Frankie

It will have lapsed in 2007, no?

The guys at Vanguard Bears are organising a peaceful protest against BBC Scotland on the afternoon of Saturday 5th of November from 12.30-2.30pm (before our home game against Dundee Utd). I appreciate not everyone will agree with such strong action and understand some may not even feel the BBC have done anything wrong. That is fine - we welcome all opinions here. Personally, I'm strongly of the opinion that the media per se are not anti-Rangers but simply incompetent vultures looking for the next story which they can exaggerate to make money. However, I also feel that does not apply to BBC Scotland - as the following valid questions from the last 6-12months point out: Why are 'neutral' sectarianism stories presented outside Ibrox? Why are stories about 'letter bombs sent to the Celtic manager' presented outside Ibrox? Why was our manager made to look like a fool with regard to sectarianism? Why, in the same report, do the organisation show our fans singing sectarian songs while showing Celtic fans carrying anti-racism banners? Why do the organisation choose to cover some sectarianism stories and not others? Why do they have 'karaoke' lyrics for offensive RFC songs and not others? Why are radio/TV debates not presented properly and in a balanced fashion (see Graham Spiers radio documentary)? Why does Stuart Cosgrove suggest problems of bias? Why have Rangers had three examples of editorial problems this season alone? To that end, I'll be protesting in two weeks time. I hope hope you can join us.

With regard to the documentary last night, I think muckraking just about covers it. Obviously, Whyte is far from perfect and he seems to have made plenty of mistakes during his career. He's far from the only businessman to do so and, as Rangers fans with little chance of changing who owns the club, we can only hope he has learned from these mistakes. It will be fascinating to see where Whyte goes from here and there certainly does seem to be scope for litigation given Robert Burns seemed to struggle with the simple conceptual difference of being a director and having signing authorities. Generally though, Whyte has a lot to do to protect and improve his reputation amongst RFC fans and, most importantly, our business partners in the future. That may just be job done when it comes to the contributors of the programme.

Hemmings doesn't count which is why I didn't list him. He signed from Tamworth IIRC.

yes, many of them are. FC United also tells a story.

Palermo - Goian Everton - Weir St Mirren - Broadfoot Austria Vienna - Papac Wigan Ath - Jig Toronto FC - Edu Fulham - Davis Rapid Vienna - Jelavic Burnley - Lafferty Hearts - Wallace Kilmarnock - Naismith Sunderland - Healy Hibernian - Whittaker Almería - Ortiz St-Etienne - Bocanegra Brisbane Roar - McKay �rebro SK - Bedoya Arsenal - Bartley Ipswich T - Alexander Gueugnon - Kerkar Harstad - Bendiksen Bonus points for naming the main 6 members of our current first team squad who have no previous club. - Wylde - McGregor - McMillan - Perry - Ness - Fleck

The Monaco thing was always interesting. I was told he never lived there (for any length of time) as he was never granted some sort of visa required.

Sorry mate - I don't know. But if you asked McGivillan, McConville, Mince and Muirhead, they'd know.

Because currently the proceeds of any TV deal are shared between all SPL clubs. Rangers (or Celtic) going alone would cost the other clubs a lot of money as they wouldn't be able to realise the same amount they do now.

I think it would be worthwhile but there's next to no chance of us obtaining the exclusive rights to our own live matches...

I'd fancy it will have been recorded in one sitting yesterday.

Haha, I'd wrote the response before I read yours! Honest guv!

All seems very positive but the proof will be in the pudding.

MINUTE OF MEETING WITH MR CRAIG WHYTE AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF THE RANGERS SUPPORTERS TRUST. IBROX STADIUM. WEDNESDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2011. SEDERUNT - Craig Whyte, Rangers FC Chairman; Jim Hannah, Rangers FC Liaison Officer. RST - Gordon Dinnie, Acting Chairman, Alison MacLeod, Treasurer; Simon Leslie, Board Member. Mark Dingwall, Board member. FAN REPRESENTATION - As fans are the major investors in RFC the Trust favours looking at mechanisms to give them a real say in the affairs of the club. Chairman is very open to such moves but stressed the club finances are very much subject to the result of the tax case. GERSAVE AND RANGERS CREDIT UNION - Gersave remains a vehicle for investing in the club - subject to the tax case result. The RST intimated that we have been discussing the formation of a Rangers Credit Union and would supply the club with finer details in due course to maximise the benefit to the support as a whole. The chairman was interested in these schemes and would be open to further discussions to the benefit of the support. BLUE ORDER AND UNION BEARS - The Chairman described himself as â??a big supporterâ? of both groups, described them as great for atmosphere and is keen to see their area expanded and to work to improve the atmosphere in all areas of the ground. He takes a personal interest in the groups and has directed staff to work with the groups to resolve any outstanding issues, subject to Health and Safety regulations. ADMINISTRATION OF THE CLUB - The Chairman is 100% committed to protecting the rights of small shareholders in the event of the club going into administration. He does not consider that insolvency is inevitable, but in any case it will be manageable. He stated â??as a Rangers fan it would be as uncomfortable and unpleasantâ? for him as for everyone else but he was confident we would see it through. There is no doubt the club would continue. INWARD INVESTMENT - The Chairman reiterated that he will underwrite the investment of £20m by 2016 - however, he is open to other investment from other major investors and the fans. RESIGNATIONS OF DIRECTORS - The Chairman stated he considered he got on well with both John Greig and John McClelland and he first heard of their resignations when they were reported in the media. He felt that he had not excluded them from decision-making. BBC PROGRAMME - The Chairman considered that allegations put to him so far by the BBC were unfounded and unfair. He is not aware of all of the content of the programme but after viewing he will respond accordingly. He views the BBC Investigates propgramme as part of a pattern of behaviour on behalf of the BBC towards Rangers FC and Rangers fans. Heâ??s astonished that the BBC would produce a programme largely based on internet chitchat and bloggers. MEDIA HANDLING - The Chairman spends more time than he would like defending the clubâ??s reputation but regards it as a very necessary part of his role as it has such a negative effect on the club. He engages with PR advisors, Mediahouse, regularly. Heâ??s very ready to defend both the club and fans from scurrilous attacks. FINANCE - The Chairman regards it as necessary to pursue a twin-track approach in the current climate with both cost cutting and income generation being the keys to financial health. He used the example of Manchester United operations base in London where they engage with major corporations to exploit commercial value. He is actively seeking to establish an office for Rangers in the city of London - he regards the club as a big one and thinks itâ??s time we started acting in a manner befitting one. He also believes Rangers has vast untapped potential. FREEZING OF CASH DUE TO LEGAL PROCEEDINGS - The Chairman conceded this makes life difficult with regard to cash-flow but it will not affect the clubâ??s ability to, for instance, make signings in the January window. THE TAX CASE - The Chairman expects the case to come to a head before Christmas but any outcome would still be subject to appeal. CLUB ACCOUNTS AND CLUB AGM - Chairman reports both on target. CULTURAL ISSUES - The Chairman regards engaging with the fans a priority. In the past many opportunities lost or misfired because of the clubâ??s internal culture being unwelcoming to fans initiatives on both cultural issues and improving the atmosphere inside the ground. He is taking a personal interest in these areas. He stated he would be delighted to consider ideas from fans. LEARNING FROM OTHER CLUBS - The Chairman hopes to visit Hamburg and see for himself how a large fan-owned club like HSV operates. He also believe that the membership system of Portuguese clubs could be worth exploring and which parts of them might be applicable to Scotland. The meeting closed with the Chairman emphasising his commitment to continuing dialogue with fans organsations.

I think RFC will know what is within the documentary - or at least make educated guesses. Sometimes getting your version of events in first is better than fire-fighting after the fact.

Documentary was always going to go ahead. The is clearly Whyte's attempt to pre-empt it with genuine info. Hope it works.

What it says on the tin...

That is cracking - great job Zappa! Wonder if it's worth making a similar GN wallpaper?

Agreed. Let's hope it is something worthwhile.

Don't know yet but I get the impression it may be something more positive.

A little birdie has told me that the 'Scotland Tonight' launch programme (from STV) will be worth watching next Monday night (10.30pm)...

I agree muckraking seemed a bit out of place but I guess it reflects the club's anger on the issue. FWIW, I doubt the ban will go too far because our contractual commitments to live coverage. However, the fact the club have had to take action twice in one season with regard to BBC Scotland, shows they are quite right to take strong action.

Muck-mud - same thing?

The Assembly has already met with Whyte and hasn't really achieved the kind of in-depth answers we'd like to read about. The Trust may or may not do better but I'm glad at least someone is able to ask.

I'd imagine there will be an agreed minute with Whyte and that will be released to Trust members (which will then filter onto the various forums)...