal fall outs than what was staring them in the face for a very long time. Bizarrely, these people still exist - can we take them seriously again?

 

I could probably go on all day showing the various examples that should have had every Rangers fan sitting up instead of covering their eyes and ears and insulting each other. However, where you are right is in saying 'I told you so' won't get us anywhere fast. Indeed, I don't particularly care that some fans were late to the table just that they're at the table and now appreciate how dangerous the situation is. Thankfully - even including the minorities on the likes of RM and VB - a huge majority of bears now want change and as much as some fans want to underplay supporter influence we've never been in a better position to ensure our voice is heard. Like you, I remain sceptical of King and I'll be cynical about any future owner of the club. That may be fair or it may be daft but any true Rangers fan (or someone who is prepared to say they understand us) will recognise that the events of 2011 to 2015 will mean natural suspicion of any future custodian.

 

This should never have been about taking sides but for some fans - online at least - it was and that's been the tragedy of recent years. It's not about backing King 100% or criticising the incumbents 100% but having an open mind and examining every issue on it's own merits as well as general trends. If we're take anything out of this disastrous period, then it should be that. We've had enough lessons on the subject so we should all be experts now.

There's more than me that should be ashamed from themselves by holding to similar standards. The most I feel I've done is take part in name calling which isn't pleasant don't get me wrong and really it has to stop all round, but I've never once tried to intimidate or threaten anyone so I'm not the worst offender out there.

 

I've never defended personal threats and abuse, all I'd point out is that more than one 'side' can be accused of that.

 

You don't get me suggesting that, and I've been very clear that I don't want to have continued resentment of boycott vs no boycott. I never even have backed Mike Ashley, the most I did was wait and see for a bit because of his wealth, January was my final tipping point but I hadn't been giving the board anything like the backing I did when Green was in charge. I know I haven't been on here much but my views can be found elsewhere, it wasn't a jump the shark moment. Even going back to Green's period you'll find critical comments from me towards other individuals, Toxic Jack being one of them. Scepticism of the alternatives did make me wary and to an extent it still does but things have gotten so bad then it has to be a better option

 

Agreed, and moving forward is also why I'm attempting to make a more permanent return to Gersnet and to not hide from any questions.

Interesting point about the paid for MH plants. I don't recall any condemnation from STB et al. Quite a bizarre situation where you have people paid to act against our interests being favoured.

 

I've been critical of Imran Ahmad and Bill McMurdo plenty of times, I've also talked about how my family have met Jack Irvine in the past and backed up his toxic image.

 

So it goes to show some comments are remembered better than others.

Hopefully GS will call off the dogs then.

Out of interest this heat of the moment comment was actually made on my own FB page, not even on a forum

Funnily enough I've withdrawn that on here today, this is the third time I'm doing it.

Again the quote above is meaningless without specifics. You were very specific in pointing to "Chris and Craig" but have not backed it up.

Basically they both went on a public attack in response to a couple of comments that annoyed them, neither comment involved terrible personal abuse and far as I can see they could have at least gone to the people directly first. There seems to have been other incidents, I know of what i'm on about more specifically because I know the people and I feel they really didn't deserve it. There's no point in being more specific than that, I'm not looking to convince anyone to have the same view as me, rightly or wrongly CG and CH seem to be popular figures amongst the support right now and I'm not going to change that.

In bold above - Therein lies the problem.

 

It's a real shame you did not openly try see the best in fellow Bears.

That's not really true, I know plenty of people including family who haven't always agreed with me on boardroom issues but I've never decided that they're bad people. Things get heated but in the main I'm sure we all have the same motive.

In what way is STB (or anyone else who didn't agree with C&C's tactics) comparable to someone like a Nazi war criminal who might head for Argentina and be hunted down by the Israeli Secret Service?

 

I hope the secret service aren't at Cowdenbeath on Saturday!

so for a whole 7 weeks out of the 3 years of theft. nice

And before, that crossed the line beyond all doubt but ultimately but I'd been saying how poor the board was doing long before.

That's just about as last minute as it gets. Most of us realised our club is being stripped bare when they caught on to chuckles' fantasy spiel.

I hadn't been properly supportive of the board for a long time before that though, I openly admit I've been inclined to try and see the best in the people in charge especially when doubtful about the alternative so to an extent I was waiting to see what happened with Ashley perhaps giving us some sort of plan for the future.

 

Trying to mortgage Ibrox completely ended any patience I had though and King called his EGM the same day. I clearly wasn't alone there hence the size and intensity of the protest at the abandoned Hearts game, no other protest had been anything like that before.

 

My ideal preference would have been getting Sarver involved but that looks dead in the water.

Surely you will acknowledge the constant torrent of abuse (frequently personal) these guys have had to put up with? Do you deny them the right to defend themselves?

Completely acknowledge it, it's not just them that have had problems though, there's been too much abuse amongst a population of people that are ultimately all on the same side. The internet has been bad for the Rangers support in many ways.

 

They've got every right to defend themselves, I don't think that explains the incidents I'm particularly thinking of, unless someone has said something incredibly contemptuous I think you should first go to people directly if you've got a problem and if they're easily accessible rather than jumping to a public attack. I've never hidden my own identity so it's easy for someone to come to me if they're not happy about something.

 

I'll say again though, in the long run of our clubs future it doesn't matter much and it would be good if in a few years these kind of squabbles are pretty much forgotten.

A lot of last minute side switching and history revisionism. I for one won't forget the last few years.

No last minute stuff from me, the day King announced his EGM I wanted all the board out. I've posted proof of it.

 

You can forget or not forget what you want but we all want the same thing in the end and we all want to only have to worry about football again, what good does continued resentment do when we've got plenty of outside enemies to deal with? And yet again I say this goes for me also, I'm not claiming to be an innocent.

So what's that, an extra 60k cost to the club for no reason?

We may for a while have to "play the game" so to speak, as distasteful as most of the other players will be.

 

Ultimately, we need to ensure that our importance in the Scottish game is recognised and adequately represented so that we have our due influence.

Can accept the tactical angle and obviously King needs the SFAs approval to even get on board.

 

Wouldn't be happy if it involves us doing all the begging and apologising though, and they need to be ready to stand up for us when it's required. If King is anything I'd like to think he's not weak.

STB you really need to outline your reasons for not being " particularly keen on Chris and Craig as people". If you are not prepared to do that then your words are without meaning and you should probably refrain from making totally vague implications.

It's not meant to be vague, in the grand scheme of our clubs future it's not really relevant. I mentioned it to explain why I still might sound quite severe against them rather it being a vendetta against fan groups, I give the RST due credit for the voting rights they've built up and I contributed to Rangers First myself weeks ago. Having genuine fan influence in the future is very important even though I doubt full fan ownership will ever happen.

 

I haven't particularly liked their tactics at times against other fans and fairly recently I feel they've tried to publicly smear a couple of people I know so I'm not a fan. That's a personal opinion though, going forward I hope we can unite as a support despite our differences.