chilledbear

@exposingphil: Significance of this is the money potentially belongs to RFC. If there are convictions asset recovery orders could be used to our benefit.

@exposingphil: @LaudrupsHair Well respected venture capitalist, allegedly received 2 kickbacks one in person, one via a vehicle called Eurovestech.

@exposingphil: Charges likely to be brought against 3 people within next month 1 of whom resides overseas & has recently refused to cooperate with police

@exposingphil: I've mulled over posting info re Sevim Cesim given potential legal proceedings but as no charges brought yet I think it's ok to do so. @exposingphil: Original whistleblowing to SFO was nothing to do with D&P or selection process in takeover it was related to kickbacks to Richard Bernstein @exposingphil: However her access to documents means she has been been very helpful to police in various other lines of inquiry.

Is that a pic of Spiers on FF at the game tonight.

@tedermeatballs: Anyway, it's that time again. Police probe into Green's takeover has taken a very significant twist this week. Look out for the front page.

CHANGES within the Rangers Academy are continuing at pace with the appointment of three new members of staff. Joining the backroom team at Auchenhowie are Paul Mathers, the Academy’s new goalkeeping coach who arrives from St Mirren; Graeme Stevenson, the new Academy Analyst who has come from a similar position within the Scottish FA and Greg Statt, the Academy Operations and Scouting Coordinator who has moved from Rangers’ Football in the Community (FITC) programme. The appointments were confirmed by Head of Academy Craig Mulholland, and he is thrilled to welcome his new men on board. He said: “I am delighted that we have been able to appoint a number of new staff to the Academy and this reaffirms the ambition we have at the club. At both first team level and in the Academy we are striving to create a high performance environment around the players which will maximise their potential and as the manager has referred to, add value for the football club, by developing their talent. “Key to creating this environment is the quality of the staff delivering key messages to the players on a daily basis. To fit into our culture and add value all staff we recruit must be ambitious, among the best in their field, open to learning and new ideas and must be innovative and exceptionally hard working on a daily basis. It is about us doing things professionally and to the highest standards on a daily basis and searching for areas of competitive advantage which will benefit the players. “Paul brings an exceptional level of experience from his time as a player, as a coach at first team level and with the international youth squads. The role of the goalkeeping coach is developing and Paul, utilising his background as one of the leading coach educators in the country, will contribute significantly to not only the development of our Academy goalkeepers but to the development of our overall Academy curriculum. “Graeme’s appointment as Academy Analyst will be critical to the learning experience of our players and staff. The use of technology, video and statistics is common place at all of the top Academies in Europe, which we are aiming to become, and we, working closely with the first team, will benefit enormously from the enhanced provision in this area. Graeme will bring extensive experience from working with the SFA national squads and at variety of professional clubs and in other sports at elite level. “I am pleased Greg has joined the Academy from our FITC programme. A key part of our Academy objectives is to not only developing players but also staff and by being able to promote internally and recognise Greg’s talent and potential it provides aspiration and a pathway for the many dedicated and talented staff we have within the Academy. Greg’s background is perfectly suited to the operations role combining a sports related degree from Strathclyde University with a strong organisational background in our FITC department. He is also a highly qualified coach who makes a significant contribution when working with players in our Children’s Academy. “We are also delighted to confirm that appointment of new coaches within our part-time coaching team. “Ricky Waddell, previously assistant U20 Coach and Acting Head of Youth at St. Mirren; Drew Todd an experienced youth coach who has worked with several professional clubs and the SFA and Gordon Craig who is Director of Coerver Coaching in Scotland and a former SFA Performance Coach. “These new appointments will add to our excellent complement of staff currently at the club and will assist us in achieving our ambitious plan.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/9792-new-academy-staff-appointments

@RichwilBBC: Rotherham Utd have withdrawn from talks with Hibs about Scott Allan after being informed the player wants to continue his career in Scotland

He is of the age where he has to move for regular first team football. Obviously not going to get it at Ibrox and too old for the U20s. Good luck to the lad.

Highlights on here. The youngsters did well, played football right to the end.

@SkySportsNewsHQ: BREAKING: Sky Sources: Rangers make third bid for Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan. #SSNHQ

Thought he and one or two others might have gone on loan this season.

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/item/9764-academy-success-delights-mulholland IT HAS been a highly successful week in the Rangers Academy with the under-14 and under-16 sides returning to Auchenhowie with trophies in tow. The under-14s claimed the Youdan Trophy at Bramall Lane in Sheffield in front of over 1000 spectators with a 3-2 triumph over Charlton Athletic in the final. The Youdan Trophy was the world’s first football competition and was competed for in 1867 – a full four years before even the FA Cup was first played. The young Light Blues received their trophy from Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Talib Hussain. Meanwhile, the under-16s claimed the Milk Cup Junior Section Globe with a 1-0 win over County Down in the final. That followed 1-0 and 4-1 wins over Sheffield United and County Fermanagh, and a 1-0 defeat to AS Roma USA in the group stage followed by a 2-0 success against Sydney United in the semi-final and a 1-0 victory over County Down in the final. Hot on the heels of that success, the under-17s will this week travel to Liverpool’s Academy and play the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, AIK Stockholm and Charlton, while the under-10s, 11s and 12s head to play Manchester City. At the end of the month, the under-14’s will have two trips. Firstly to Newcastle to play the likes of Newcastle Utd, Sunderland, Middlesborough and Man City, and then to Northern Ireland to play a French Academy, the Northern Irish national team and Everton. Looking further ahead, the under-20s will head for Spain in January for a two week training camp with a game against Valencia lined-up there, and the under-15’s will travel to Holland in May to play some of the best Dutch teams. It’s certainly an exciting time, and Head of Academy Craig Mulholland said: “We set about creating a new Academy culture in January and have come up with 12 fundamental values which we will base our philosophy on. These items, which will determine the way we act, the decisions we take and the way we behave in the Academy on a daily basis, match exactly the values the new Manager has introduced and will help us create an environment for players and staff which will demand excellence from the top of the football department all the way down to the youngest teams. One of these key aims is to ensure we create an environment where we challenge the players, expose them to ‘best v best’ situations as often as possible and take them out of their comfort zone to ensure that they are continually learning.” “Tournaments such as the Milk Cup, which the 16’s attended last week competing with teams such as Liverpool, Southampton and the excellent African team Right to Dream, and the Youdan Trophy which the 14’s attended where they played against Sheffield Wednesday, Celtic and Charlton provide us with an environment where we can test the technical, tactical, physical and mental attributes of our best young players in a way we cannot always achieve at home. The players get the opportunity to play against different systems, styles of play and players who are also some of the best in their country. This allows us to better assess our own Academy players when they are stretched and at the peak of their performance and determine how we can help them to improve key attributes in their game. Even the time away preparing for games like professional players, utilising the analysis tools, recovering between games, resting and refuelling properly is a great education for the players.” “We were delighted with the performance of both groups last week, and while it was good for the 14’s to win their event, what pleased the staff most was not the results but how the players are developing an understanding of our new style and principles of play and also the level of technical ability they demonstrated, which is vital if we are to create players who can dominate the ball. Equally as important was the positive feedback we received from other teams and the tournament organisers on how the Rangers Academy players behaved and conducted themselves on and off the pitch as for us developing the right type person is as important as developing the right type of player.” “We now look forward to a number of other high quality tournaments for various age groups in the coming weeks and months, starting with the Liverpool Academy event for the 17’s this weekend, and working closely with the 1st team we will ensure that our best young players are challenged in this way as often as possible.”

Someone asked this, and was answered thus...... RangersFirst ‏@RangersFirst 20m20 minutes ago @alexo93 the more we own now the more we can invest in pro rata later

RANGERS FIRST have become the eighth largest investors at Ibrox after completing a deal to buy almost 600,000 shares in Rangers. The group are attempting to purchase shares from shareholders seeking to cash in at present, and director Ricki Neill insists the Easdale brothers, Sandy and James, only need to pick up the phone if they want to sell off their shareholding to the fans group. Rangers First now own around 2.6million shares in Rangers International Football Club plc after increasing their stake to 3.21% with a six-figure deal. The acquisition is another significant step for Rangers First, a Community Interest Company formed two years ago, and Neill is delighted to have made a sizeable purchase as the group have once again increased their influence in the Light Blues. “We have bought another 586,000 shares,” he told Herald Sport. “We are serious investors and we will say to individuals ‘if you want to sell your shares, come and talk to us and we will buy them from you’. “We have got money here. It has been harder to buy shares recently but we have got guys working away in the background and contacting people asking if they are interested in selling. This shareholder wanted to sell and we bought them. “Our next goal is to get to 5%. We have got money in the bank to buy shares just now and we will keep some for any future share issue as well. A lot of members have been asking what we are doing and we have been working hard. It is a great deal for us.” Rangers First saw their membership numbers soar in the build-up to the General Meeting in March that saw supporters help Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan overthrow the former Ibrox regime. That surge has allowed them to gather enough funds to purchase stock from existing shareholders and they have now set their sights on controversial Ibrox investors the Easdale brothers. “I would say to people like the Easdales, if they want to sell, I will go and talk to them,” Neill said. “Their interest has changed now that they are not involved. We are willing to talk to them. That is the kind of people we are aiming at and there would be a huge surge amongst the fans if we could make it happen. The fans want Rangers to be in the right hands and that is people who care about the club. “If there are shareholders in Rangers just now that are serious about selling their shares, we are willing to talk. We are not going to spend silly money. We won’t go and say ‘we will give you 50p per share’. They need to be realistic. Just now, we are paying between 23p and 30p per share. It is our members’ money and we will spend it wisely.” Having once again reinforced their hand at Ibrox, Rangers First are determined to play a key part in the future of their club as the new Light Blues board continue the rebuilding job on and off the park. Neill hopes there will be strength in numbers for supporters for years to come as he seeks further dialogue with the Gers hierarchy over the way forward for Rangers. “I have had a couple of meetings with John Gilligan to let him know more about Rangers First and what we could do,” he said. “I also wrote to Dave King and he replied straight away. We let him know we totally back what he is doing, but that it would be good to have a meeting at some point. I said we were serious and that I would even go to Johannesburg to meet him and he replied that I was welcome at any time. We will arrange a meeting at some point and I have heard that (Managing Director) Stewart Robertson is an excellent guy as well.” http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13527222.Rangers_First_eye_further_Ibrox_share_deals_after_six_figure_swoop/?ref=ar

Rangers First I believe.

I know it's all about selling newspapers, but could be interesting . . good or bad ? @Chris_Jack89: See Tuesday's @TheEveningTimes and @hssport to find out who has purchased almost 600k shares in Rangers and wants to buy out the Easdales

The way things are going, the BBC are going to miss the excitement of The Rangers revival.

One of these players you have never seen, yet in your childhood you hear about them so much you think, I must have seen him in at least one game. Sadly the answer was no, and sadly another legend has passed away.

Some are good guys. @bbckennymac: @neilcasey_ I didn't, but it sounded like a very encouraging performance. Hoping to take my boy along on Friday night.

@Transferangers: John Eustace has been offered a two year deal by Rangers (STV News)

Could end up on the Coaching side of things.

MARK WARBURTON is ready to hand battle-hardened veteran John Eustace a two-year deal next week after insisting yesterday the 35-year-old would be a ‘great leader for us’. The Rangers boss has assessed the former Watford and Derby County captain in training over the past three weeks as Eustace has worked on regaining his fitness levels after missing the last few months of the previous campaign with a knee injury. Eustace is now nearing the required level of fitness and will almost certainly become Warburton’s eighth signing and could even be handed the captain’s armband. Lee Wallace led the team out against Hibs last week and will do so against Peterhead in the League Cup tomorrow - and the defender was the player chosen to represent Rangers in a captain’s photocall organised by new league sponsors Ladbrokes earlier in the week. But Warburton has refused to name the club’s permanent skipper and if Eustace is signed he will be a serious contender for the honour. Asked about Eustace yesterday, the Rangers boss said: “John has trained well and he had his most intense session yet last Tuesday. He has joined the group on Monday and it is great to see. “John is a very talented player and a model professional off the pitch. He would be a great leader for us, along with the likes of Kenny Miller, Cammy Bell and Lee.” Meanwhile, Warburton sidestepped a question on whether Rangers would offer Hibs midfielder Scott Allan a pre-contract deal in January if the Easter Road club sticks to its guns and refuses to sell him to their rivals. He said: “Scott is a Hibs player and I keep saying that. Rangers as a club will always be looking for quality additions, we have to. Any club with ambition has to add quality to its ranks. If that quality becomes available, we will make a move. If the quality becomes available and we are in a position to go for it, fantastic. If not, we have got a good squad of players. “From Rangers’ perspective, we must always be looking to add quality. We have got our targets and we know as a football department what we want to do. To achieve those targets, we have to add quality when it does become available.” Meanwhile, the club has taken a step towards being re-listed on the stock market by appointed Peterhouse Corporate Finance as ISDX corporate adviser. http://bit.ly/1IPTpkM

I didn't know Keith Jackson had been banned by celtic.

I think it was Jimmy Greaves book I read, where he said they identified Rangers weakness in the air. They had done their homework, years before Rangers thought of doing similar.