The Real PapaBear

Lurking for 2 and a half years and that's your first post?

worth the wait, I'd say

The board are meddling in team matters because the football management are perceived to be failing in their primary objective i.e. getting Rangers promoted back to the top division.

We can debate all day whether they're correct to do that or not

The one reason, the only reason, the board are meddling in team matters is that they are making money out of it. Mark my words, there will be a slimey wee contract which says that for every game these guys play then money will be paid to Uno Hu, money which Rangers will have to borrow from Uno Hu.

Clearly I'm in the minority on this one - which is fine.

 

When it comes to on field performances though, enough is enough. The current lot don't care - and most of them are guaranteed a place as it is. See McCulloch, Foster, Wallace, Black, Law, and so on.

 

So - if it means we bring in better, hungrier players then so be it. And if it means the lies of Black and McCulloch are chukced form the team then all the better.

 

I'm not saying this is the 'ideal' way for this to come about. However we have incompetence on the pitch and incompetence in the dug out - something has to give if we want to see improvement.

 

With the 'current' mob I have absoluetly no confidence that we would go up through the play offs - noen at all. Maybe this bit of tinkering with the team can at least give us a chance of that.

 

No-one is stoppimg McDowall going other than himself. He has been a failure at Rangers and does not justify more money.

While I recognise that it's unacceptable to tell a manager who to play, I can't help but agree with you about the Newcastle loans. Let them play and get on with it. This Rangers team has been stealing wages all season and we owe them zero point fuck all loyalty.

So five of them are going to lose their places? So what? They expect us to give a toss, when they haven't given one about us all season? Nah, have a wee rest lads. Sit on the bench and ponder life while the 5 new guys take your places.

Where I can't agree with you is your comments about Kenny McD.

He's not greedy, lazy or dishonest and he would be an utter moron to walk away with nothing when he's owed money by the low-lifes in the boardroom. At least with KM in place, we get to know stuff that's going on which we otherwise wouldn't.

I think this is the end of the tunnel - get yer sunglasses on guys.

Its the worst celtic team I have ever seen, and a lot of celtic fans I know think the same. And on top of that they are in decline as their (non-player trading) income reduces every year with reduced season ticket sales (and all at reduced prices), hospitality slashed, sponsorship and tv money reduced, and even their glamour pre & mid season friendlies are not as lucrative as before. Their overheads for CP and Lennoxtown are easily as high as ours are for Ibrox & Auchenhowie, and their annual salary bill is 2-3 times as much as ours. Not forgetting the huge Co-op bank debt that they still have.

 

Let us not kid ourselves on that celtic are uncatchable, they are run today like they have been run for the last 100 years, if they are ahead of us on the park they never invest, their whole existence and well-being is to be slightly ahead of us.

 

IF we can oust this board and influence at the EGM and get the feel-good factor back to the club, together with the correct managerial appointment, we can be back competing with them in one-two seasons. As stupid as this sounds given our current plight, it is easily turned around because celtic have allowed themselves to remain in touching distance by the lack of investment and forward thinking, together with the economic factors and the bigotry of their hard core support who are only going to turn up when it is competitive and every result is gauged by what our result was.

 

A lot of our playing problems are to do with confidence and attitude. The malaise at the club, in the boardroom, the management, coaching and playing poor opponents for 3 years now, has led to the current group of players underperforming and not really caring too much about it. A lot of these players are better than what we have seen from them, a few are being played ahead of better players due to personality issues (management team prefer some players to others who could be playing better than them), and the lack of resources has meant we have not made any effort to recruit better players within our existing budget and move on players who are surplus to requirements. A lot of this can change pretty much overnight with the victory in the boardroom followed by the right managerial appointment.

 

Can many of you take issue with the synopsis that if Ashley loses the AGM, and we appoint Laudrup/De Boer (plucked out of think air, other attractive options are available) as manager, our next home gate would be over 40,000. I believe that would happen. Bears I speak to who have stopped going due to the boardroom or the football Ally/McDowall played are desparate to come back if they are given a decent reason to do so. With proper PR this would be seen as the new revolution at Ibrox and Bears would be clamouring to get behind this and give good bears in control in the boardroom and in management the backing we have been known for giving when things we are being treated fairly.

What he said. Every word.

The first minister managed to intervene in his beloved hearts.

Remind me? I must have missed that. What was the intervention and did it concern a reserved power?

Its worse than that then RPB - my Labour MP is Jim McGovern.

 

You might recognise the name....

 

 

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/913

We should have a word with the admins and see if it's possible to have a 'Condolences' button next to Agree and Thanks.

On the bright side, if things pan out as some of us hope, Mr McGovern will be out of your hair in May.

RPB

 

The constituents of those MSP's are still subject to the rulings/workings and authority of HMRC.

 

If there are serious questions being asked of that organisation is it not their duty to raise such concerns in the Scottish parliament ?

This may come as a surprise, but no it's not. Not only is it not their duty, they are prevented from doing so.

MSPs have no authority or remit where a reserved power is concerned. The Scottish Parliament cannot discuss those issues which Westminster has decided cannot be discussed - so our Parliament not only has its hands tied, it also has a gag over its mouth. The only Scottish politicians who could have dealt with this issue were those from the Labour party, elected to sit in Westminster - and good luck with that.

No, let's not try to push the blame onto the wrong people.

The only ones responsible for the stitch up and humiliation and destruction of our club are the British Establishment, whose flags and songs are so beloved of those being screwed by it.

Talk about Stockholm Syndrome.

Well Andrew a similar line of argument was proposed by some of the author's In Born Under a Union Flag.

 

Perhaps had there been a more vociferous criticism' date=' a genuine desire by Holyrood MP's to get some answers, particularly from HMRC, then your argument would have some merit.

 

As it stands to date - while Westminster MP's at leats conducted some kind of enquiry

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-18706453

 

Holyrood appears to have done nothing.[/quote']

 

 

Income tax and the misdeeds of HMRC is a reserved issue.

 

It was not possible for Holyrood to have become involved as there is simply no mechanism for doing so, any more than your local MSP would be able to intervene on foreign affairs.

Always loved the first of those shows, but while I'm a fan of Iannucci's work, I found The Thick of It less interesting. Hard job matching up to Hawthorn, Eddington & Fowldes, mind you.

I think they approach the same subject from two contrasting positions and in two very different ways. TTOI focuses on the hypocrisy and venality of much (most?) of the political class, whereas YM brilliantly exposes the machinations of the people who actually do run the country - Whitehall civil servants. What's depressing about YM is that in the 30 years since it was made absolutely nothing has changed.

Jeez, we can't tell you how much it cost. We can't tell you whether we could have settled. We can't tell you what's happening in certain cases. Basically you can get stuffed and there's nothing you can do. Huzzah for HMRC!

Anyone who wants to understand exactly how Westminster works and how we are goverened simply has to devote themselves to the study of two sources: Yes Minister and The Thick of It.

Those two fictional programmes, and especially the first, are based more in fact than any documentary ever made.

it is unlikely but i do hope our new board just tear up the contracts and say they are illegal.

I addressed this in another thread recently. I reckon Ashley's long term goal, now that he knows his whores are finished, is to tie us up in contracts that will be so expensive to get out of (and his pockets are far, far deeper than anyone on our side) that we'll be forced to come to a compromise, whereby he gets to suck our blood, but not suck us completely dry. It would be exhilerating for King and T3B to tear up the contracts, but I fear that realpolitik means that just ain't gonna happen.

after we get our club in the right hands i fear it will be a decade before we can get it out of the hole greenco have dug it into.

could be. It'll depend on how much damage Ashley causes before his fingers are pried off of us and what the response of the new board is. He'll be sucking our blood long after his whores on the board are removed, that's for sure.

Sorry Gordy these day's are far gone. The commercial interest has long overshadowed the sporting side of things.

I would even say at player level games are thrown and yellow cards are recieved at certain times to keep the betting syndicates happy.

I think both you and T4C are essentially correct in saying that it's all about commercial interest - BUT, it's all about commercial interest of which UEFA/FIFA control or at least get a cut.

If Ashley if found to have broken EUFA rules, without offering a tithe, then he/we will be held accountable. Ashley may be in teh world's top 300 richest people, but UEFA are more powerful.

Excellent stuff. Another gem from the lovechild of Jack Dee and Jon Richardson.

The other question I'd like to know the answer to is: by what mechanism has MA garnered support from the share holders who have sided with him so far?

 

Does he stealth-own them through some subsidiary? (In which case the SFA would be after him)

Do they benefit from onerous contracts of their own that MA's placemen will maintain for them? (Which would be a dereliction of fiduciary responsibility)

 

Basically, IMO, there is no way MA is working with the best interests of RIFC in mind, and any shareholder that votes to maintain the status quo at an EGM must be dodgy in some way.

Stating the obvious I know, but if we could somehow uncover these dodgy connections it would spell the end for all involved.

It would be nice - but nigh on impossible, I'd wager.

Let's take a purely theoretical scenario. Company A, let's call it FCB Ltd for the sake of argument, gives a juicy contract to company B, let's call it FCB Pals Ltd for the sake of argument. FCB Pals Ltd in turn gives nice little earners to Companies C and D, let's call them FCB Lapdogs Ltd and FCB Puppets Ltd for the sake of argument, who in turn each give a Big Brucey Bonus to Mr Stephen Pivs - Mr S.Pivs being the director of a, oh I don't know, a sports club for the sake of argument. Good luck proving that one in court.

Just out of interest, has this been done before? What right has the Parliament to question people like Ashley or summon him to Parliament?

people can be compelled to attend a Select Committee or Enquiry and answer questions under oath - but a run of the mill MP cannot compel a normal citizen to attend parliament to answer questions.

And, anyway, this sudden interest in getting to the bottom of the Rangers saga by Labour MPs has more to do with the upcoming election and the prospect of them getting wiped out by the SNP than with any search for justice.

The only "good" thing I make of this is that they probably done it to shore up their paymaster's role before getting kicked out, of which they are probably certain. They have stored their packed envelopes away and await their removal ...

 

NB: an FFer just noted that the share price is at an 52 week high at 32p ...

I reckon the ****s have stitched us up with these contracts in the full knowledge that if the new board, or shareholders acting on behalf of the company, seeks to have the contracts declared null and void and / or seeks personal redress from any current board members the entire sage will be dragged slowly and at huge expense through the courts.

Even if we (i.e the good guys) won the court cases, the cost of winning would be so prohibitive that the new board would be more than likely to come to a compromise agreement with the Fat Cockney Bastard, whereby his contracts are rengotiated but still leaving him with a far bigger slice of the pie than he is entitled to.

Stuff some block out time and again when talking about us and postmen, plummers and co. for these last few years. Stuff, that happens time and again, all over the place. And today again ...

 

CHELSEA 2 - Bradford City 4 (that's the English third tier team).

apropos, Jose's comments - quality:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30969286

There is one thing that we and Timmy have in common: we're both obsessed with Rangers.

There's no way any action can be taken against Simonsen. The precedent was set with Black; a man who not only betted on football, not only betted on games involving his club but betted against his own team - and was allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened.

One of the most shameful episodes of the past three years is the fact that he was ever again allowed to pull on a blue shirt after he was found out.

So far I have seen Do The Bouncy raise enough for two life membearships' in RF as did Gers Forum (who done that in 2 days).

 

For obvious reasons RF isn't brought up on FF and Rangers Media someone started a thread but there was a couple of misconceptions then an admin closed the thread.

 

I would hope that someone can start a RST life membership collection on FF and hopefully get money for shares that way.

I can't help thinking that if people took off their egos when they put on the scarf, we would be in a far healthier place than we are.

would it be cheeky to suggest that those Gersnetters who are also members of other forums mention what's being done here?

Who knows, we might develop a bit of friendly rivalry and hopefully they could out-do what we have done - especially if tehy know they'll have the option to contribute to their cause of choice.

I'm in. And a huge thumbs up to MB for getting this done.

His eye for a forward pass on the deck can be really good at times, but he just isn't mobile enough to play in our midfield.

 

He could maybe do a job up front if we're ever short of slow and immobile strikers though.

seriously, what are the chances of that ever happening?