Frankie

A splendid 4-part in-depth article from 'therabbit' which discusses the obvious problems at Rangers with regard to player contracts. Well worth a read along with your sandwich over lunch... Part 1 "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains” Life is good if you have the abilities to become a modern professional footballer. The Bentleys, the broads, the bank accounts, the buffed up egos and the bumper contracts. Such short footballing careers are nowadays followed by long forays into the media circus, property, showbusiness, modelling or literally anything that takes their whim. They have the capital to do as they please. Gone are the days when players had to accentuate their meagre pay packets with second jobs and 'retire' only to start their lives again as a member of the workforce at large. Nowadays distinctly average players can retire to a better and more comfortable life than a large percentage of the population could ever dream of. From the onset of professional football, the players gracing the hallowed turf across the land quickly realised that they were being paid more than the loyal fans who came to watch as their escape from the rigours of their weekly grind. With the rise of unionism (in the workforce) players began to seek employment rights and players' associations were born. With these rights came contracts. Stories of players now agreeing contracts readily with clubs without some form of barter, agent provocation or underhand tactics are tough to come by. This paucity is broken by some commendable examples including Paul Scholes, who notoriously turns up for contract talks with his dad and calmly thumbs through the pages in front of him before uttering the words, “that’ll do” and putting pen to paper or Lee Evans lookalike James Milner, representing himself with only some advice and representation from the English PFA. Perhaps the strangest story recently is that of England striker Jermaine Defoe, who ended up in a contract dispute as he was being represented by his mother who wasn’t a registered agent. However, sadly the trend is much more obtuse, sometimes sinister and more money hungry than these three pro’s. Wranglings over player ownership, image rights, agent fees, relocation bonuses and sponsorship, are far more common than anything else – especially with a figure of around 90% of the UK’s professional players represented by some form of football agent. But I suppose that in these times of multi-million pound contracts, Arab sheiks, Israeli super agents and Willie McKay; that kind of contract pontificating is to be expected. No one needs to be told about the recession that we find ourselves in, both individually and in this case, as a collective support and football team; but the issue of the football contract is a multi-faceted one. A football club's financial stability is largely dictated by payment to the members of staff that it has on its wage bill, as it is one of its main expenditures year on year. All football clubs are facing uncertain times financially, even some of the richest clubs in the world are feeling the pinch relative to years gone by. It is simply untenable for them to maintain payment of large contracts and bonuses to large squads of players. This is the quandary that Rangers have found themselves in of late and the topic for this discourse into 'Setting The Standard'. In actuality, it is a quandary that Rangers have been in for a while; too many players on the books with bloated wage packets that were never justified. It seems to run in cycles too. All too often have we seemed to have been lumbered with the contracts of a Capucho or a Lovenkrands or a Burke. As soon as we manage to trim one squad down, it is again swollen with players that do not deserve the wage packets they are on. Yes, getting players via the Bosman ruling is going to mean they are on slightly better wages than they would usually be, but the players we have signed using this method have not been of the required standard – perhaps with the exceptions of Boumsong and Prso. Does this lay the blame at the door of the manager, Martin Bain or is it the scouting system (or lack thereof)? The situation regarding contracts in contemporary football is an interesting one. The playing field was changed for good when the European Court of Justice ruled in the favour of the then unknown Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman and another sweeping change seems imminent as the case of Article 17 of FIFA’s transfer regulations (‘Webster Rule’) filters into the transfer system. The Bosman ruling means that players over 23 can move freely between employers once their contract runs its course and the Webster ruling means that players who sign contracts when aged under 28 are able to unilaterally break those contracts after three years. If the player is 28 or over, he can break his contract after two years. Compensation is payable, but crucially, a player's destiny lies in his own hands. Still with me? With that in mind, a key point of note is that the balance of power in terms of football contract negotiation has shifted in the favour of the player and not the club. Players now have the same rights as employees in every other sphere. Something that is not lost on Sepp Blatter at FIFA, who is still battling to convince the EU that football is an ‘exceptional’ industry in which ordinary labour laws should not apply. Nevertheless, the best employees (footballers) have full control over their own career and can move to whichever club offers them the best wage and they can demand a pay packet that they feel is befitting of their talent. This has several implications for football contracts. [CONTINUED]

Cracking draw - no reason not to proceed to the semi's now.

We must take the game to Celtic. No excuses, 4-4-2 please with Lafferty and Boyd up front, supported by a ready and willing midfield, up for what will be a physical test. Hartley, Robson and Brown will all be briefed to hack their way through our team. We must match them. If ever the Rangers captain wanted a chance to show the supporters he's still a Rangers captain, then this is his time to show leadership, take responsibility and get the battle fever on. Same goes for our manager and every player.

The Shearer silence/applause stuff was a disgrace and sullied the great memories I'm sure many bears had of Jardine as a player.

Thanks for that - will send a note tomorrow... Do we have any references regarding McKenna's previous? I know this happened but if we have a few dates/quotes from the Sun expose that might be useful.

Good news... a step in the right direction to promote competition...

BTW, if anyone wants to subscribe to our RSS, one can do so via the following link. http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/newsite/index.php?option=com_rss&feed=RSS2.0&no_html=1 Handy if you're on holiday or only have your mobile with you. Just enter the link and you can get the latest Gersnet debate offline!

Thanks for the suggestion. I need a nudge from time to time to remember me about such innovations... Anyone with any other ideas, just let me know!

You've rumbled me...! Might go with Christian Dailly instead now as he's not that busy at the moment.

Still can't find one. I've emailed my contact at Perform and asked them if they can start supplying one.

Thought of this when I invited Chick onto the site but couldn't find an RSS feed for Rangers... I'll check again now...

First job as a manager IIRC...

I'm just glad Roy's Rolls now has Wi-Fi so Norris can post here while having his fry-up...

See I thought he came over to the UK from his American home to take the Livi job so that's why I'm unsure of where he lives now. Certainly seems to keep a low profile for whatever reason.

Never understood why Gough hasn't been more involved at Rangers (or any other club for that matter). Suggesting it's because he'd never be a yes-man is certainly valid so I'd be most interested in hearing his thoughts on a range of subjects. Is he still based in the UK?

Over the years I've found many online Rangers supporters are interested in finding out more about their club. From the humble origins on the banks of the Clyde to the modern day status of being the world's most successful domestic club, there is a rich heritage for every fan to explore. As such, 2 years ago, Gersnet created an ongoing project to create a searchable archive of the most important club information - The Rangers Archive. Along with other contributors across the online community, we've sourced the very best sites, accurate statistics and interesting articles about a wide range of subjects. All the big names are there - from John Greig to Bill Struth - while our stadium's history is also discussed in full. Add in a fascinating source of published references and a statistics section that NO other site has online, then the Rangers Archive makes for essential reading for any football supporter. We'd also like to invite all fans to get involved! YOU can help by submitting: * Your own stories and experiences; * Photos; * Video footage; * Any suitable sources of info such as books, film etc; * Reporting site inaccuracies; * Providing appropriate external site links. To help your task please fee free to post on the main Gersnet forum. Our admin will answer any queries at the earliest opportunity and we can even offer registered users the chance to get access to the main site to add/change content in a real-time basis. This project is unlike any other online - even the club don't offer such a tool! Explore the Rangers History Archive now: http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/archive

I'd imagine we'll get something like 20,000 tickets. Obviously the CCCS members will get first shot at tickets. Meanwhile, I'd suggest you contact the ticket office with your details to be put into the draw for the remaining tickets (if any).

Great post Norris... At least Bain had something to say about it - too little too late obviously.

I'm certain that if Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch both grew moustaches, their critics would soon get off their back...

Yep, it's a fine picture - one we have in the archive part of the Gersnet main site... http://www.therangersarchive.co.uk/

I thought there was another inspection planned for tomorrow 8.30am?

The TV/radio information has been on the site ticker since Sunday...

Interesting - thanks for that...

Thread closed. Please take the VB/SZ stuff elsewhere.

I'd rather arguments between other sites didn't form part of the main board to be honest....