Frankie

As season ticket renewal time approaches next month, it has been interesting to note a sudden surge of information surrounding the running of the club. Whether it be Rangers Supporters Assembly statements inferring problems between the Rangers board and Lloyds Banking Group or Craig Whyte appearing from the smoke to sit beside wealthy Glasgow businessmen at Ibrox; the momentum is picking up on a variety of issues. Now, I'd consider myself a reasonably average Rangers fan. I have one of the cheaper season tickets at around �£420; I'm lucky enough to have a decent job/income; I'm married with two young children and I have a group of friends I enjoy going to Ibrox with 'Every Other Saturday'. I'd also consider myself fairly interested in the 'political' side of the club; like to sing songs when I attend games and obviously use the internet to pass on my words of wisdom. To that end, I'm more than aware that while the club is downsizing off the park - thus perhaps also downsizing our ambitions with it - my small annual investment is as important as ever to Rangers. A large (but serviceable) debt and tax 'queries' remain worrying obstacles to our continued success while the lack of interest of our previously less than publicity shy owner means ambition and plain old solid long term planning are difficult to find amongst the realism pleas from the board members who do engage with the support now and again. Indeed, it's that club-supporter relationship which is all-important going into the coming months and years. Despite year-on-year downsizing and minimal dialogue (or defence), Rangers fans haven't been slow to support the club - both emotionally and financially during these testing times. In fact, it was only in 2009 that key club figures spoke about our unwavering fiscal commitment and how vital it was to the club's viability. Ergo, while season ticket numbers have understandably dropped since then due to a worldwide recession, those words remain significant. With an absent owner struggling with his own empire problems (but still rich enough to buy vineyards, build Corstorphine mansions and develop Edinburgh green belts), a board of directors more interested in fighting each other than raising funds (or investing their own) and a bank who appear to change their debt demands as often as Diouf changes his car/hair colour; once again it will be down to the average fan to invest over the coming months. As it stands, �£20million (around 40,000 season ticket holders renewing at an average of around �£500) is the only cash that will be invested into Rangers this summer. Potential owner promises aside (I thought we were told not to accept money from strangers), no-one else will be putting in such a sum year on year. Obviously, for most of us, that investment won't be a financial one per se but merely our own small emotional gift to a club that means everything to us. However, that doesn't mean it is automatically given away to whatever bank (or majority shareholder) that needs to pay it's next multi-million pound bonus to. Therefore, while the Assembly's inferences are interesting and while hope persists about Craig Whyte's intentions, I can't be the only Rangers fan getting fed up of having to read between the lines. After all ticket renewals/attendances have been down the last two years and that's with a winning team. What will happen to those numbers if we don't win the league this season? For most of us supporting Rangers isn't a straightforward, logical choice but we all have ends to meet and will have to draw the line somewhere. It's with that thought in mind that the frustration starts to grate: 1. Are the bank financially supportive or are they not? 2. Is our budget to be increased or decreased? 3. Is this dependent on next year's European football income? 4. How does the HMRC tax 'query' fit into our budget? 5. If Craig Whyte is the real deal, why not partially reveal how he intends to take us forward? 6. New owner or not, where does the club see itself in 1, 3, 5 and 10 years time? I don't think the above questions are unreasonable or that difficult to answer. After all, myself and thousands other bears are about to blindly pay in advance for a service we just don't know the quality of. To be clear, most people don't want to withhold season ticket money (that would arguably just make things worse) but neither do we want to hand it over to see it swallowed up by people who contributed to our problems in the first place. It's with that thought in mind that I urge the club to revisit their comments of 2009 and ensure that our worries and opinions are addressed before they sanction the mailing of renewal forms. After all, most Rangers fans I speak with are realistic. Yes, we're ambitious (and often unreasonable with that) but we also acknowledge the challenges of the club and want to help face them. For that reason, I urge more transparency from the board and compel them to involve the supporters more than ever before. �£20million may not be a huge amount of money nowadays but it surely entitles those that pay it the same support and trust we continue to give the club and its custodians.

The latter two being the closest to being fully fit and available. McCulloch also remains ahead of schedule.

Completely natural given we know next to nothing about him. He's a stranger. Personally I think him appearing at Ibrox last night says a lot.

Supposedly �£5million per year plus any player sales/Euro income... No indication of where this money would come from though...

He started pretty well but has faded. Time will tell if his transfer was a good idea. Jury remains out but could be convinced more on Sunday afternoon.

Interesting to see he was sitting next to James Mortimer last night. Business or pleasure I wonder?

He jumped so well for it (as he usually does for headers) so I was astounded he didn't hit the back of the net...! Bougherra's miss shortly after that was not quite so bad but also very poor.

Naismith did so well and looked really sharp but his glaring miss dropped him a point...

I'd agree with that. See you can be negative yet analyse the situation a bit more objectively...

Wasteful Rangers pay the price for missing chances amidst overly-defensive display at home to Dutch league leaders. http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/2010/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=383:rangers-0-1-psv-player-ratings-and-mom-poll&catid=35:analysis&Itemid=67 :gw: Young winger did fall out of the game a bit easily at times but when he did get on the ball he looked dangerous while putting in some fine crosses. Must be considered for a more regular place in the team.

Started off very well when he joined but has gone backwards alarmingly since...

Sorry on iPhone but stv also going with similar story but with no timescale. As ever time will tell so remain cynical.

SSN - Craig Whyte to buy Rangers next Friday. He will attend game tonight.

The difference in numbers could change quickly over the next few weeks. A few wins for us and a few losses for them (or vice versa) will hugely affect those who can be bothered going to games. And I would argue that our style of play is a turn off; no matter how successful it may well be from game to game.

Not easy to answer given we had a higher average last season. Too many factors which influence these figures and both clubs (especially Celtic) may massage their attendances based on season ticket sales.

It is farcical yet not a peep in the media somehow. The same media that went after Gordon Smith from Day 1.

Not bad at all...

I see where you're coming from but there's a bit of a difference between painting two blue lines on your car to abusing opposition supporters in a sectarian fashion.

I think the lad has done very well in his time here. Sure, he may lack that extra bit of quality going forward and/or in possession but defensively he's sound and his pace invaluable when covering for others. I'd definitely be interested in signing him as there's no reason why he can't improve further.

I don't see why people may or may not help mate... Wouldn't it be an idea to produce a short programme for your event and 'sell' advertising/sponsorship space to relevant companies? To bring in a larger amount consider having the even sponsored in it's entirety; e.g. The BMW Mini Picco Charity Dinner...

I'm as positive as the next man but you can't just mention losses against those three teams which have affected our season negatively. This season we've also dropped points against Caley, Hibs and Hearts and have lost points in games we should have won against Valencia and Bursaspor in Europe. Sure, this can be attributed in part to a smaller squad and can be offset against better results but that doesn't explain the often poor attitude, lack of motivation and tactical inflexibility which we've seen this season (and before to be honest). Again, I agree with you in that it surprises me just how negative people can be about our club, manager and players. Conversely though there remain valid concerns about Smith and I doubt any of us can be overly confident about winning anything this year given our most recent results in particular. I also maintain that while his record does stand up to statistical scrutiny, it could indeed be better.

Calm down - I'm agreeing with you for the most part... Like I say, it's a reasonable record all things considered while there is always room for (fair) criticism and improvement.

I think it's fair to say that he should have done better in same games (as well as his players) but generally speaking that is a reasonable record all things considered. However, there's no doubt Smith did not do well enough in the 90s (92/93 aside) considering the resources he did have. Same goes for Souness and Advocaat. Expectations were rightly higher during those periods but may not be so high now.

Lift him onto your shoulder?