Bill

Dave has it covered

..... even the Rangers Board of Directors

I can't see their difficulty. You tell the organisers you're planning to withdraw from the tournament, they tell what will happen if you do, then you decide what your next move is. If the price is too high, you let it be known you cannot guarantee it will be first team players turning up, due to pre-season plans etc. Otherwise you regrettably walk away and take the hit. Otherwise this is going to fester until the damage is too deep to ever be repaired. The board appears to think the reputational damage of breaking a contract is worse than losing the goodwill of the support. It's a viewpoint they'll regret taking. I've spent a considerable amount of money these last few years that I wouldn't have spent if I hadn't felt it was helping get the club to where I wanted it to be. Without faith in the board, that support all goes out the window.

I would say no bonus should ever be paid for performing one specific task, only for delivering overall targets for a full financial period. A bonus for arranging one contract would be ridiculous and barely honest.

Surely not. That would be a return to the Martin Bain school of management. But it would certainly be an interesting question to ask

Bisgrove’s reputation among the support will never recover from this and you can expect him to move on soon. Which is a pity since he does appear to have real talent, just no appreciation of the environment in which he operates. He’s finished at Rangers and the board if it has any sense would cut its losses and undo this self-imposed fiasco.

But it was Celtic. That's the entire point. Is the too difficult to understand?

That's it exactly.

With all these concerned parties, each intent on looking after the club's best interests, how come we're being reduced to a f*cking soap opera.

You can tell the self-destruction buttons have been pressed again and you don’t have to be a genius to see that this isn’t going to end well. My hopes for a glorious 150th year are fading fast.

Not for me. What that would mean is that a lot of things have gone well, not that there are no problems.

Just read the statement from Rangers, which is perhaps the most genuinely disappointing aspect of this squalid affair. If that represents the best Rangers can do then the problems are more serious than I thought. Leadership is as much about exercising judgement as anything else and that statement showed none. Our 150th years is not going particularly well so far.

Certain directors do appear to have made very unwise decisions and shown little willingness to address their mistakes but it's stretching credibility to say they're in the same basket as Club1872.

I wouldn't trust anything that comes out of Club1872

The tennis balls at Dens Park had more credibility than Club1872, which no longer serves any purpose that I can see. Who would have thought the idiocy of the RST could be so faithfully reproduced by people who should know so much better? There does seem to be a problem at the heart of our operating team but Club1872 leaping into the fray like this is more likely to give Bisgrove et al something to hide behind than anything else.

You're in danger of introducing the sort of logic and balance that serves as kryptonite in the endless infighting around this club. However, the power and the leadership rests with the club's directors, nowhere else, and this is where the chairman or his deputy should be knocking heads together in private and healing wounds in public.

They might have had a point of sorts but it was clearly motivated by self-interest rather than astute observation. Besides, any criticism by Club1872 would be immediately undermined the moment they consulted a mirror.

You can say that and I might agree with you but we both know that many people habitually seek out the least subtle means of sending a message. Ironically it's the very embarrassment you refer to rather than the message that might yet persuade the board that opening a chasm between themselves and the support is unacceptable to all.

That’s not going to happen

I absolutely condone the protest by Rangers fans at Dens Park. In fact I congratulate them on their action and hope they will step up these protests in future. It's understandable that the usual suspects should get all pissy about interruptions in play, and wring their hands in pious indignation. However, the board got us into this mess and should be reminded loud and long and often that, having ignored the support when they arranged this friendly, the can't do so any longer. What the streamers and tennis balls did was ensure the wider public could see our anger and make it impossible for our directors to sweep this issue under the carpet, as I'm sure they would love to.

It’s strange how often an international fortnight turns form on its head. Keep believing, as someone once said.

Fashion Sakala brought the energy that made all the difference. Joe Aribo brought the control we had lacked. Mysteriously, Bassey had a dreadful, feckless game. The worst I’ve seen from him in ages. What is it about left backs?

Fox in the box Connor Goldson

Idiotic foul by Sakala

Did I mention Aribo for Sands?