Uilleam

Rumour: Clement, van der Heyden and Rae offski. Charai -the Moroccan chap- to be interim boss, with Kevin Thomson to Assist.

FFS, Lads!!! It's St Mirren at Ibrox. (I'm doing the team talks, until Pacino arrives )

I was going to post merely a laughing emoji thing, but realised that you might not have been joking.

Hibs 2 Fhilth 1.

Alex Rae, lads. Tim Cahill, I think.

"California Dreamin'"....

Oh dear. I am in The Horseshoe Bar, and will try not to let this news spoil my day.

Jummy Ping seems mostly to have disappeared from public view (and long may that continue). Perhaps he acquired a cloak of invisibility. I am told a spey wife in Tayport may stock such an item.

Cave: proceed with caution, here: I suspect that this fellow Franco Adamo may not be fully in the know.

We might then take comfort from these words of putative guru and saviour Paraag Marathe, who "...explained how teams in his stable no longer operate as 'lemonade stands' ". Speaking on the Sports Geek Replay podcast earlier this month, Marathe explained how teams in his stable no longer operate as 'lemonade stands' and are run to maximise return on investment. He said: "The fundamental thing that's changed with professional sports teams on and off the pitch is professional sports teams are no longer run as lemonade stands. They are no longer just about the football team, or the baseball team, or the soccer team, or whatever it is, it's now run as a business, right, as a big Fortune 50, Fortune 500 type of business. "That means you need to get as much value as you can and minimising risk as much as you can, both on the field of the players and also in the business." "At that time, we hired most of our C-level executives who are here today, as well as most of our EVPs or VPs. And what we did is we just, it was just, we just flipped, flipped a fundamental hiring practice kind of upside down for the beginning, since the beginning of time in the sports industry, people hired other sports people, maybe had a little bit of business experience. But the primary trait was, hey, you worked in that sport or this sport and like success or failure didn't matter, but you just had sports experience. "We took the other approach as we were hiring. We said, hold on, let's go get really good sound business people. And by the way, if they happen to have sports experience, then great, but not a prerequisite. In the end, we ended up hiring, as we grew from, I think, 70 people to 300 people, we ended up hiring a lot of talented, talented individuals of all colours and genders as well, because we were, we tried to do it as much of a meritocracy as we could. And that's what enabled us to transition and actually be able to do all these other things that we still do today." 

Believe nothing until it is officially denied, or until Humza Yousaff pours scorn upon the very suggestion.

At last, somebody who appreciates statistics. In common with the recruitment/draft system in the NFL, I am told that, as far as the cheerleaders are concerned, the ugliest supporters get first dibs......

She was always Huguenot.

Can't wait for Leeds to be our feeder club.

The Rangers Review now running with this story too (Christopher Jack). Maybe it has legs, then, as many legs as those cheerleaders...

If you're going to San Francisco Be sure to wear an Orange Sash down there From the unimpeachable market leading Dhaily Rabble ( and the Super Soaraway Sun, for good measure) comes a delightful rumour. Rangers are at the centre of a potentially transformative US led takeover bid – a deal that would see them bankrolled by the enormous financial muscle of the San Francisco 49ers. The Daily Record has learned top-level discussions over a multi-million pound investment began before the turn of the year – and they are now believed to be at ‘an advanced stage’. And if an agreement can be thrashed out the Ibrox club stand to benefit from a major cash injection which would then fund a spending splurge in the summer transfer market. Sources from south of the border have confirmed one of the key men behind the proposal is Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe – the man in charge of the NFL giants’ investment arm, 49ers Enterprises. Marathe – who is also executive vice president of football operations in San Francisco – was the architect in chief of a takeover of the Elland Road Club which took a step closer to a Premier League return on Monday night with a dramatic late win over Sunderland. It’s understood he is now part of a consortium – including at least one other high net worth American business mogul – which hopes to restore Rangers to the top of the Scottish game after years spent languishing in the shadow of Old Firm rivals Celtic. The American consortium plans to snap up enough shares to become the biggest single shareholder in the club and would be likely to demand seats in a new look boardroom. The finer details behind the move are not yet clear but the current configuration of major shareholders means that any deal will be complicated. Former chairman Dave King who owns almost 13 per cent, Douglas Park retains nearly 12 per cent, George Taylor holds just over 10 per cent, Stuart Gibson is not far behind with John Bennett on around seven per cent. Directors Julian Wolhardt and John Halsted share a combined stake of just over 12 per cent. While Marathe has not played a leading role in the takeover discussions it’s understood he has agreed to help fund it as his group closes in on a deal to oversee a revolutionary transfer of power in the boardroom. In return, not only would Rangers receive a massive injection of transfer cash but the club would also gain access to the 49ers cutting edge, data driven technology for player recruitment as well as open the door to a number of money spinning sponsorships and new commercial tie ups. The would be buyers view Rangers as a perfect investment opportunity given the club’s regular access to UEFA elite competitions, either in the Champions League or Europa League. And Marathe’s knowledge of the landscape of the British game, coupled with his position with the cash rich 49ers are seen as hugely significant. He recently headed up a gradual, staged takeover of Leeds United, bankrolled by the York family - owners of the 49ers and listed by Forbes Magazine as having a net worth of around 6 billion dollars. Francisco 49ers Enterprises - the investment wing of the NFL giants - first purchased a 15 per cent stake in the Elland Road outfit in 2018. Three years later Marathe increased that stake to 44 per cent. In the summer of 2023 he completed a £170m deal to buy the club outright. Hollywood star Will Ferrell subsequently snapped up a minority holding and revealed afterwards he was convinced to get involved following discussions with Marathe. Leeds are currently closing in on a return to the top flight of English football, with Daniel Farke’s side sitting in pole position in the Championship and with Marathe in charge as chairman. They have also raked in more than £150m from recent player sales including Archie Gray’s £42m move to Spurs and Glen Kamara’s £10m transfer to Rennes - which came just 12 months after the Finland international’s £5m move from Rangers. The Americans believe Marathe’s expertise can help him transform the fortunes of Rangers at a time when the club is being ravaged by internal unrest. Philippe Clement’s side hit rock bottom earlier this month when they were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Championship minnows Queen’s Park, sparking a furious response in the stands. And a section of away supporters at Tynecastle on Sunday demanded change at the top of the club during a 3-1 league win over Hearts. Rangers have won just a single Premiership title since King swept to power a decade ago and the Americans see similarities with the 49ers. The York family dynasty have run the San Francisco franchise since the turn of the century after winning control of the outfit following a legal battle with former owner Edward J DeBartolo Jnr. DeBartolo Jnr had enjoyed unprecedented success with the 49ers during the 80s and 90s - winning five Superbowls. He turned over ownership in 2000 to his sister – billionaire businesswoman Denise DeBartolo York and her husband John York, a retired cancer research pathologist. The couple then handed over control of the 49ers to son Jed York in 2008. My initial thoughts are....Cheerleaders !!!

Wait until you have to explain "Snow off a dyke" to New England academics.

Wondrous things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God I'm not sure if that is an accurate translation.

We have a system? Who knew?

Agreed. It was a damned close run thing between him and JB. However, he didn't quite get his hat trick for us. If he had.... well, no contest, really. Here's a query: If you score a hat trick of own goals, do you get to keep the match ball?

FYI: Lobsang Rampa was the pen name of Cyril Henry Hoskin (8 April 1910 – 25 January 1981), an author who wrote books with paranormal and occult themes. His best known work is The Third Eye, published in Britain in 1956. Following the publication of the book, newspapers reported that Rampa had been born Cyril Henry Hoskin, and was a surgical fitter and plumber's son from Plympton in Devon who claimed that his body hosted the spirit of a Tibetan lama going by the name of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, who is purported to have authored the books. The name Tuesday relates to a claim in The Third Eye that Tibetans are named after the day of the week on which they were born.

I haven't seen such a high risk strategy succeed since The Rumble in the Jungle. Rope-a-dope, eh, whodda thunk it? Clement, presumably, which is an even bigger surprise than it actually working.

He is doing very well for us, without incurring such expense.