Frankie

Goes for most people nowadays - high net worth or not...

4-5-1 wouldn't surprise me. 4-4-2 must be retained as the thought of Miller alone up front with McCulloch and Adam supporting from midfield gives me the shakes.

RangersMedia mate...

I post on RM and Gersforum (occasionally) while still reading FF to keep up on some of the quality information contained there. Don't really have time for much more than that nowadays. Always confuses me when some forums get irky about mentioning others. We should be working together even if we may be 'competing' for members. No reason why people can't post on several as every forum I use has their pros and cons. Welcome to Gersnet, Norris. Perhaps you and Chick should get together for a half-shandy? :devil:

Welcome to Gersnet gentlemen... We're certainly not as busier as other forums but we operate on a quality not quantity basis... Much easier to make your point on here as well but expect strong opinions on everything connected to the club.

I can assure you some board members were extremely proactive and diligent. Hence the work done trying to address the communication problem by yours truly and others in the 6-9 months before we resigned. There is no excuse for it not to have been continued after we left as it's all simple, basic stuff which just needs a bit of hard work. Regarding your experience, I used to receive all emails via the website and those I didn't/couldn't personally answer I passed onto others - usually the members secretary or the media gents. I can't understand why they didn't reply. Email isn't always the best form of communication in that regard. I've since seen perfectly valid questions ignored by senior board members canvassing opinion on other forums which is bizarre so that maybe explains why you have been ignored. The Blue Spirit was a quarterly newsletter so of course it was a summary of recent and upcoming activity. Not everyone can receive emails or check the website so that's why it was revamped (to a decent degree). The survey with the renewal pack I was hoping to be a more direct way of communication/feedback but like I say I never got a chance to build on that or the above. Hope this clarifies the issue somewhat.

He is a monster!

Shortly before the resignations there was an attempt at improved communication via a revamped Blue Spirit, regular emails via the Joomla site software and member interaction via a new renewal package and questionaire/survey. It wasn't a perfect strategy but it was workable in terms of the finance, experience and logistics we had available. Further investigations into improvement were also under consideration. As such an email would have certainly been sent to all Gersave member email addresses on record at the time of the initial Gersave tranche submission (November 2007). The request would have also been sent to the Yahoo list (or should have been by the members secretary) and posted on Newsnow, FF, Gersnet, Gersforum and RM which was the full amount of forums I used at that time. We certainly got a fair few ideas back but decided, rightly or wrongly, as a board on putting the money towards Youth Development. I'll stop short of claiming the money has developed John Fleck and Danny Wilson... The new RST secretary Fraser Martin said on Radio Scotland on Saturday evening that the next �£50K tranche was now ready to be put into the club. I've no idea if the board intend changing the way they consult the membership in that regard. In terms of canvassing opinion all members on the database (paid up or lapsed) also recieved a renewal package around March/April last year with the short survey mentioned above inviting answers to ~12 questions as well as any general comments/feedback along with a pre-paid envelope. The resignations happened shortly after this so I've no idea how successful this was or if any feedback was acted upon. There were a few completed surveys received before I resigned that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, the people reponsible for the effort to improve communications and the new renewal package all resigned - other than the members secretary who IIRC also worked very hard to send out the information contained within it via the actual practical work of stuffing several thousand envelopes. The package itself cost a fair amount to put together IIRC. Apparently, these initiatives have not been followed through by the 'new' board so the success of them can't be measured from my point of view as I am no longer a member. I'm told emails have stopped completely (other than to the small Yahoo list once or twice); the quarterly Blue Spirit hasn't been sent out at all since we resigned; and, given the failure to consult the membership before changing their main strategic operations (ie working with/against the club administration), interaction with fans seems limited. Certainly FF seems to be the main place for sourcing info on the organisation - the RST website seems almost defunct nowadays. Rather a poor performance in this area given the personal assurances of the new vice-chair at the July 2008 EGM where he said communication would be improved and members involved in all project decision-making. This, I'm reliably informed, was to be a SD backed initiative called In-Touch (link below for info) which certainly seems a good choice and would have been something I'd have investigated myself. No idea why this hasn't been implemented. 29 other Trusts are using this system with good feedback. https://www.intouchwithmembers.co.uk/background.html As a life member yourself perhaps you should contact them and raise all the above to find out their progress?

Yeah, if you can write up when you get a chance - no real rush - that would be superb. It's exactly the kind of constructive suggestion that the fans should be providing to the club. Of course a similar idea has been investigated in the past (which you may or may not have been aware of) but circumstances are always changing so it would be good to float it again.

Tremendous post above Big Spliff... May I use the content (and edited slightly) for a main site/NewsNow article - obviously you'll be credited as author?

Yep, Shroomz has made a few good posts in this thread - as has Big Spliff. The idea of a transfer fund is a worthy one. However, it's unlikey to work even if you get high net worth fans who may lead a project to get 'ordinary' fans on board. GerSave was a similar idea but even the success of that has been extremely limited.

I'd certainly agree the sheer number of 'online' fans means the disrespect the club are affording us is rather misguided. We're not a big forum (~1000 members) but FF and RangersMedia will have around 30000 members between them. Obviously it's impossible to say how many of these numbers are actually bears.

I never took too much interest in the membership numbers until the last year of my time on the board. That was the domain of other board members. As such, I can't say for sure, but 2500 max may be accurate in terms of paid up members in one year. Obviously the Trust (as well as other organisations) will exaggerate their figures somewhat. It's natural to do that when attempting to gain more influence than perhaps your true size may reflect. Thus, when challenged publicly they may massage the figures or ignore the question completely. Both have certainly been done recently. I wouldn't say it's that big a deal to do so as sometimes the club has to be played at their own game but not being open about it to fans may only cause problems.

Just as the media fear the advent of the free fan forum (see Unofficial websites - Pressure on the Press http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=693&Itemid=2 ); the club also fear them because they know their actions will be scrutinised more than ever which, in turn, makes them more answerable... In addition, Smith is playing silly buggers regarding this faceless stuff. Murray and Bain are more than aware of who runs each of the main unofficial, influential Rangers sites. Perhaps if they offered a credible alternative to these places, then supporters wouldn't be forced into using them to put across their points. These alternatives needn't be online based.

Boooooo!

Agree totally with your report on the game mate... We dominated the match for long periods but never really looked all that dangerous. Why our manager didn't take off a defender as soon as Falkirk went to 10 men I'll never know...? Still more questions than answers at this stage but the 2nd half performance of Fleck certainly made the sangria taste sweeter than evening...

Fair point mate. The fans (or any investor generally) deserve to know the financial situation of the club before they put in more of their hard-earned in. Not to mention how their money would be used thereafter.

I think we signed him for around �£700K. As usual, due to his poor performances and injury problems, I'd be surprised if we could match that fee if we do manage to have people even interested in him. Beasley has done well on occasion but I agree now seems surplus to requirements.

Hi John. Welcome to Gersnet. Your point about fans financing the club is an interesting one. As you know we already do this to a large extent via ticketing and merchandise - as well as other past share issues and initiatives. The most recent share issue of 2004/05 saw a small financial input from interested fans as it seems many people - especially the high net worth supporters - seem reluctant to put more money into the club while SDM remains in charge. Since then other schemes have been attempted in the background (the RST's Gersave for one) and have not been all that successful either. As such, it's debatable whether your idea would work. Of course circumstances change and we need something constructive to get out of this vicious circle we're in so I'd be interested in you expanding your idea.

Never heard of him... I'm sure Hemdani will have given a glowing report... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salim_Arrache

Whittaker or Broadfoot will play left back. Fleck did well but I actually thought the manager spoke quite candidly about why Fleck hasn't featured more before now. No excuse not to keep him in the team from now on though.

JJ? An auld moaning Hibee? No thanks! In saying that I don't think I have any better ideas. Gough should have been brought in before now but as MF says his non cap-doffing style won't have him high in terms of suitors (RFC or others in fact). Do we go the continental route again? What kind of budget would they want? How many managers would be prepared to do an Eck? Certainly don't fancy Durrant or McCoist. Outside bet is maybe Derek McInnes who has done very well with his St Johnstone side.

Fair points mate... Welcome to Gersnet.

Agree completely with that. Doesn't mean we shoudln't be preparing for this in the background. Problem is just how far will the club be allowed to fall before the majority show their concern. People just disappeared in the early 80s. Hopefully something can ensure that dosn't happen again.

Oops I missed that mistake...