JFK-1

Seeing reports that Ufa have taken no tickets.

I'm in two minds about Lafferty since we could sign him for free on a pre-contract a little over 4 months from now. And that would teach others the lesson that if you string us along asking for unrealistic money then we will still come back for your player and take him for absolutely nothing. But he seems to be the bane of them. His very presence even if starting on the bench at the piggery next month if he were to be signed soon may be a psychological blow to them. They have to already know that we're not the sieve like defence of recent seasons anymore and he is a proven threat they seem unable to cope with.

The press and others who were derisive when Stevie was appointed already look extremely silly. They were mocking a man who has spent almost his entire life at the top level of professional football as if he were a complete newbie who had just entered the arena chancing his arm. Yet here he is leading not just the only undefeated team in Scotland but a team who haven't even been behind in a game while exceeding the wildest expectations of our own fans far less those who hoped to see him crash and burn. Their mocking is all the more ludicrous when you consider a good point made by the most recent H and H podcast. This is a man who has likely been planning for this since he was in his mid 20's. Not someone who just fell into this position with no idea at all of how he would handle it. The obsession with him among those who so desperately wished to see him fail is shifting focus. And the reason it's shifting focus is because he has proven to be anything but some clueless novice out of his depth. Topic on front page of a hubz forum simply titled 'Steven Gerrad' has this comment on it from one of their own. A thread that now has 23 pages all about our manager. Jesus wept indeed, it's comical and the bulk of them don't grasp that. Since the idiot rookie line isn't panning out for them the focus is now being shifted to things like well he's a hypocrite. That because he dismissed the Morelos offer from Bordeaux as derisory while making an offer for Lafferty below the expectations of Hearts. Plus it's now going to be Xmas before he's canned rather than just weeks into the season as they all hope and pray for a spectacular collapse which has become obvious to me just isn't going to happen. The man is an ultimate professional who in a very short space of time has created the most thorough and professional setup our club has seen in a very long time. Possibly ever seen. The next challenge is going to be Ufa starting on Thursday night and if they are negotiated to put us in the EL group stages the financial benefits and the experience for our squad can move us so far ahead of the also rans they could become become a dot on the horizon behind us. The win at Kilmarnock was major for me. Kilmarnock are a well organised outfit who are extremely difficult to beat on their own patch and the evidence for that has been there for all to see since Clarke took over. Away wins at Killie are a rarity yet at the end of the day we won there with relative comfort while not even deploying what will evolve into our first 11. It was a hurdle I would have been cringing ahead of last season but though I still had some reservations this time round I still had real confidence we would clear it and when we did with such relative ease I became a 100% believer. The Gerrard phenomenon is a real and developing major event and I can currently see it doing nothing but gathering more pace. There will be no major collapse and the win at Killie has convinced me of that. It was a hurdle we would have expected to be a a stumble last season but was easily navigated. We are title challengers and even if we were to suffer a defeat at the piggery early next month I would still believe that. Win there and the meltdown we have been witnessing among those who so desperately wish to see us fall will hit critical mass. We're going to run this challenge right to the end while becoming ever stronger. The rest are standing still or even regressing while we go from strength to strength. I confidently predict this team will hand out a number of complete thrashings this season because in some of these games everything will just click on the day and a barrow load of all those chances created will fly into the net. We really are in a new and defining era after all our travails over the past decade.

Danish investor becomes 'person with significant control' Julian Wolhardt, whose investment firm is set to become one of the biggest shareholders at Rangers, has been declared as a person with "significant control" The 45-year-old Danish investor who is based in Hong Kong has just been appointed as a club director joining chairman Dave King, John Bennett, Alastair Johnston, Graeme Park, Douglas Park and James Blair on the board. The development has come a week after Rangers called a general meeting of shareholders to finally approve a new fund-raising share issue to 13 shareholders. Mr Wolhardt, a chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based Dehong Capital Partners is said to be the man behind Borita Investments Limited, who would get 7.5m shares from the new issue bringing the company's total to 11,132,500 and 7.7% of RIFC, making it one of the biggest shareholders at the club. According to Companies House, a person with significant control can have directly or indirectly more than 25% of the company’s issued shares or voting rights or has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, significant influence. Last year the Sports Direct supremo Mike Ashley struck a deal to sell all all of his shares to Mr Wolhardt and fans’ group Club 1872. Prior to establishing DCP in 2017, he spent ten years at KKR, a leading global private equity firm as a partner and regional leader. Before KKR he was responsible for the China business at Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, worked in the Mergers and Acquisition Group of Lazard Frerers & Co. in the United States and started his career at Coopers and Lybrand. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant and holds a B.S. with Honors and Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the Universityof Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 1995. The Rangers chairman welcomed Wolhardt as an investor last year saying: “Julian’s decision to invest in Rangers is exciting for the club. “His business background and acumen are exceptional and it is very pleasing that his scrutiny of the club and its strategy has convinced him of our financial prospects and the merits of our business plan.” He said at the time: “I am delighted to become an RIFC shareholder. “I have a long held love for Scotland and football and I am keen to see Rangers FC unlock its considerable commercial potential. “With the successful restructuring of the retail operations, RIFC is now on a firm financial footing and I look forward to being a part of its exciting future.” Six years ago he ran the London Marathon and raised over £2m for the Whizz-Kidz charity which assists disabled children & young adults who are in need of wheelchairs. It also offers the training they need to lead an independent lifestyle. The total number of shares to be bought in the fresh issue is 63,147,137, meaning the value of the offer is £12.6m. The new issue would increase the number of ordinary shares in Rangers International Football Club plc from 81,478,201 to 144,625,341. RIFC called a meeting at the end of August where final approval will be sought for the issue of shares. The general meeting notice confirms the issue will be made to existing shareholders named as: Barry Scott, John Bennett, Andrew Ross, Club 1872, Borita Investments Limited, New Trace Limited, Andrew Hawkyard, Neil Hosie, Paul Redbourn, New Oasis Asset Limited, Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor. Mr King's New Oasis Asset Limited is listed as taking the biggest stake, 9,199,089 shares and will remain the biggest shareholder at Rangers with 21,068,594 shares and 14.57% of RIFC, if the issue is approved. Rangers fans shareholder group Club 1872, would remain the second biggest shareholder, with an extra 5,000,000 from the issue for a total of 13,732,254 shares, giving them 9.5% of RIFC. Hong Kong-based George Taylor, a Glasgow-born managing director with Morgan Stanley, would strengthen his position at RIFC with an extra 5,870,768 shares, bringing his total to 13,445,768. With 9.3% of RIFC, he remains the shareholder with the third biggest stake. Former Rangers director Barry Scott will receive the second biggest stake from the new issue with 7,645,000 shares. The Hong Kong-based business was named in January 2016 as one of three benefactors who had contributed to the £6.5 million loan paid to Rangers in a bid to pay off Mike Ashley and help pay for the day-to-day running costs. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16589468.danish-investor-julian-wolhardt-becomes-a-person-with-significant-control-at-rangers/

There's something about that night time look of it with lights showing from the inside that makes it appear all the more spectacular. Striking and I think it would be accurate to say classic facade.

I would probably accept the bye too if it were an option given that 3 home gates would then be guaranteed. But as it stands we have to negotiate Ufa and the gate money will be more than welcome for the club. Given our recent form and gathering momentum and their lack of form we have to be favourites. I suspect both Osijek and Maribor would soundly thrash them. Who would have thought it just a couple of months ago? Within touching distance of the group stage and strong favourites to get there. I hope we as good as kill it off on Thursday. I don't want a nerve wracking week before the away leg. Make this group stage and there is no holding us back. We will have moved on to another level or perhaps more accurately returned to a level we previously occupied.

I think we can comfortably take them and it’s worth another million in gate money. In saying that one concern is the glut of matches.

I feel Gerrard might see out his contract which by coincidence runs down at the same time Klopp's does at Liverpool. We all know Liverpool is what Stevie ultimately wants and I just don't see him accepting a managerial job at any other EPL side that would pit him against his beloved Liverpool. This is his testing ground where he can prove himself in Europe too which wouldn't be available in England at anything but a handful of sides.

And just as I predicted, from a hubz forum. If anybody else gets them it's just the luck of the draw. We get them, fix.

That will be labeled a fix despite the fact we were just handed almost as hard an away tie as any that were on offer. But it definitely suits us to a T.

They see and hear what they want to see and hear. Anything but the actual football. I now hate those cretins more than I do the yahoos. Hardly surprising they are what they are I suppose. What can you expect when you have an undignified infantile yobbo as a manager.

Tavernier is one blessing from Warburton. Warburton actually did us decent service in some respects. Gave us a good last Championship season, brought us Tavernier, Wes, and Windass for a pittance who ultimately returned 18 goals last season then a multi million transfer profit. I don't think the board should get criticism for the Warburton experiment. It served it's purpose at the time and is still returning dividends.

Going to give the Killie forum a little credit. A look at the hubz forum finds little more than waffle about orange strips and 'sectarian chanting'. That's all these cretins see? Are they even watching the football? The Killie forum on the other hand has comments like this. That's sportsmanship, watching the football rather than seeing nothing but orange jerseys.

Gordon Smith Former SFA chief executive

Brief dissection. At the end of the day it was a comfortable win at a venue that sees very few away wins. Killie are a side who will give many teams problems this season and will probably again be rarely beaten at home. This wasn't our first 11 and in fact under Gerrard we have never fielded what will likely evolve into our first 11. The Gerrard express steams on.

Last season I was cringing at such extra minutes. Now feel comfortable they wont meltdown in the dying minutes.

How may players is this going to take out. We have one in crutches with suspected ligament damage another with a bloody bandage on his head now another hobbling.

Ouch.

That ball was out twice.

Apparently only the sheep have managed to beat Killie at home since October last year. Might be viewed as another sign that we're developing into a potent force.

Morelos should have had a hat trick already. That aside it's interesting to see what happens when we have 11 on the pitch. Or should I say the plastic? Murphy looked like a bad one. Didn't this pitch put Waghorn out for about 2 months? We have multi million pound investments out there. It's just not good enough.

Tried to wrestle el buffalo off the ball, not going to happen. The wee mans a tank.