SteveC

Full time. We won 1-0 Played PTS GF GA 1 Celtic FC Youth 20 44 43 19 2 Rangers Youth 20 44 42 20

56 minutes, still 1-0 to us. Kristian Gibson replaced Robbie Crawford at HT, btw. 62' - That's Kyle Hutton's night over and a decent shift from him comes to an end as he is replaced by Rangers' trialist. Still 1-0 to Gers 70 mins still 1-0 85 mins...1-0

Celtic lost 1-0 Table as things stand (we are just at HT, remember) Played/ PTS/ GF /GA 1 Celtic FC Youth 20 44 43 19 2 Rangers Youth 20 44 42 20 3 Hibernian Youth 21 42 53 28 4 Motherwell Youth 23 38 45 41

HT' - Gers have also come close through Hegarty, Stoney and Gallagher while Hutton has come through his first half since November unscathed HT' - And there's the whistle with just that Halkett goal separating the sides. It's 1-0 to Rangers at the break and they deserve their lead

Last minute at hibs v Timz, last minute of our first half. Scores still 1-0 to us and 1-0 against them We are currently two goals behind them overall (one less scored, one more conceded)

I think so, yes - exciting.

timz down to ten men Not quite - We are currently two goals behind them overall (one less scored, one more conceded)

Rangers U20 team v Dundee United: Gallacher; Halkett, Hegarty, Gasparotto, Sinnamon; Dykes, Crawford, Hutton, Telfer, Stoney; Gallagher On the bench this evening for Gordon Durie's Light Blues are Kelly (gk), Gibson, Pascazio, Roberts and a trialist Halkett scored after some seventy seconds to put us ahead (Celtic trailing 1-0 into their second half)

"Defeat from Rovers would have been the most humiliating result in Rangers’ history" Not even close. I'm 55 and the team that lost at Berwick is probably the best one I've seen in all my days. We feared no-one in Europe, eliminated Dortmund the holders, would have won the cup were the final in a neutral country and/or Berwick not happened. Would have won the league too if Berwick had not happened. We were probably in the top ten Euro teams at the time - certainly pushing for it - just because we were second best in Scotland that tends to be forgotten. That day was a seismic shock of a defeat, mind-scarringly unexpected.

I'm not one for the messiahs, but we have yet to make a fist of the fans offering an alternative so, all reservations and view on messiahs aside, King is all we have at the moment. As for "who the next" one will be = no-one. We are at the end of the line and the railtracks and signals are being manned by people whose destination station is not the same as our own. We and/or King take over the train or we've had it (at least in any form that we'd recognise as the Rangers)

I have taken off the headline, saying that our league win will be "hollow" as that may have distracted from what, for me, is an inarguable piece. ( http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-title-will-be-a-hollow-victory-1-3335530 ) by ALAN PATTULLO Published on the 11 March Rangers could be hours away from the League 1 title. The last but one objective in Rangers’ projected return to the top tier in successive seasons could be complete. Another mission accomplished if they win tomorrow night against Airdrieonians. It will be deservedly so. Rangers have won 25 of their 27 matches. They have drawn the two others. They have scored 84 goals, conceding only 14. They are doing what we all expected them to do. They are doing what they should be doing. But is the journey proving as gainful as hoped? Are Rangers making enough use of their journey back to the top flight? This question was first posed last season when a team of mostly experienced professionals – in several cases, internationals – made swift work of part-time opponents. Then, the same complaint was heard. Rangers are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They are failing to take a prize opportunity to blood young talent in the first team. More than one person has commented on the underwhelming atmosphere at Bayview earlier his month, when Rangers needed an injury-time penalty to secure three points against East Fife. It was a scuffed victory, set against a backdrop of yelps and shouts from the players that were heard from television screens across the land. It was as uninspiring as it was possible to be. Manager Ally McCoist admitted as much afterwards. He was happy enough with the result, just not the performance. It was far from what he had expected, he said. It was certainly far from what should be expected from what is still, at even casual glance, a team of Scottish Premiership-standard players. For those with the health of Scottish football at heart, it is a slightly deflating experience to study the Rangers teamsheet each week. Doing so will stir far more painful emotions for Rangers fans, since it provides plenty of pointers towards why the club are still hemorrhaging money. Well-paid – some would say vastly overpaid – seasoned professionals playing far below their level is not the only reason why the club are reduced to casting around for loans. However, it isn’t helping. Much was made of how Rangers might negotiate their way back up the leagues when it was confirmed that they would begin season 2012-13 in the old Third Division. While clearly traumatic, some expressed the hope that this would at least provide them with the opportunity to rebuild from the bottom up; to resuscitate the club’s youth development programme. Few can claim that Murray Park has been as successful on that front as was hoped. The most successful graduates are now playing elsewhere. Are there many coming through the ranks? Not on the evidence presented to date. Of the players used by McCoist on Saturday, most would not have seemed out of place in the Scottish Premiership. Indeed, several of them are not only Premiership players, but top end ones. Lee Wallace was one of Hearts’ best players before he made the switch to Ibrox, as was David Templeton. Jon Daly was regarded as a significant loss by Dundee United fans when he departed, while Richard Foster is the epitome of a dependable professional, though when he returned to the club he seemed far from essential to Rangers’ ambitions of winning the title. Cammy Bell, meanwhile, had earned international recognition with Kilmarnock. On the bench, of course, is substitute goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, with the younger Scott Gallacher condemned to play reserve team football following his return to Ibrox after a loan spell with Airdrieonians. Defenders Craig Halkett and Lucas Gasparotto, who qualifies for Canada, are two players whom many expected to have been employed by now, but neither has featured yet this season – not for Rangers at least. Fraser Aird and Robert Crawford, who replaced Aird during last Saturday’s match, are sources of some optimism, as, of course, is Lewis Macleod, the currently injured Scotland Under-21 internationlist. McCoist clearly does not believe others coming through at Murray Park are good enough. If he did, he would have fewer qualms about pitching them into the team, the way that Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has done at a higher level. It is unlikely that McCoist will be persuaded to do so next season either, in a league where teams need to know how to look after themselves, perhaps to an even greater extent than in the Premiership. So has Rangers’ window for youth development now passed? Probably. They have other battles to fight in any case. But when they do take their place in the top flight, probably in two seasons’ time, the relief may well be tempered by a niggling sense of what else might have been delivered over the course of their exile.

That was from The TRS.... By.. Hold on... Ewan McQueen

That isn't a fact, though, hardly any youth in our squad on Saturday - Albion, like Dunfermline and others looked like the children of most of our lot. Good points though

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/318-take-the-power-back? By Ewan McQueen If you asked anyone who knows me well to tell you something I’m passionate about, it’s almost certain they would reply with the answer ‘Rangers Football Club’. It has been a huge part of my life since I started following the club in 1995. Like thousands of others, I live and breathe Rangers every single day and constantly check social media sites and forums to find out the latest developments inside Ibrox. And now it feels like a revolution is brewing amongst the fans. And for my mind it has been a long time coming. The horrors of administration just over two years ago are still raw and can never be understated. However, it should have been a watershed moment for us fans despite the shock we were in. It should never be forgotten that David Murray got us into a real mess before he sold us down the river to Craig Whyte. That has all been well documented and there’s no need to go over it again here. But Whyte’s reign at the club should have proven once and for all that there should be no more days of one man running the club. Like every Rangers fan, I was stunned on Valentine’s Day two years ago. But we missed an opportunity. To its credit, the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund was a superb scheme and raised a wonderful amount of money when there were huge fears Rangers would die. But the RFFF didn’t go far enough. It seemed as though fans were waiting for a saviour, whether it was the Blue Knights, Brian Kennedy, Jim McColl and Walter Smith or, as it transpired, Charles Green and his cronies. Administration should have provided the perfect opportunity for fans to mobilise to ensure it never happened again. After the simply astonishing squandering of money and obscene bonuses to board members under Green’s regime, Rangers can’t rule out admin mark two which is simply disgraceful. And that’s why it’s time to take the power back and create a situation where fans have proper representation in the club and control a significant amount of shares. Ask yourself this: would you rather see the club you love ran by fans that feel the same way as you or by men like the Easdale brothers, hedge fund managers and the continuously mysterious Blue Pitch and Margarita Holdings? For me it is a no brainer. This board aren’t fit for purpose and none of them have any idea what it is like to live and breathe Rangers. They are in it for themselves. And the fact they are now going to be using season ticket money to pay back a loan at a ludicrously high rate of interest just takes the biscuit. For many fans the loans have been the straw that has finally broken the camel’s back. Schemes like Buy Rangers and Rangers First are to be hugely welcomed. For far too long there have been divisions amongst the Rangers support that have held us back. Of course it is only natural that there are debates amongst any club’s support. I regularly have fierce debates about the manager, players and tactics with friends I go to games with. That’s natural. What isn’t natural is that until now Rangers fans haven’t grabbed the chance to gain real power at Ibrox. Look at what the Foundation of Hearts has done after the Gorgie club was run by shysters. They’ve just announced their 8,000th member while the Rangers Supporters Trust currently has 2,500 members. I am one of them and find that stat very depressing. Rangers First seems to have captured the imagination though. First up, the name is simple and extremely effective. For too long we have been run by men who have never put Rangers first. As fans, by selling 72,000 season tickets over the last two seasons to watch football which has been very poor at times, by raising £5.5m in a share issue before Christmas and by simply continuing to follow the team the length and breadth of Scotland, we have always put Rangers First. Modern football offers far too many opportunities for businessmen and ‘spivs’ to make a quick buck at the expense of the people that truly matter at a football club – the fans. You only need to look at the way Vincent Tan is running Cardiff if you want an example. The next few years need to see a massive increase in clubs becoming fan owned or run as a community interest company. As Richard Atkinson of Supporters Direct says, fan ownership isn’t just about owning shares. It is about getting what you want from the club. There is simply no chance of getting that under this board. In simple maths terms, Rangers fans can easily out do what Hearts supporters have achieved. Say only 20,000 of our fanbase paid £15 a month in direct debits. That would equate to income of £3.6m per year and, at current market levels, 5% of shares could be purchased in three months. Both the Rangers First and Buy Rangers options are very reasonably priced as well. The Rangers First option gives you the option of signing up for as little as £5 per month. The price of a fish supper per month to try and reclaim the club I love? Count me in. And I’ve also signed up to the Buy Rangers scheme of purchasing shares in the club from as little as £11.25 per month. Both schemes are simple and I would urge every fan to do something. It is time to show you REALLY care about your favourite club. The Rangers support can be found in corners all over the world. Quite simply, if we don’t do it this time through these projects, then it can be argued we deserve what we get as a support. It feels like the right time. The financial crisis has reached breaking point again. Whilst there might be criticism of performances on the park, we have strolled to the League One title. We have now completed the first two stages of our journey back to the top but we simply can’t afford to be cut adrift when we return there. Hanging over these schemes is of course Dave King. Now, King’s tax issues in South Africa have been gone over more times than I have had hot dinners but what can’t be denied is that he is a Rangers man. It seems baffling that the board call him disruptive when he is a lifelong fan willing to put money into a club he loves. His idea of a season ticket trust is to be welcomed. Let’s get one thing straight, it isn’t a boycott. It is about, as King says himself, getting transparency from the board over the state of the club. At the time of writing, over 5,600 supporters have signed up to the call from the Union of Fans to back King. Again, that is real and decisive action from a significant section of the support. Key to all this is engaging those fans who aren’t online or those who are perhaps switched off from the turmoil. Indeed, I have friends and relatives in this position. Fan ownership remains a long term dream, but it can be driven forward quickly with the right marketing and information that is delivered to the fanbase. Legendary US rock band Rage Against the Machine once sang a ferocious song which shares the title of this article. When the revolution is led by the people (or in this case, fans), the men at the top can find it nigh on impossible to fight back against it. This particular Rangers revolution has only just started but I’m excited what I see on Twitter, Facebook and various forums. We have woken up big time as a support and credit to everyone who has got involved already. It will take a while and it will require patience but we simply must get rid of this board once and for all. We have a voice and it’s the most powerful inside Ibrox- more powerful than Graham Wallace or Sandy Easdale or even Ally McCoist. It’s time to take the power back.

I'd like us to have stayed in the League Cup too

Practice free kicks, work harder, play with tempo...Not be tired in a game v Albion Rovers...oh Ian, the list goes on and on. I'd also want our club not to buy ignorant, petulant, cowardly thugs with unfounded arrogant attitudes. Tokely, Dods and Black = Inverness's destroyers of the beautiful game. To be fair though, he'll only be repeating what is commonly felt in the dressing room. I think Black's comments above are shared by the squad and the management staff. Ally is forever saying that the "lads have been tremendous", "today was a blip but these boys are unbeaten in the league, they've been wonderful"

Just to clarify, I was posting a piece from yesterday's Telegraph newspaper. I put the link on the top of my post but perhaps should have made that clearer

I would humbly suggest that Ally's dismal cup record is something equivalent to the shocks you'd expect at Rangers over half a century, not three years. (Granted, of course, the three years are exceptional for other, even worse, reasons)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/10686563/Rangers-Cup-Hall-of-shame.html Rangers' Cup Hall of shame Ally McCoist’s three seasons as manager of Rangers have put the shock into shocking when it comes to performances in the cups. Here are nine of the worst Rangers 0 Malmo 1 July 26 2011 Champions League third qualifying round, first leg The beginning of Rangers financial crisis which led to administration and liquidation. A goal from Daniel Larsson in the 17th minute gave the Swedes a vital victory and they drew the second leg 1-1 to deny McCoist’s men entry to the most lucrative competition of them all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NK Maribor 2 Rangers 1 August 18, 2011 Europa League play-off first leg Forgotten man Juan Manuel Ortiz gave Rangers a half-time lead in Slovenia, only for Agim Ibraimi to equalise in the 52nd minute. Etien Velikonja back-heeled the winner past Allan McGregor in stoppage time and a 1-1 draw in the return leg saw another revenue stream shut down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Falkirk 3 Rangers 2 September 21, 2011 League Cup fourth round Goals from international stars Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic looked to have taken the tie into extra time but Mark Millar’s last-gasp free-kick was fumbled over the line by Neil Alexander and the First Division side celebrated a famous win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 0 Dundee United 2 February 5, 2012 Scottish Cup fifth round First-half goals from Gavin Gunning and Johnny Russell put United in Easy Street and they cruised into the quarter-finals. Nine days later the club was forced into administration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 2 Queen of the South 2 (Queens win 4-3 on penalties) September 18, 2012 Ramsdens Cup quarter-final Nicky Clark (remember him?) fired the Third Division minnows in front after 49 minutes and, although Barrie McKay and Lee McCulloch put them in the driving seat another last-gasp goal proved costly as Gavin Reilly took the game into extra time. Rangers’ Kevin Kyle and Queens’ Willie Gibson were sent off before Dean Shiels and Anestis Argyriou missed from the spot in the penalty shoot-out, allowing the underdogs to go through. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 October 31, 2012 League Cup quarter-final Hampden hopes were raised by a 2-0 win over SPL high-fliers Motherwell in the previous round but they were comprehensively beaten by the Highlanders. Andrew Shinnie gave Thistle a first-half lead and goals after the break Gary Warren and Graeme Shinnie emphasised the superiority of Terry Butcher’s men. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dundee United 3 Rangers 0 February 2, 2013 Scottish Cup fifth round Jackie McNamara’s first game in charge of United got off to the perfect start when Russell gave the home side the lead after just 13 seconds. The Rangers fans who boycotted Tannadice were the lucky ones as their heroes were ripped apart. Jon Daly made it 2-0 before half-time and Russell had already made it 3-0 before Ian Black and Kal Naismith were sent off in the dying minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forfar 2 Rangers 1 August 3, 2013 League Cup first round A double from Gavin Swankie gave the Loons a surprise win at Station Park. He took advantage of a McCulloch error to open the scoring and, although Fraser Aird equalised six minutes from the end the part-timers looked the fitter side in extra time and Swankie struck again in the 115th minute. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 1 March 9, 2014 Scottish Cup quarter-final A controversial goal from Bilel Moshni 12 minutes from time rescued ropy Rangersat a half-empty Ibrox and earned the part-timers a money-spinning replay. Long-serving Ciaran Donnelly had fired the £30-per-week journeymen from the Second Division into a shock lead after only 13 minutes and they looked set for a famous victory until referee John Beaton allowed Boshni’s late header to stand.

Even worse mistakes, I'd say. They had more chance to avoid having to do this. In fact you can't help fearing that they want to incur the secured loans, that it is all deliberate.

That was meant to be my non-too well put point. "Why would STB not like such a board if he "has a thing for Green"? in other words. Your original question seemed to be answered in your own post, I thought. Just ignore me, been a long day already!

Maybe the board have a thing for Chuck too?

Yes, but not in lower leagues with two season ticket income sandwiching a 22 million IPO at a time; instead at a time when chasing top honours and carring huge historical debt

http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/rangers/266490-rangers-shareholder-loan-deal-to-be-repaid-using-season-ticket-money/ A controversial loan taken out by Rangers from two of its shareholders could be paid back using season ticket money, according to an agreement seen by STV. The agreement appears to show that both facilities shall be repaid either from "the sale of season ticket monies for the 2014/15 season" or "a placing or rights issue or other form of debt or equity fundraising of the company or any member of the Rangers Group, whichever is first to occur." Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners are listed as the lenders, with Rangers International Football Club plc as the borrower and The Rangers Football Club Limited the chargor. After being contacted by STV, Rangers appeared to contradict the document. A spokesman said: "The loans, if drawn, will be repaid from the operating cash flow of the business at the relevant time. Operating cash flow comprises many sources including commercial partnership income, retail dividends and match ticket income." The Laxey loan is for £1m and is repayable with an interest payment of £150,000. The loan from Mr Easdale is for £500,000. Both are secured against club properties Edmiston House and the Albion Car Park, with both lenders security being on an equal footing. STV understands the joint loan facility has not yet been drawn upon by the club. If used, the amounts borrowed must be repaid by September 1, 2015, according to the document. The Laxey loan has attracted controversy due to its interest rate. Another shareholder, George Letham, has offered the same amount with a repayment of £75,000, which he insists he would reinvest in the club. A collective group of Rangers supporters' organisations, the Union of Fans, have also called upon their fellow fans not to pay their season ticket money for the 2014/15 season directly to the club. Instead the group, together with former director Dave King, want monies to be paid into a trust and only given to the club if assurances are given over finances. The Rangers oldco previously took out loans against season ticket money. Ticketus bought the rights to around 100,000 Ibrox season tickets until 2015 when Craig Whyte was in charge at Ibrox.

Yes, that is a big problem. It isn't even just trust but in having the cash spare anymore. If I hadn't already paid into Rangers Fighting Fund*, bought shares (again!) and all those red and black scarves and so forth i would have gone for the 18.72 or, more likely, the one off payment - but I've already spent (wasted? ) that money on Rangers, sadly. Wonder if I'd get a life membership for my £500 of shares????? Is it a deal, lads? * Sorry to go off topic a little but is anyone here involves with that? I persuaded my mum it was worth investing in (she's as staunch as they come but totally bewildered by all that is going on and has no time to figure it out as she has my very ill father to look after and has been battling cancer herself . So, she just does what I recommend - I'd like to report back to her on what her money will do to help the club