Bill

Leaving the merits of Castore aside, I'm still basking in the relief of having got rid of Ashley, which I didn't see coming.

Surely it's not about rating a player. It's about respect. Unless he made no effort then he should always be thanked for his service to Rangers.

Some years ago Sir Ian Wood offered to put up £50m of his own money to redevelop Union Street Gardens in Aberdeen. The council in its wisdom turned down his plans. So instead he built a multi-storey car park at the local hospital. At £10.7 it provided parking for 1000 cars on a fraction of the area of the old car park and freed up valuable land for further hospital development. I think it's time Football clubs also made more effort to cater for supporter parking and it doesn't need to be something the size of the Albion.

I'm not saying we have to thank anyone, simply that it's both pointless and inappropriate to criticise them on the way out the door. What does that achieve?

As a significant fellow partner with Castore I expect to see Andy Murray wearing one of the new Rangers' shirts in the near future. ?

Well said Craig. Couldn't agree more.

Indeed Cammy, that's the only way to do it. The exit door is no place to select certain players for criticism while thanking others.

A quid pro quo for not taking legal action against the SPFL? Probably not.

So, after due consideration all round it seems there is in fact no tangible basis after all for the irrational negativity towards Castore that has peppered the preceding pages. It's always good to come to a useful conclusion, although it does still bother me that in a move intended to greatly enhance our financial position, there remains a residual reflex that wants to find some reason to criticise without cause. Rangers has enough challenges, the last thing we need to do is add to it by spreading indulgent and unnecessary negativity. I also think Castore is spot on with the comment that previous merchandise has often been abysmal. Browsing the Megastore or a Rangers shop was like touring a market stall in Cairo, only with poorer quality. Frankly the prices charged for the quality of product was often a disgrace. If Castore can substantially improve on quality then a few quid more wouldn't be out of order. The fact that Castore in the interview with James Bisgrove a few days ago confirmed a tiered price structure that will better suit all wallets is surely something to welcome. My overriding impression so far is that Castore have sat down with Rangers and sought to address issues specific to our situation, which makes a refreshing change from the one-size-fits-all contracts we've had to accept from the big sportswear companies.

I'm quite shocked by the level of negativity rattling round this topic about a new kit no one has seen or had their hands on. It's verging on hysteria. No one will be forced to buy any merchandise they don't like or made by a company with an inadequate website. Ffs people, what is wrong with you? So you got up at 7 o'clock and didn't like the show, big deal.

I always criticise nationalists for not being able to discuss Scotland without referencing to England. There are times when it looks like some of us struggle to talk about Rangers without mentioning Celtic. Why is that?

It's hard to give a fig about this. Far more important than them winning another title is Rangers not winning it. Because to put it plainly, we had every chance. If we're not going to stop this procession of championships then no one else will and so far we don't look anywhere nearly good enough.

All kit deals like this are essentially sportswear companies investing in their own future. What I like about Castore is we’re not sharing that investment with dozens of other clubs. They have said in plain language they will match general pricing across the market but buying is a simple process At any price. If you want it and can afford it then buy it. If you want it but can’t afford it, don’t buy it. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. I think Castore has exactly the profile that suits Rangers but more importantly, From what we know of the financial deal, it is a good one for both sides

An advance-back?

I imagine Celtic would be prepared to bare some of the SPFL's burden.

I've felt for a while that Lewis Ferguson would be a target.

Seems to me that every year there's a new kit or supplier it's greeted with a tsunami of negativity from the many experts in sportswear and merchandising we're lucky to have among us. Were it not for the benefit of these opinions, some of us might make the mistake of welcoming a new commercial partner or even liking the product.

Why would anyone launch a new kit on a Sunday morning? Why would you announce anything on a Sunday morning?

In a situation like this you would want to engage at least two legal opinions and see corroboration before acting. Hearts will almost certainly have done so. If they haven't then they're mugs.

What is Rangers waiting for? Does the club want the title awarded to Celtic before starting court action in order to create an actual and quantifiable loss, albeit theoretical in terms of where the title would have ended up if the league programme was completed?

We're not competing with Chelsea and Man City. It's only Celtic we have to compete with for trophies. It's just that we're not so far. We don't need hundreds of millions of pounds. We just need to be able to close the gap and take two steps beyond. The current squad is clearly not up to the task, I really don't know if the manager is. I've none of the answers but we need a CEO who has most of them. We are clearly getting some much better people in to manage parts of the operation - we don't need more managers, we need leadership that cn solve our remaining limitations.

No doubt about it, you're right. However, the past has been analysed to death. We obviously need to learn from it and not repeat the same mistakes but the real test is looking forward, thinking about where we want to be in a few years time and what it will take to get there. I'm saying I don't think we have the tools at the club yet to do the job ... and the results so far back me up. We're definitely improving but I don't want improvement, I want success.

You might be able to back that point of view if you could first explain why we can't win games after New Year. But in any case, all these "nearly there" assumption are entirely based on Celtic not wielding their larger resources and responding. Granted they're not a great team but neither are we and they are currently achieving much more than us over a season. We're not two points behind, we're 13 points behind and that isn't a close race. What I'm saying is we have a mountain still to climb and at the moment we're barely leaving base camp. If we want to get to the top we are going to have to look at the more important elements of the club that are fundamentally not delivering. Because whichever way you stack the cards, the trophy cupboard is still bare and every season Celtic get that CL slot we have less chance of filling it. Key proposition - if we rest on our laurels now and congratulate ourselves on how far we've come then we're fucked. At the very least I want to see significant investment and changes at board level, better board leadership and a change of manager if we fail again so badly next season.

Already I see two of the reasons why we probably need to shake ourselves awake. "Football goes in cycles" - no it doesn't, there isn't a single reason why it should. "We're not so far behind Celtic" - maybe you need to define "not so far" because in a winner takes all scenario you get f*ck all for coming close.