Frankie

Can we assume Close are better run than Ticketus?

Not much else we can do.

To be honest, whenever Mark has his 'official' hat on, I don't disagree with much of his comments. I think it would be wrong for people to agree all the time anyway.

Excellent post TB. I think that probably covers most of our thoughts...

I honestly don't know mate. But he must have known all this was going to happen from the moment he stopped paying our PAYE. There must be a wage somewhere for him. Must be.

I think Whyte may well be sitting very comfortably. His plan seems to be working as it stands.

Lots of questions - let's hope the one-to-ones with the press are more fruitful in terms of answers.

I was merely abiding by the new laws with regard to threatening communications. You can expect a knock at the door from a friendly Bobby...

STV are showing a live video stream of the Rangers news conference from 12pm at this link: http://bit.ly/ItFly0

Rather than a share issue, tell him to organise a 'Spiers in the Stocks' event where we go throw a variety of rotten vegetables at the discredited one. We'd make millions!

Mark may not be FF or the RST per se but his influence should not be underestimated. He owns and runs the biggest forum out there. He owns and runs the biggest match-day fanzine. He's the RST media spokesperson. He sits on a variety of other committees and is the RST rep on the Assembly board. If Mark says something, you can be sure it is FF, RST and Assembly policy.

14 day exclusivity period then but 11-14th May will possibly be his deadline.

Now the real fun starts...

I was in quite early so heard his speech before the game (though not the radio interview obviously). Clearly he's holding back but how can the fans be expected to back (or dismiss) any bidder without knowing the full facts.

Yeah heard about this the other week. Appreciate the gesture but don't think this is a good idea.

Kennedy appearing was clearly to pressure D&P but I think Jardine's speech nullified that somewhat. I think the Assembly should be breaking down both plans for the support. They're far too quiet.

I think that's all very fair mate. People tend to exaggerate the divisions in our support as well as inter-website arguments. Generally we can (and often do) work together to benefit us as a whole so it's disappointing when people take the bait of mischief-makers.

The nonsense written about myself and this site on FF is always disappointing when it happens unchecked. As was the disgraceful stuff about BH - no matter his actions with respect to the chap Beattie. But we're all big boys and there are more important issues to discuss.

Absolutely so criticism of him and FF is going to happen. Thus, it's up to him to deal with that. As a rule though I think people can be too harsh and too generic in their criticisms about people and other websites. We're supposed to be all bears and disagreement should be healthy, not frowned upon or umbrage taken. As always though it has to be constructive or the valid points within it are lost (or easily ignored).

I say again, this issue may be the one that sees Whyte go down.

I think FF/RST are correct to air their concerns about Miller and I'm glad they've done so. However, the best way for the TBK to be successful is for them to be clear about their bid and their plans. Show us why they're the best bid and why we should back it rather than concentrating on what is nothing else than negative 'party politics. By not doing that, it's natural for our support to be as cautious (or suspicious) about that bid as any other. Indeed, we should be asking that if our fan groups are so neutral, why they haven't broken down the TBK plans in the way they've done with others. They clearly have insight so what are the pros and cons. We do have a right to know given, if successful, TBK will be asking for our money (and lots of it) soon enough.

I don't think it's fair to suggest that just because MD has strong views on TBK that he's been guaranteed a board position or the like. After all, the rest of us also have strong views on all bids but none of us have been promised anything. Like I say, I don't mind constructive criticism of the RST but I'd much rather it wasn't personal or without basis. Also, I resent the inference that just because a few posters may have their own strong opinions on people/organisations, it's somehow reflective of this site or the way it is run.

Well, I think the protest last weekend worked well & certainly focussed the mind of SFA committee members and sponsors. I feel that shows we can lobby effectively - a power which should be used more often.

I disagree. I think our fans do have the power to affect certain situations. We just don't do it effectively for a variety of reasons.

Even as a former board member, I agree with much of your criticism and I think even the Trust struggle with Mark's involvement (and the association to FF). To be frank, I'm sure Mark's influence does cause problems for many people but (TBK support aside) his performance over the last few months has been pretty good - certainly better than many people could do. I don't see many alternatives. I turned down a Scotland Tonight slot because I don't feel confident on live TV and I also found a recorded interview with SSN difficult. It's not easy so I admire Mark for his efforts there. This is the problem we have - participation in such groups is low and even those that do enjoy such work are usually only interested volunteers rather than experts. Thus, I don't think removing Mark would really help solve that apathy though I do agree some sort of reform would benefit fan representation. Are we really capable of doing so when we already know we don't have enough fans interested in the 'political' debate?