bmck

dont know anything about him.

yes.

for example, they tell us we're going to have a "link" with this flourishing club. everyone agrees that this is a good thing. we get vague references to swapping players. all sounds nice. but there's no substance. what does this link actually entail? how is it going to benefit the first team? what steps are in place to ensure this happens? basic business stuff.

i get the impression that what we get from rangers world, murray etc is blair-esque soundbite policy. they want to be seen to improve while maintaining the status quo/doing what they like.

http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NOTREGNews/NewsDetail/0,,5~1029046,00.html he makes some good comments, but dont you get the feeling you've heard this all before?

cheers frankie. cant believe how good gow looked there.

i cant help but see murray using players to downscale the sentiment among supporters that we've got major rebuilding required.

this is all nonsense. the exact same thing we hear all the time - tried to get world renowned player a), ended up with mediocre player b). we are never going for player a)! its a nonsense! a chirade!

cant see that on their site, but dear god thats bad.

calscot, if you pad that out a bit i think it would make a great article for the main site.

aye buster. its a horrible state of affairs - its the schizophrenia thats caused between by and large despising the press' power over your average person and the hope in yourself that they can be swayed according to the ends you want, type thing.

MediaWatch ââ?¬â?? Murdo MacLoud awakens the People? Well, itââ?¬â?¢s been tempting to focus this weekââ?¬â?¢s instalment of MediaWatch on the intense coverage of Scott Brownââ?¬â?¢s signing for Celtic. It would be nice, perhaps, to spend a bit of time watching just how many times the tabloids, and even the BBC, were willing to contradict themselves in the name of a good headline [1]. But I think there was one article with a typically sensational and somewhat inflammatory title that may have furthered the Rangers cause despite itself ââ?¬â?? an article chiefly quoting Murdo MacLoud, no less [2]. Now, articles on Gersnet are largely un-edited and we do our utmost not to preclude people from giving their opinion, even if it doesnââ?¬â?¢t agree with that of the majority. Despite this, the consensus among our participants seems to be that the appropriate stance towards our Chairman is one of healthy criticism. As our previous articles have outlined (see Sir David Murray Report Card etc) Murray has done much good, but in current times serious questions have to be asked about his management of our club. And these questions are being asked with increased frequency in all areas of our support: from websites to the RST. However, I am not alone in holding a suspicion that the slumbering masses of Rangers supporters still hold the view that Murray detractors are mere troublemakers, and hold the view that Murray has invested significant portions of his own money in Rangers and will ultimately buy us out of our current predicament. Iââ?¬â?¢ll expand my suspicion by saying that I believe the majority of such supporters get their Rangers news chiefly from places like the Daily Record. I think weââ?¬â?¢ve started to entertain the illusion that Rangers supporters online (in places like Follow Follow & Gersnet) are representative of the entire support, and that thus, by and large, Rangers supporters avoid the Record and are sceptical of Murray. What may be true online, even in the Fanzines, going by newspaper sales alone, doesnââ?¬â?¢t seem to be true in general. The media, and especially the Record, have been almost unaccountably uncritical of Murray during his tenure. Rangers fans, by and large, lapped up Celticââ?¬â?¢s bad old days of struggle and toil ââ?¬â?? we enjoyed, truth be told, the one-upmanship it afforded us in the larger cycle of winning and losing. Iââ?¬â?¢m quite sure no Rangers supporter actually wanted to see them go under. But their famous ââ?¬Ë?biscuit-tinââ?¬â?¢ mentality was a source of constant fun ââ?¬â?? the term, remember, was one created by the media for no other reason than it could either effect smirks from Rangers fans, or incredulity from Celtic fans ââ?¬â?? both of which sell papers. We enjoyed, then, Murrayââ?¬â?¢s famous quips about spending a tenner for every fiver. But the fact that this arcadian dream had soured has long been true for those online, but the general Record-reading population still buy the propaganda (literally, from the Record) that the moonbeamed solution is just around the corner, despite all the evidence of past seasons to the contrary. Thatââ?¬â?¢s not to say your average fan is to blame ââ?¬â?? most people simply have more, or other, things to do than critically examine the papers and the situation. They have bills to pay and kids to feed and whatnot. Itââ?¬â?¢s easy to let your opinion by approximately guided by the general impression gained from whatever newspaper you read. But the problem with this is that if there is no critical analysis of the situation ââ?¬â?? if itââ?¬â?¢s not forced down your throat along with your coffee in the morning its far too easy not to think about it. The Internet can provide some of this, but itââ?¬â?¢s not until the tabloid media turn, in their typically horribly sensational way, against Murray that your actual average Rangers fan may become unsettled. It happened with Celtic, and it will happen with us. And so, it is with a very much afflicted sense of happiness that I turn to the article in question: ââ?¬Å?Biscuit-Tinââ?¬â?¢s Changing Directionââ?¬Â by Colin Duncan [2]. Both title and subtitle (ââ?¬Å?Exclusive Celtic signing sensation ... Now itââ?¬â?¢s Celtic who can splash the cash while Gers buy on the cheapââ?¬Â) are of the sort that I typically use this column to berate ââ?¬â?? sensational and purposefully inflammatory. But to the somewhat cynical Internet supporter the main response is not one of indignation, but of relief tinged with sarcasm: ââ?¬Å?What, its ââ?¬Å?Changingââ?¬Â? It changed years ago ffsââ?¬Â or something along those lines. But the truth is that if this rather simple message, so obvious to a lot of us, is now entering the public domain of tabloid sensationalism ââ?¬â?? if David Murrayââ?¬â?¢s spending policy is now a legitimate target of tabloid hype then the truth is that it makes the gravity of our situation apparent to your average Rangers fan. Phrases like ââ?¬Å?Three times in the past few months the Ibrox men have been close to securing deals for signing targets only to be gazumped at the 11th hour by their Old Firm rivals.ââ?¬Â while being deliberate half-truths, will do as they are designed and, irk Rangers supporters. And from the ashes of this sensation there will arise a desire for change. I hope. And I also hope that they will turn to those genuinly interested in Rangers ââ?¬â?? organisations like the RST. So, it may turn out that while articles like this, quoting people whose opinions generally do not matter to Rangers supporters (like Murdo, though I think heââ?¬â?¢s a nice guy), are annoying for all the reasons they typically are, they are the very thing that may spark the slumbering People into action. [1] See the Recordââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Å?Celts Land 4.4m Brownââ?¬Â where the article both claims ââ?¬Å?CELTIC last night won the race to sign Hibs midfield dynamo Scott Brownââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?Reading have emerged as a serious possibility with an offer that is believed to be marginally higher than Celtic's.ââ?¬Â It took both James Traynor and Keith Jackson to write this particular piece of journalistic genius. [2] http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=biscuit-tin-s-changing-direction%26method=full%26objectid=19110261%26siteid=66633-name_page.html

canny believe fergie's 29.

i dont think he'll ever see the light of rangers first team action, to be honest. i think the best idea would be to send him out on loan - a year in the first or second division will suitably harden him up. i think he has the pace to cope with the premier division, but perhaps a year of actual men kicking lumps out him (first division centre halfs etc) will both give him a bit of extra steel and a chance to show that he can cut it at this level. i'm just never optimistic with walter smith and breaking in young players.

its as much as we can rightfully expect - eh, buba?

i was actually thinking that. think he's improved on that front towards the end of the season.

well spotted!

agreed. sensibleness (a word?) just seems to guide his words giving them a sense of level-headed authority. he, like frankie in recent articles, asseses murray without sensation: he is neither reactionary or revolutionary, he just says "this is good" or "this is bad". i think people can trust that.

excellent stuff.

yup, but this isn't acknowledged by the non-internet-browsing majority who still thinks the sun shines out his hin end.

glad to see shitty tabloids labelling us as the new proprieters of the 'biscuit tin' mentality. hopefully that should motivate the masses.

aye, i agree. no pace out wide or up front where its needed most.

think his weight problem was from a while ago. he's referred to in the french press as 'the rocket' because his main attribute is his pace.

if your work does bin it there are several workarounds. if any info is needed then just let me know.

so, so true.