chilledbear

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/alan_pattullo_despite_rumours_there_s_no_going_back_for_david_murray_1_2077885 Published on Thursday 26 January 2012 01:44 IT MIGHT make for a good headline, but the notion that Sir David Murray could somehow end up back at Rangers is a fanciful one. His return to Murray Park, reported to have occurred on Tuesday, has caused a stir. Some Rangers supporters might have greeted the news with a groan, while others, having grown more and more dismayed with the slow-burning nature of Craig Whyteâ??s tenure, could easily be persuaded to welcome such an outcome. Murray, though, wouldnâ??t be one of them. He is surely relieved that the annual headache of finding a way to win a two-horse race is now someone elseâ??s department. The current palaver of identifying targets from abroad and then actually managing to get them into a Rangers shirt is a reminder of the joys of owning a football club. Murray may miss the profile but much of the glamour has gone. Rangers move in shallower waters these days. Murray was described as looking on from the balcony of Ally McCoistâ??s office as a bounce-match took place below. It had been hoped that this game would allow McCoist the chance to run the rule over a number of trialists. However, by the time it had kicked off the most significant of these transfer targets had high-tailed it to Wearside, in a bid to win a move to Martin Oâ??Neillâ??s Sunderland. The inference seemed clear. Rangers are in a chaotic state â?? the worst since pre-Graeme Souness days, according to former midfielder Jim Bett â?? and Murray could be the man to return, possibly while riding on a horse called hubris. Others interpreted Murrayâ??s visit to mean that McCoist was consorting with the former chairman behind owner Craig Whyteâ??s back. It is a conclusion which is easier to arrive at if you also happen to believe that the Rangers manager is becoming ever more frustrated by an off-field situation at Ibrox, one which threatens to undermine his status as a club legend. All the ingredients of a great football drama were there. It included the added spice of a walk-on part from Oâ??Neill, who stands accused of luring Zlatan Muslimovic from Rangers to Sunderland in a move which causes the Ibrox club fresh embarrassment. Football loves a narrative which involves the return of someone to a former life, and the thought that Murray might be looking out the candy-stripe tie again would turn the recent story of Rangers into an even bigger pantomime. Murray, newly remarried, is surely aware of that. He is known to be enjoying an existence which is not defined by his association with Rangers FC. He often complained that while the club amounts to only a small proportion of his business empire, it took up as much as 80 per cent of his time. It was a way of life for him for 23 years so it seems unrealistic to think that, just eight months on from selling the club, he should be completely divorced from it. However, he might now think twice about popping into Murray Park â?? he is reported to have attended a scheduled appointment with the club doctor â?? although it seems strange that he shouldnâ??t be permitted to visit a place which still bears his own name. There is a persistent rumour that Murray is set to reclaim possession of the club should Whyte fail to meet certain obligations. This appears to be a complete non-starter. If Whyte hasnâ??t agreed to take on the debts, and the tax case, then why else would Murray have agreed to sell the club for the token price of just a single pound? And why would he want Rangers back again if the club was proved to be in such a state that initiating its recovery proved beyond the current owner? It is now Whyteâ??s problem, although the result of the issue with HMRC â?? which relates to payments made on loans to players as long as a decade ago â?? is not certain to go against Rangers. The tribunal, held last week in Edinburgh, is believed to have gone as well as could be expected for the Ibrox club. But it is because of this case that Murray remains attached to Rangers, whether he likes it or not. While Murray isnâ??t straining to hear news of each new Rangers signing target it would be wrong to think he is not waiting rather anxiously to learn the outcome of this tax case, with the conclusion expected to be delivered within five weeksâ?? time. He knows if the finding goes against Rangers then the outlook does not look good for the club. Administration is viewed as being highly likely. It isnâ??t what he wanted for the club, clearly. He is also more qualified than anyone to know what it would mean for him in the rapacious world of business. Whyte would have no qualms about declaring they were left with no option by the excesses and mistakes of the previous regime. Murray sold to someone billed as the only serious player in town. It was the only way out at the time but it could have come at a cost. Now he must wait for the outcome of a tax tribunal to learn how history will judge him. It is not a prospect anyone would relish

English media saying West Ham bid was £5m.

BBC not reporting we rejected £7m ??

Rumours and half-truths, another day in the Rangers story.

Said that a long time ago, something I just don't understand.

I didn't understand that one either, we don't need to spend money on a right back. Ally might have thoughts on playing him right mid though.

I used to back Man U and Arsenal back when they were the only two with a realistic chance of winning the EPL. You would wait until one of them had a poor result on the Saturday, you could back them odds against, wait until the other team followed suit, and back them odds against. It even works better in Scotland, where no other team have an earthly of winning. What odds would you have got for the scum when we were 'fifteen points' ahead, now you can get 10/30 on the champions. Better than the interest rate you get from the bank !!

From the Herald. To see oursels as ithers see us! THE world is aware of the debt owed to Rabbie Burns by the art of poetry, the politics of empathy and, of course, the haggis industry. His central part in the signing of a Rangers centre-half has so far not been fully documented. Yet Carlos Bocanegra can cite the poet not only in relation to his move from St Etienne to Rangers at the beginning of the season but also in his somewhat surprising view of his newly found neighbours. The Californian talks in a gentle drawl that has echoes of a New Age Hippie but when he speaks of life as journey he is referencing not just experience but geography. The defender has travelled 7000 miles from his home in Upland, California, to play for Rangers, making stops en route in Chicago, the Barclays Premier League and in Ligue One. His arrival at Rangers was anticipated one January night in Wimbledon, where Bocanegra lived while he was playing for Fulham. "I was living next door to a Scots guy, Ian Grant, a big Hibs supporter. He and his wife would help me out, cook me meals. One night he came over and told me that it was Rabbie Burns' night the next week and invited me to his home. It was all traditional â?? the haggis, the dagger, the poems. I got an insight into the Scottish culture from that." He also received a lesson in the Scots psyche. "He is a great guy, he always takes the positives. He always looked on the bright side. I have noticed that since I have moved to Scotland. Everyone gets on with things. If something goes bad, they take it in their stride. The banter is tremendous. Even the cab drivers who are not Rangers fans are supportive." To which the only response can be a baffled: "Eh?" Surely we Scots are glowering, doom-laden pessimists? "I have not seen that. Everybody wants to enjoy themselves, make sure you as a visitor to their homeland are enjoying yourself," he said. The view may be unexpected but it comes from the eye of an experienced traveller. Bocanegra, the boy from California, has become the man who has played for clubs in Chicago, London, Rennes, St Etienne and now Glasgow. The defender, who studied history and geography at UCLA, had a moment of clarity when in the Windy City. "I was complaining about the weather, the continual cold, telling everyone how it sucked. One of my team-mates said: 'Shut the hell up. You are playing soccer for a living. Nowhere else is like California. So suck it up'." This was the start of a series of life lessons. "The biggest one was that I knew that I really had to grow. I had to mature. I had to learn about money management, time management. There were other things, too. When I came over to England I was given a red card after my third match. The media gave me hell. I was really thinking: 'What have I come into?"' There was a loneliness and an acceptance. "I knew nobody else would look after me apart from myself." So how does he approach a new homeland? "I ask myself: how do these people live? I want to learn about their culture, the way they think. I do not want to be fighting against the culture." He took soundings about Rangers from his Burns-loving former neighbour and from former Rangers players Claudio Reyna and DaMarcus Beasley, who he played with on the national team. "I was settled on being in France at St Etienne for at least another year and this came calling. It was too big a chance to miss with the Champions League, Europa League, the opportunity to win cups and titles," he said. The player, who was no innocent abroad, has still been surprised by the size of the club, the demands of the media, the passion that football generates in the city. "It is strange," he said. "This is the biggest club I have played for, yet it is in probably the smallest league compared to France and England." The veteran of the MLS, Barclays Premier League and Ligue One, the winner of 100 caps for his country has revelled in the Old Firm experience. "Ibrox on a Saturday is amazing," he says. Of the Old Firm clash, he added: "At the beginning of the game it is pretty cool when you walk out. That is the one time you can enjoy the crowd." Bocanegra, who has played in the business end of two World Cups, then makes an unusual statement. "I never, ever dreamed of being a soccer player, certainly not a professional one," he said. As a young boy he played baseball, American football and ran on the track. His decision to devote himself to soccer was made for educational reasons. "Basically, I was offered scholarships for American football and soccer. The soccer offers were to better colleges." Bocanegra went to UCLA where he majored in history and also learned that he could make a living at football. The career has evolved in an almost relaxed fashion. "I was 18 before I even thought about soccer as a career. I was 20 before I believed I could play in the MLS." At 32, he looks forward to fulfilling his contract for the next two seasons. And beyond? He will play as long as he can but is now leaning towards coaching and also has a sports science centre in California that caters for both children and professional athletes. Asked what his career in America and Europe has taught him, he said: "The necessity of sacrifice. You have to be prepared to give things up as a sportsman. You must accept you will miss out on things. "I have had some ups and downs. I would do it all over again but it is a sacrifice. Sometimes I do not want to fly down to Guatemala mid-season to play a game and then fly back for a match at the weekend. I have missed weddings, birthdays, parties . . . but would I change it? No. I enjoy doing it all, living 7000 miles from home," he said. He is typically postive about life at Ibrox as form falters and financial worries abound. "The title is still on the cards. The gap is four points but there are four months left and we have to play Celtic twice," he said. "The tax case is something I can do nothing about. You can not harp on about injured players. They are gone, out of the team at the moment. We would love to have them, but they are not here. It is the same if someone leaves in the transfer window. You can not control it. You deal with what you have. And you make it work." The rays of a wintry sun illuminate the room at Murray Park. Bocanegra has confirmed his optimism and thus his status as a genuine citizen of his new homeland, even citing, with a smile, Caledonian ancestry on his maternal side. He is, in short, as sunny as a Scotsman.

I very much doubt the signing over of Rangers for £1 is clear cut either.

Aye loads of police there and they pick on a wee lassie, bravehearts right enough. I'm glad we stuck up for ourselves, but I thought casuals used to do it among themselves and kept the ordinary fan out of it?

Whyte . . McCoist, Smith . . McCoist. Has Murray entered the fray to bang heads together. Bloody East Enders and Coronation Street rolled into one.

You make it sound like a sunday school picnic. 'There's nothing sinister in this at all, just old school casuals having a day out'. Not nice if you are an innocent bystander or the wee police lassie. Tell us more.

Bit of a shambles I'm afraid. Sad and worrying the state we are in. Has Murray really stepped away from Rangers ??

With MIH being in overall control, what is to stop them making a deal, so that Rangers Football Club take the full hit, and Murray and MIH get off scot free?? Or is that certain to happen anyway?

I've said for a while we need fresh thinking in the coaching team. Would love to see Wilkins brought in, even in an advisory roll.

Fingers crossed mate.

I remember it, I was probably one of them. Just don't think it has worked out the way we thought it would.

I don't think we will find gems the way we are doing it.

Can I introduce the team from the early sixties, which to my mind was every bit as good as the 2 teams being discussed. I would say without hesitation Caldow, Baxter and Henderson would be in a combined team. I always find it difficult picking a team from different eras, because of the formations.

I don't honestly think we can afford to drop Davis, argueably our best player. Even out of form I would still say he was one of our better performers. What I would do is switch him out to the right, where he gets far more room and and is very good at covering for the right back. Is also able to come inside to give us three in the middle when needed.

Paying fees for young players to let them go. Signing players for the first team, and not giving them a chance. Doesn't seem to matter we have no money, nothing changes.

We seem to be giving trials to whoever is on a free. I thought the idea was to target young players who would have a sell on price. If we are to live within our means we have to be more aware in the transfer market.

Freddie Espling going back to Sweden. Any great loss ?

Another crook ....... Hughes I mean !!

While I agree it would be daft to sack Ally, I would like to see some fresh ideas introduced into the coaching and tactical side of the playing area. It is going to be very dificult to win the League, the momentum is with the other side now, and I don't see us turning things around. That is where experience as a manager is priceless. Then again Craig Whyte could surprise everybody where the manager is concerned.