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bearing in mind that my football credentials come from sitting on my arse in the Govan stand and standing on what is now the Broomloan stand for 40 years, could I have fucked up Celtic's season any more successfuly than the whinging bigot? Given that the league has been awarded to Celtic before a ball is kicked; Could I have manged to lose the League Cup to a team from a division lower than mine on 100/th of the resources? mmm, yep, I'm inept enough to have done that. Could I have got my team twatted out of the Scottish Cup at home to a side with 1/10 of my resources? To be honest, I probably could have. Could I have gone through a Champions League campaign, winning 1 and losing 5? Probably not, to be honest. I'd have lost all 6. So there we have it, a bluenose of 40+ years standing could have been only marginally more inept and done only margianlly more damage to Celtic than Yellow Tooth. Of a possible 9 trophies he could have won, in the absence of the only real competition, he has had 3 handed to him before the season started and won only 1 of the remaining 6 possibles. And this whilst managing a club whose resources are greater han the rest of the league combined. Yeah, they're queuing up to take Neily south of the border, that's for sure.

https://twitter.com/TheLoudenTavern

It is widely known that Dave King has settled his issues with the SA tax people. There are also many, many reports that he plead guilty to approx 41 charges which resulted in a massive fine. My question is.....did these charges result in a criminal prosecution & resulting in a criminal record, or was it simply King effectively agreeing to paying the outstanding monies on 41 separate counts with the remaining charges/claims being dropped???? King has been referred to in many reports as a criminal....how accurate is this description???

...........by bigging up small achievements HUGH believes under-achievement is being covered up at Parkhead while talk of Trebles involving the Ramsdens Cup embarrasses Ibrox club. WHEN Albion Rovers go further than Celtic in the Scottish Cup it’s time to hold your hands up and come clean. And when you’re photographed holding an advertising board aimed at selling tickets for Rangers’ ‘title run-in’ when your team is 23 points in front with 13 games left to play you might at least have the decency to look embarrassed. But part of the deal now with Scottish football is you agree to have your intelligence insulted at regular intervals without ever complaining about it – or even admitting that it’s happened. A properly-developed grown-up, however, should reserve the right to examine the nonsense they’re being fed and give the now traditional answer in return – are you having a laugh? Neil Lennon tells everybody Celtic have had a “brilliant” season. But how can a brilliant season possibly contain an extra-time defeat at home to a lowly championship side in the League Cup, and without managing to score a goal in two hours of play against Morton? How can a brilliant season include a Champions League group stage in which, for the first time, Celtic looked as if they were out of their depth? Finishing bottom of the group while taking a six-goal beating in Barcelona, and failing to make the consolation prize of the Europa League, is what it is. A worrying glimpse of a difficult future at that level for Celtic while their squad is voluntarily diminished in quality season after season. Also, how can another season without a Treble being won during Rangers’ time in the lower orders be excused on the basis that only Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill have managed that distinction throughout Celtic’s history? If those two men could manage it when Rangers were battling them for everything then they should be left out of the argument. The question is why can’t a Treble be won by Celtic when the championship is a given at the start of every season for the current team? And on the subject of perspective, Rangers fans are now supposed to swallow industrial quantities of guff about their team’s current standing. I’ve no doubt Lee McCulloch was only delivering the party line when he was used as the frontman to sell tickets for the remainder of this season. But he can’t possibly believe in his heart of hearts that reaching the Scottish Cup Final in May would be the equivalent of the run that took Walter Smith’s side to Manchester for the UEFA Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg. Lee was part of that run and must know the difference between beating Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina and getting past Airdrie, Falkirk, Dunfermline and Albion Rovers. It’s an insult to the memory of those involved in Europe to compare their efforts to a romp through the lower leagues. Whatever Rangers have done in the Scottish Cup this season is no more, or less, than they should have done under the circumstances. And spare me this ongoing fantasy about the Ramsdens Cup forming part of a hoped-for “Treble”. That word is being used by those who clearly don’t mind having their intelligence insulted. The truth is Celtic and Rangers are not what they once were and have chosen to live in a world of their own invention for the time being. Lennon asks if it’s realistic to expect Aberdeen to challenge Celtic for the title next season when there’s an obvious gulf in points between them at present. “Have you looked at the league table?” he asked during his press conference at Lennoxtown on Thursday. So the manager uses realism when it suits him, and questions reality when there’s an inconvenient argument to be made for saying Celtic’s season has been inadequate. He should have a look about him this afternoon when Celtic get a skeletal crowd for the visit of St Johnstone and take a reality check. Celtic fans are disgusted by under-achievement and if Rangers are cavorting around Celtic Park with the Scottish Cup after the final is staged there then their disenchantment will rise to a new level. Two clubs are trying to take two lots of fans for mugs, and only the gullible are falling for it. The rest have used the evidence of their own eyes, exercised adult judgment and decided to stay away until these two clubs are more recognisable. That’s why season tickets are still on sale in February. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-celtic-rangers-conning-3150978

Not the best goal, the best cross ever by a Rangers player. It's such a vital part of football and yet a difficult and hugely underrated skill. Here's some off the top of my head. Neil McCann in the last minute of the Scottish Cup Final. Facing two Celtic players he finds a gap between them, the perfect spot between the large Celtic keeper who'd already flapped coming off his line and the behemoth centre halves Celtic employed in those days. The height of the cross made it hard to clear for giants. It benefits from its perfect sense of timing too. (Watch from 8.36 for the cross, watch all of it to just remember how good it all felt). [video=youtube_share;MfRwwY3kWkA] . We rightly rave about the header, towering, majestic, triumphant, but watch the cross. From on the touchline, 25 yards out, with a defender close by, with only one Rangers player in the box to aim for who is surrounded by some of the best defenders this countries produced. Oh, and he's falling over too. Genius. Brian Laudrup could get a thread of his own, , two players turned inside out and the chip straight onto the forward's head. Easy. Aye, so it is! So what has been the best cross ever?

Derek Johnstone: SO much has happened on and off the park since Rangers were put into administration by their former owner Craig Whyte two years ago this week. The Ibrox club have gone through three different chairmen and three different chief executives. A great deal of money has been brought into the club. Unfortunately, a great deal of money has gone out of it as well. Never mind the £22million or so that was raised in the IPO back at the end of 2012. There have been two tranches of season ticket money taken in that I believe were worth in the region of £18m. With all of the other revenue, from sponsorship deals and other commerical intitiatives, it is scandalous that the club is now running out of money. A lot of people have walked away with many times what they invested bulging out of their back pockets. They have plundered the club. I feel sorry for the latest chief executive, Graham Wallace. He is the man charged with sorting out the mess his predecessors made. But I am and always have been a glass half-full kind of person. And I do think Rangers have, at long last, got the right person in place to sort out the situation. For the first time in a long time I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Graham is a football man. He has experience of working at a major club, Manchester City, in the past. It is the first time in many years that somebody like that has been in a position of authority at Ibrox. Graham has done and said all the right things since being appointed back in November. He has asked for 120 days to identify and then address the issues affecting the club. He is currently working 24/7 to do that. If anybody can turn things around he can. The most important factor throughout what has, without doubt, been the most difficult two years in the history of the club has been the backing of the supporters. It is so vital that they remain firmly behind the club now and continue to buy season tickets in numbers and purchase club merchandise. I would hope the fans can see that in Graham Wallace they have the right man to take the club forward. He is speaking to a broad cross-section of the support and keeping them informed of what is happening at the club. In the past, they were kept at a distance and that was wrong. The paying customers can be certain their hard-earned will not - as has, alas, been the case in the past - go right out of the window with Graham at the helm. He knows what the club can and cannot afford to spend. He knows that there are going to have to be changes. And he will, in time, make them. I also think that Rangers needs fresh investment. From Glasgow, from London, from the Middle East, from wherever. But I am sure club officials are looking at that. I would certainly believe what he tells us and not others who delight in trying to run the club down. Despite the difficulties Rangers is facing, it is still a massive club, with a huge fan base, great facilities and enormous potential. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/derek-johnstone-golden-graham-is-the-man-to-unearth-silver-and-bank-152040n.23426812

" I've spoken to the manager about it and told him that, if the opportunity arose for me to go and test myself at a big club or a higher level, then I'm ready to do that. I'm happy here and won't force anything to get out. But I can't sit here and say I'll be a Killie player for the rest of my life. It's not in my hands. All I can do is perform well and see what happens in the summer. I've already proved I can play at a big club, because you don't get any bigger than Rangers. I have the mentality to play at a higher level. "

........Ex-striker & coach lift lid on Craig Whyte disaster which still haunts Ibrox club 13 Feb 2014 07:20 IT'S the story that rocked Scottish football to the core and is still affecting those who endured it. Two years on from officially sinking into the financial abyss Record Sport has lifted the lid on the turmoil of Rangers entering administration. DAVID HEALY knows there were Rangers players who used the club’s slip into administration to strengthen their own position. However, the Ulsterman failed to get the one thing he wanted more than anything else – an extra year at the club he loves. Of all the demands from the Ibrox stars and their agents during negotiations to pull the club back from the brink Healy’s request was the most sympathetic. Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of the day Rangers plunged into administration under disgraced former owner Craig Whyte and sent shockwaves through Scottish football. Healy had been through it all before with Leeds United but had the luxury of a safety net in England – which doesn’t exist north of the border – where the PFA step in to pay any wages. The Northern Irishman revealed that in the numerous team meetings in the days following administration the one thing the players wanted more than anything else was to see the club and its staff saved. That is why they agreed to a pay cut. Then came the individual negotiations between players and Duff & Phelps and it was then that Healy – now retired after a spell at Bury – realised his short stint at his boyhood heroes was going to end. The 34-year-old said: “The administration, as terrible as it was for everyone, doesn’t take anything away from the experience of playing for Rangers. People might ask questions as to why I left but the truth is I wasn’t actually offered a contract. “We were asked if we’d take a pay cut to keep the club afloat and at the time I’d have played for free so that wasn’t a problem. It was just disappointing because we took the wage cut and I knew people were asking for transfers or clauses in their contract maybe to benefit them. “Listen, that’s fair enough, that’s modern day football. But for someone like myself, I think the administrators probably thought I was mad because I just wanted another year. My deal was up in the summer and I spoke to the administrator myself because I didn’t need an agent and the only thing I said was ‘give me an extra 12 months’. “I think the administrator spat out his tea because others had been looking to get away and asking for clauses and all I’d have liked was another year. “It didn’t happen, Rangers were financially unstable and I understood the situation and I ultimately left and joined Bury. Nobody knew who was under threat.. we heard our cars were being towed, says former coach “I’ve read people saying if Rangers had gone to the Third Division I wouldn’t have wanted to stay but I’d have played on the astroturf opposite Ibrox Stadium to pull on that jersey. “We knew at the time Rangers were going to be penalised, there was talk of the First or Second Division, but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. “I would have stayed and happily played the extra year as Neil Alexander did and the current captain Lee McCulloch, who has a long history of being a fan himself. “You can see in his performances that Lee loves the club, not only when I was there but more recently. I still watch Rangers and my dad still goes to watch them – Stranraer is the local game this season with it being a couple of hours on the boat from Belfast. “I was coming to the wrong end of my career but other lads felt it was an opportunity to go and futher themselves in the Premier League or abroad but for me I wouldn’t have hesitated to play in the Third Division. “But the administrators told me they were in no position to offer me a deal because of the strain on the club and they didn’t know who was going or staying or who would be sold in the summer. “I think he was just taken aback because so many different clauses had been requested. My only clause was that I would love to have stayed. We didn’t even talk figures or anything, I just said I wanted to stay. It never went any further. “I understood the situation and coming to the end of the season I didn’t really play for whatever reason but thankfully I did get a chance post-administration with eight or nine games and I scored a few goals. “It was just disappointing that I knew my future was going to lie elsewhere and it dawns on you that you’ll be leaving such a great club. I was just thankful to have had the opportunity.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-two-years-financial-collapse-3140239

.........and steer club into fan control 1 Feb 2014 07:56 PAUL GOODWIN believes the Light Blues legions could own the Ibrox club within 18 months following successful attempts by Hearts and Motherwell. SUPPORTERS DIRECT chief Paul Goodwin believes Rangers fans can assume control of their troubled club within 18 months. Goodwin, the head of SD in Scotland, has long championed the importance of community ownership within our national game. And he is convinced the Ibrox faithful can overthrow the current regime – providing they mobilise themselves into one powerful movement and start pulling in the same direction. At the moment there are four main fan organisations – The Rangers Supporters Trust, The Rangers Assembly, The Rangers Supporters Association and the Sons of Struth – with all groups battling for supremacy. But Goodwin, who helped oversee fan buy-outs at Stirling Albion, Clyde, Dunfermline and East Stirling has called for them to unite as one. Indeed, given the lack of trust in the current board, the lack of transparency, the current climate of financial uncertainty along Edmiston Drive and the plunging share price, he reckons this is an ideal opportunity to get the bandwagon rolling. Goodwin said: “I believe if the Rangers fans united, and that is the key, into one cohesive unit there is no reason why they can’t own the club within 18 months. “At the moment we have 8000 Hearts supporters paying £20 a month as they move towards fan ownership and if you have 20,000 Rangers fans doing the same you can go out and buy shares because it is a liquid market. “The simple maths say 20,000 fans paying £20 a month would give you £4.8million in a year. “It just needs the right type of people to pull that together and that is the hard part for Rangers. “I don’t have any doubt it can be done. SD have been working in conjunction with clubs right across Europe. “In Greece you have Olympiakos and Panathinaikos and there are plenty of clubs in Spain, Poland and France who are also going down this route. “Hearts are the biggest we know of in this country going down the route of fan ownership at the moment.” The Rangers share price has plummeted in recent months, from 70p to just 26p and for just over £4m, fans would be able to command a 25 per cent stake in the club. And Goodwin insists the Ibrox outfit’s supporters have nothing to lose pursuing the community ownership route having given their backing to the Craig Whyte and Charles Green regimes with catastrophic consequences. He said: “I believed that Rangers being placed into administration represented a significant window of opportunity to buy the club. “Of course, as we know, this didn’t happen for a variety of reasons; mostly because for many years the fans had been divided and ruled by previous owners of the club and had been left without a united voice, forced to pick sides in amongst political infighting. “Time has moved on and Rangers have unfortunately continued to be dogged by further challenges at the back end of the administration process. “It could have been so different if a credible fans’ bid had been used to galvanise the Ibrox faithful as we have seen at Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Portsmouth down in England and of course at Hearts. “Rangers supporters in the past have been used to following leaders whether it be Paul Murray, Craig Whyte or somebody else. “This is breaking the mould and now they don’t have to follow anybody. “What can the objection be? “It can give the fans the empowerment to pick exactly who they want to represent them. “We have four clubs in Scotland that are currently fan owned and we have another four waiting in the wings – Annan, Ayr, Motherwell and Hearts. It is the way forward because there is no other route.” Goodwin confirmed he has already spoken with supporters’ representatives from Rangers. He said: “I have been talking with them over the past 10 days and I will continue that dialogue to see whether there is something we can do. “There is a real opportunity here and I don’t think there is anything to lose. “We can advise and consult but it is ultimately up to them. “Some people have to emerge from the shadows and then we can give them all the support possible.” Goodwin was speaking at the launch of ‘The Colour of our Scarves’ initiative which has been organised by Supporters Direct to help highlight the issue of sectarianism. World renowned photographer Stuart Roy Clarke has been commissioned to produce a series of images captured at every senior ground in Scotland. The project has been funded by the Scottish government and Goodwin is hoping the sectarianism problem can be tackled through imagery rather than words. He said: “We wanted to try to demonstrate through Stuart’s amazing pictures that all fans are the same, apart from the scarves around their necks. “It is the same emotions that bind us all together and that was the reasons behind the project. “We are going round every single ground and also doing loads of workshops in schools and colleges. “It is becoming less of an issue but you need to keep working at it.” Clarke, who singled out Aberdeen as his favourite fans to photograph, has been amazed by the reaction to his pictures which will be on show at a touring exhibition around the country over the next 18 months. He said: “The response has been overwhelming. “While I like banter and edginess I don’t like hatred so hopefully this project can make a small difference to a big problem.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/supporters-direct-chief-calls-rangers-3100404

As the draw is to be made after the Dundee Hibs v St Midden game, I just thought I'd start a thread on it. What will be the best draw for us?, I want Albion Rovers @ Ibrox:rfcbouncy:

Neil Lennon was spat at, had coins thrown at him and was the subject of verbal abuse at Tynecastle, according to the Celtic manager's agent. Lennon was watching Aberdeen's League Cup semi-final victory over St Johnstone and had to leave the game early, Martin Reilly told BBC Scotland. He said: "I'm absolutely raging about the treatment of Neil, about the stewarding and the fans' behaviour. "It's scandalous that Neil is treated like this." Reilly said that Lennon and Celtic coach Gary Parker had to leave their seats in the main stand after 70 minutes of the game. During the match, which Aberdeen won 4-0, play was held up briefly as two young supporters ran on to the park and got to the technical area, where Lennon was infamously attacked by a Hearts fan in 2011, before being apprehended by police and stewards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26002727

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/263136-ally-mccoist-id-have-bet-on-ibrox-not-being-picked-for-league-cup-final/

..........with his sly dig at Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell HUGH believes the Rangers manager's gripes over the decision to host the League Cup final at Celtic Park were off the mark. IF Ally McCoist thinks Peter Lawwell was behind the decision to have Parkhead host the League Cup Final then he should have come right out and said it. It would be insulting your own intelligence not to believe the Rangers boss was making a veiled reference to Celtic’s chief executive when he said he’d have bet on Ibrox being snubbed and insinuated the decision was a carve up. Ally might feel battered from pillar to post as the second anniversary of the day Rangers went into administration approaches on Friday. But he’s coming across as someone who’s making noises for the benefit of the less discerning among his club’s supporters. The ones who believe the Ramsdens Cup would be part of a “Treble” if it’s won against Raith Rovers. Ally’s using diversionary tactics to deflect attention away from a team that has lately been getting stick for playing a brand of football that’s unattractive to a lot of the people who pack Ibrox. When Celtic Park was suggested as a possible venue for the Ramsdens Cup Final there were plenty of Rangers fans who objected to the idea. And their dissent was based on the fact they would have been uneasy about giving Celtic a substantial fee for the hire of their ground for the day. But they’d have thought it perfectly acceptable to make the Fife side play the final at Ibrox and surrender any semblance of equality they might have had going into the game. So in the interest of fair play Easter Road got that “Showpiece” while the SPFL then performed a balancing act forced on them by the need to maintain public order. Celtic Park gets two finals. Ibrox gets both Scottish Cup semi finals. No need for martial law to be introduced to keep protesters under control. What do we look like? Are we seriously to believe Lawwell walks into a meeting of the SPFL board and instructs the other members on how they’re to conduct their business over venue allocation? Dalmarnock’s Don Corleone tells the board their names will be on the contract to hire Celtic Park on March 16 or else their brains will. This isn’t the movies, it’s real life. I’m told the decision was taken by Neil Doncaster and SPFL secretary Ian Blair and was only communicated to Lawwell by telephone. Fergus McCann once attended a business meeting during his time at Celtic where he listened to one employee talk about the institutionalised bias against the club. The meeting was brought to an abrupt halt while Fergus instructed the paranoia sufferer in question that he didn’t ever want to hear the accusation repeated in his presence. He then admonished the guilty party by saying: “If you believe that, you’re 1-0 down in life, never mind football.” Rangers need someone with McCann’s vision, principle and integrity to lift them back to the top. There are lots of people with plenty to say about Rangers and their future but they’ve so far shown a marked reluctance to come forward and put their money where their mouths are. McCann knew it would cost him everything he had to stop Celtic being liquidated but he took on the club’s debt and saved them. There are people on the periphery where Rangers are concerned who give the impression they’re quite happy to wait and see if the club goes to the wall. At which point they’ll come in and pick up the pieces without straining themselves, financially speaking. The courage of your convictions, that’s what we’re talking about here. It could be argued Celtic needed McCann more than his money since he had a vision and a plan from which he never deviated. Rangers may wish they had someone like him as they curse the anniversary they’ll always have cause to regret. In the meantime, don’t sully your reputation with unfounded allegations, or else SFA compliance officer Vincent Lunny might construe your words as being injurious to a man’s reputation. Not that Lawwell enhanced his standing with his tit for tat response about betting on the biggest and the best stadium if you want to win. Petty point scoring does neither club any favour although I’m willing to bet such behaviour will never end as far as the Old Firm are concerned. DUNDEE chief executive Scot Gardiner says it was 100 per cent John Brown’s decision to quit as manager. Call me an old cynic, but the absence of any public comment by Bomber tells me two things. The first is the existence of a confidentiality clause. The second is that estimate of 100 per cent will remain irrefutable evidence in the absence of any chance to cross examine the witness. IF Eric Djemba-Djemba plays today it’ll be the start of a journey that has him passing through St Mirren’s history. Passing through as opposed to making a tangible contribution to it, and wrongly described as the club’s biggest signing. St Mirren have won four major trophies in 137 years. I’d argue Steven Thompson, who scored in the League Cup Final win last year, has made a lasting contribution to Saints’ history. And means more to them than a mercenary. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-rangers-boss-ally-3127340

R&M are now the third largest shareholders in Rangers with 7.37% of the issued share capital. As stated in the other thread they are "long only" investors i.e. they do not operate hedge funds which might bet on the price of a share going up or down. The shares are held in their World Recovery and UK Equity Long Term Recovery Funds. The objectives of these Funds are as follows: UK Equity Long Term Recovery Fund The objective of the strategy is to outperform a target of LIBOR + 4% per annum. In seeking to achieve the objective the portfolio will primarily consist of UK equities that meet the manager’s recovery criteria of a turnaround in company profitability over the longer term. The manager does not operate within relative risk constraints, but sets absolute limits on the amount of capital allocated to any particular company or sector. World Recovery The objective of the strategy is to achieve capital growth, through investing in a portfolio which will primarily consist of international equities that the investment manager believes will benefit from a recovery in company profitability over the medium and longer term. The Fund will not be restricted by reference to a benchmark, territory, sector constraints or company size. I have a connection with one of the most senior people in the organisation who has invited me to send a list of questions which will be answered by him and/or the Fund Manager, Hugh Sergeant. Hugh Sergeant graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in Economics. Hugh began his investment career at Gartmore in 1987 as a UK Equities graduate trainee and moved to Phillips & Drew in 1990, managing UK equities throughout his twelve years there. He became Head of Smaller Companies in 1997, establishing a new team and launching the UBS Smaller Companies Fund. In March 2000 Hugh was promoted to Head of UK Equities at UBS Global Asset Management and Chairman of the UK Equities Committee. He joined SGAM in 2002 where he was Head of UK Equities, manager of the Growth strategy and co-manager of the Special Opportunities Fund. Hugh joined R&M in August 2006 and currently manages the UK Equity Long Term Recovery, World Recovery and UK Equity High Alpha Funds. Hugh is Head of the UK Equities team at R&M with overall responsibility for managing and developing the team. (Source - Citywire). He is AA rated by Citywire; having outperformed the average manager in the UK Equity Sector by more than 80% over the past 5 years. I have some fairly obvious ones to start with: Can they chart the build up of the holding to the current 7.37%? Why were they not listed as having a notifiable holding on Rangers Investor Relations Website when they had 4.7%? (Zappa) Do they intend buying more shares Who did they support at the AGM and why? If they supported the requisitioners what is their view and position on the current Board? What is their objective /target price for the shares? (unlikely they'll reveal that publicly of course) Are they looking for a seat on the Board? Can they get me tickets for the Directors Box? I will keep this open until about 9.00pm tonight for additional questions and then pull it together for an email (and I would appreciate it if no one hacks into my account).

...........when the Scottish Premiership is so moribund should be wiped from history Edwin van der Sar holds a world record – when he was at Manchester United he went 1,311 minutes without conceding a goal in the Premier League. That record is under threat. Celtic’s Fraser Forster is currently on 1,035 minutes in the Scottish Premiership. But don’t you think it would be an absolute scandal if Forster took that record off the Dutchman? Celtic are a heavyweight champ bossing the ring, seeing off a succession of flyweights week in, week out. Every game is a mis-match for Celtic, it will be an embarrassment if Forster doesn’t break the record. It’s no criticism of the England man – he’s just doing his job. But it would be so wrong for a keeper at such a dominant club in such an uncompetitive league to take such glory. On Sunday, Forster broke Celtic’s clean sheet record when he shut out St Mirren, making it 11 in a row. Charlie Shaw – a 5ft 6in keeper, Celtic captain and legend - set the original record in 1922. Neil Lennon described Forster’s achievement as 'a testament to him and the players in front of him.' Really? As Lennon also said, Forster wasn’t 'overly worked' during the 1-0 win over St Mirren. He’s not been overly worked all season in the Scottish Premiership. Celtic’s wage bill is more than six times bigger than the next highest in the top flight north of the border. Rangers are out of the picture, and there is no serious challenge. So any records broken by Celtic at this time when the Scottish Premiership is so moribund should be wiped from history. Not only are they totally meaningless, they’re an insult to those who worked so much harder to break the record previously. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2551378/ADRIAN-DURHAM-My-four-questions-Manchester-United-fans.html#ixzz2sLmPGYf4 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

It's the Sun so hopefully as untrue as many of their stories, but, it does chime with Keith Jackson's recent statement that we'd have no money in weeks, not months and if you remember the original estimate of "last million by April" and deduct unseen pay offs since that prediction then this is scary enough, despite the source. The emboldening at the end is by me, not the paper, to perhaps give a more hopeful reading experience for you - though again it is a dodgy source. "RANGERS are at the centre of a financial cover-up investigation over claims the club will be broke within two weeks. The stock exchange inquiry was launched after an Ibrox official is alleged to have forecast they would run out of cash by mid-February. New chief executive Graham Wallace has assured fans there is no danger of a second plunge into administration — two years after ex-owner Craig Whyte steered the club to its doom. But in a complaint to the AIM exchange, a disgruntled investor writes: “It’s the worst-kept secret in Scotland that the club is running out of money in the next few weeks, yet the board has made no announcement.” The shareholder says Rangers should have disclosed any projected shortfall under stock market rules. AIM chiefs have vowed to investigate the claims. An Ibrox spokesman said they could not comment on regulatory matters. But a source said last night: “It’s untrue — there are people trying to undermine the board." (By Cameron Hay)

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-football-star-ian-redford-3009308?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter FORMER Rangers and Dundee United star Ian Redford, who was once Scottish football's most expensive signing, has been found dead aged 53. Police today confirmed that they have recovered the body of the former midfielder in Irvine earlier today. Redford, whose autobiography was serialised in the Daily Record last year, signed for Rangers for a then-Scottish transfer record of £210,000 in 1980. Over the next five years at Ibrox he made over 200 appearances for the club, winning the Scottish Cup and playing his part in three League Cup victories. He then returned to his native Tayside to join Jim McLean at Dundee United in 1985 where he played in their UEFA Cup Final defeat. The talented goal-scoring midfielder, who was called up on several occasions but never played for the national team, played for Ipswich Town, St Johnstone and Brechin in his latter years before finishing his career as a League Cup winner with Raith Rovers in 1995. More news to follow at dailyrecord.co.uk and in tomorrow's paper.

Should be unbelievable but is just expected nowadays. --- The Scottish Professional Football League has decided not to take action against Celtic for a banner shown by their supporters in a league match with Aberdeen. Since November, the league have been investigating the display of a giant H by a section of fans at Parkhead, which was accompanied by the message "they fought and died for their wee bit hill and glen." Complaints were subsequently made to the SPFL, who confirmed they would determine whether the banner breached their rules on unacceptable conduct. STV understands the league have ruled there is no evidence to suggest their rules were breached in the incident. SPFL regulations say action may be taken if a person present at a match uses "words or conduct or displaying any writing or other thing which indicates support for, or affiliation to, or celebration of, or opposition to an organisation or group proscribed in terms of the Terrorism Act 2000." However, a club is not automatically punished under SPFL rules if a potentially offensive banner is displayed. The league's regulations state action can be taken if a club has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent spectators from "engaging" in unacceptable conduct. They can then only be hit with sanctions if it can be proven the club failed to adopted and implement procedures to try to ensure such incidents do not take place. The onus is also placed on clubs to be seen to "effectively deal" with any incidents of unacceptable conduct. A failure to do so may also constitute a breach of league rules. Celtic condemned the display of the banners shortly after, saying they had not been approved by the club and were not welcome within the stadium. UEFA, who have different rules regarding the display of offensive banners at games under their jurisdiction, fined Celtic £42,000 following a display at the Champions League match with AC Milan last November. On the banner, unfurled before the match, images of William Wallace and Bobby Sands were shown alongside the message: "The terrorist or the dreamer? The savage or the brave? Depends whose vote you are trying to catch or whose face you're trying to save." -- Can you imagine what this will encourage them to display next? FFS, what a state..............

By Chris Graham Let me state from the outset that it is the right, and to some extent the duty, of fans to question the team and the manager. Rangers fans pay good money to support the team and like fans of any other team they have every right to debate team selection, tactics, signings and everything else that effects the team they love. So in some ways the recent debate around Ally McCoist and the focus on the performance of the team is a welcome relief from the constant boardroom shenanigans we've had to put up with over the past two years. Having said that, the debate over the board was peppered with misinformation and the recent discussion and debate over Super Ally has been the same. There is a unique hypocrisy to claiming you are a loyal fan and then performing an attempted character assassination on someone who, no matter how skilled a manager they turn out to be, is a club legend who held the club together through one of the most turbulent periods in its history. If you find that you are prepared to publicly describe a man, who was widely acknowledged as having carried the club on his shoulders during the past two years, as having "sold out" then you better make sure you have something to back up your claim beyond internet rumour and an inability to comprehend publicly available information. There have been three main examples of where recent discussion around McCoist has moved from normal fan and press examination to something considerably more sinister. Michael Stewart's ill considered rant on BBC Scotland Sportsound was one. The barely concealed vitriol of Glenn Gibbons' recent Scotsman article was another, and last but not least, and the most disappointing of all since it appears to have been written on behalf of a group of Rangers fans, was an article on the Vanguard Bears front page. Let us first consider Michael Stewart and friends on BBC Scotland last Saturday night. Stewart's opening gambit is to tell us that he's had a run in with Ally McCoist earlier that week over something he had written in the Sun, and what follows certainly indicates that he hasn't taken terribly well to being put in his place by the manager. He's ably assisted by Graham Spiers who decides to break the BBC rule of not commenting on internet leaks by discussing the general content of leaked emails which he wants us to think should be "difficult" for McCoist. Apparently McCoist is "feigning" not having detailed knowledge of Rangers finances. The entire BBC panel are happy with their original assumption that McCoist must know more about the finances than he's letting on. Nobody wants to challenge it. At no point does this panel, with literally no knowledge of management or coaching at a big club, club finances, or the internal conditions at Rangers for the past two years, consider that McCoist might simply have been working to the, with hindsight, wildly inaccurate financial projections of former Finance Director, Brian Stockbridge. Quite how a discussion which starts with talk of Stockbridge's removal turns into a critique of McCoist is a mystery which will have to remain with the panel. McCoist, we are told, "knows how to work it". He knows how to "manipulate public opinion". The first caller is inexplicably a Celtic fan who continues the character assassination and is allowed several minutes to object to any, even timid, defence of McCoist. I could go on. The entire thing is a disgrace. The programme is well into its swing before Stewart is teed up, in a move clearly discussed before the show, to indicate his disdain for McCoist's coaching talent. This is Michael Stewart who hasn't coached a team in his life. Spiers is allowed to state, without challenge, that McCoist's salary is £850k a year - the latest falsehood from a man to whom accuracy is a form of kryptonite. Stewart has spoken to former Rangers players (unnamed) who have told him "the training is very standard" and "nothing exceptional is being worked on". Standard training! How shocking. Spiers, who has previous on unsubstantiated claims from unnamed sources, tells us that an SPL manager has told him that Rangers "don't play like a very well coached team". We are then treated to some faux outrage about McCoist and his backroom staff celebrating too much over a goal against Dunfermline. Yes, really, they think he shouldn't be celebrating goals too much. I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail about Gibbons' article. If you haven't seen it then don't bother. It's exactly what you would expect from a man who cannot hide his hatred anytime he writes about our club. What was most remarkable about his article was not the content, or the malice in it towards McCoist, but the fact that certain Rangers fans were happy to promote the article on social media despite having full knowledge of what Gibbons was all about. All of which brings us to VB and the article on their front page. I should perhaps declare that I have previous with some members of VB but I largely ignore their more vitriolic output, even when it is directed at me and others I know. However, this article was so full of drivel, and frankly so disrespectful to a man who has given so much to the club, that it is worthy of comment. I'll pick up on a few points made by the anonymous VB scribe before moving on to try to lay out some facts about the past couple of years relating to Ally. The article states as fact that "at no point was McCoist working for nothing". This is nonsense. It tells us that Ally's salary was £825,858 per annum. This is wrong. It tells us that Ally's recent offer to take a huge wage cut is in fact a "deferral". Again not true. In addition to the above inaccuracy we have some pretty shameful language used to describe McCoist. He is a "so called Rangers man". He is "as much a drain on our resources as the people on the board who were branded spivs". Finally, in a show of both ignorance and arrogance the unnamed author tells us that "it appears we have been sold out by our manager". So let's examine McCoist the "sell out" shall we? Ally McCoist did work for free for 3 months during administration. He received no salary at all for March, April and May 2012. He has never received a penny of that money back. His gross annual salary is £750,000 a year. There were no bonuses. If you properly examine the accounts and the prospectus then this is quite clear. Following the takeover of the club, McCoist agreed to work for a lower wage of £600k for a period of five months. When £22m was raised from the IPO, his representative requested that his wage payments be returned to the contracted value and that those payments were brought up to date for the 5 month reduced period. At no point was McCoist's contract amended or was any suggestion made by the board that the wage reduction be permanent. McCoist did not at any point request an increase in his contracted salary. During Administration, when he should have been coaching the team, McCoist was constantly meeting with Administrators, the legal representatives of the SFA, SPL and SFL as well as the various office bearers and executives of those three organisations. Following that, he continued to take part in the process of negotiating the infamous five way agreement and the smart money is on the outcome of that being considerably worse had it just been left to Green. All of this was taking place when Michael Stewart would have us believe that McCoist should have been completely restructuring the playing side of the club. Even as late as November 2012, whilst still on reduced wages, McCoist was being asked, in addition to his football duties, to present to potential investors in London during a two week period ahead of the IPO. All of this was in addition to having to cobble together a squad which had been decimated by administration, to which the vast majority of additions were free transfers and where several of the additions were not of his choosing. Is his wage too high? With hindsight, yes, but he offered to reduce it in October 2013 and, for reasons known only to the Executives at the time, the agreed cut was not actioned until around a week ago. They seemed more intent on attempting to deflect attention away from their own disgraceful plundering of the club than they were on accepting a genuine offer from someone who cares as deeply as you or I about Rangers. The idea that McCoist should have offered to reduce his contractual wage when the original financial projections showed only a loss of around £1m for the financial year is ridiculous. It is even more ridiculous when you see the wages and bonuses being paid to others at the club at the time. Why would McCoist have thought the club couldn't afford it? Even when that predicted loss was amended to £7m it is quite apparent that those around McCoist, with a much clearer view of the club finances, were reassuring him that all was well. As recently as October 2013, Stockbridge was still telling everyone that player wages were "sustainable". As soon as it became apparent that Stockbridge, Green and Ahmad had got things woefully wrong and that the club was haemorrhaging money at an alarming rate, McCoist offered to reduce his wage in the region of 45%. Apparently, to some, this makes him a "sell out". The worst thing about this is that there is a coordinated feel to some of the recent attacks on McCoist and I sincerely hope that those Rangers fans taking part in it are doing so through ignorance rather than complicity. Criticise the manager to your heart's content for things you don't like on the pitch. Debate the team selection. Debate the signings. Moan about under par performances but remember the burden which has been borne by McCoist over the past two years. Ask yourself if anyone else at our club could have done it. Ask yourself if he genuinely should have had such in depth sight of our finances that he was able to contradict our own financial director's forecasts. Ask yourself if you really want the final, high profile employee at the club who has genuine feeling for Rangers, removed for failing to do a job that was never his to do in the first place. It's an odd situation to see a group of Rangers fans, who normally, often quite correctly, scream from the rooftops about BBC output, suddenly promote Michael Stewart's rant on Twitter and forums. It's odder still to see some of them promote the work of Glenn Gibbons whose previous they are more than aware of. When challenged on this approach we've seen the group in question's official Twitter account inform another Rangers fan to "take McCoist's c##k out your mouth". Frankly it's the sort of thing you'd expect from the most demented amongst the Celtic support. We've seen PR men, supposedly working for the club, not only look to undermine a potential investor in Dave King but now also attempt to turn fans against our own manager. Clearly some are more eager to believe this nonsense than others. You really have to wonder why. The time to judge Ally McCoist will be when he's had an opportunity to do his job unhindered. It will be when he's had the opportunity to build a team out of something other than free transfers and young lads. Despite that fact that none of these norms have been afforded to him during his time as manager, he's continued to do his best in trying circumstances and has comfortably achieved the required promotion from two divisions. I fully expect him to achieve the same next season. Perhaps Graham Wallace will show himself to finally be the CEO who will provide Super Ally with the basic tools to do his job and be judged in fairer circumstances. For all our sakes let's hope so. In the meantime, debate away but how about we show our manager, a club legend, some respect and don't lap up the vitriol from elements of the press and dark corners of the internet?

It seems like the succulent lamb has moved fields. I doubt there would be many Rangers supporters who, after what has transpired over the last three years, who would suggest some of the articles written about our club were merely “puff journalism”. Of course they didn’t have to dig too deep – after all the Rangers Tax Case Blog and BBC Scotland’s “The Men who Sold the Jerseys” had done all the work for them - all our media had to do was apply their own opinions to the information which was readily available – despite the questionable source and interpretation of that information. And apply their opinion they did, as we all know. Time and time again. They drooled, they dribbled, they salivated over questionable events surrounding our club. But what they didn’t do was dig. No small wonder then that Thomson is also on record as saying : And you know what ? He is right. It finally dawned on me when Lord Nimmo Smith’s SPL Commission report contained the startling revelation that the material used by BBC Scotland in the aforementioned documentary was actually evidence which had been stolen from the Rangers Tax Case. And the response from our media ? Not even a murmur. The fact that the evidence in a case they had milked, salivated, opinionated, discussed in such minute detail had been stolen, appears not to even have raised an eyebrow of curiosity. Imagine for a moment the OJ Simpson trial – and it was discovered the infamous glove had been stolen from the evidence cabinet and the media hadn’t raised a murmur ? Nope – I can’t imagine it either.. But of course this is Scotland land of lazy, sycophantic and incapable of asking awkward questions journalism. Perhaps no-one in the Scottish media wants to ask questions of their own – the journalists at BBC Scotland who received and retained the stolen evidence – a kind of “closing ranks” if you like. Or could it be that for a Scottish Print media in dire trouble, evidenced by the recent voluntary redundancies at The Scotsman, the occasional appearance on BBC Sportsound is a nice little earner in uncertain times ? When the Rangers Tax Case received the Orwellian Award it was hailed as :- It seems history may be on the verge of repeating itself. As the blogger behind Football Tax Havens, ably assisted by the tenacious PZJ, asks searching questions of land deals between Glasgow City Council and Celtic FC, one could be forgiven for thinking that this topic appears to be “off limits” for the Scottish media. Perhaps in the near future another blogger will win an award hailed as ““Displaying focused contempt for those who evade difficult truths, and beating almost every Scottish football journalist to the real story” And if he does – you can bet your bottom dollar there will be even more voluntary redundancies within the Scottish Print media.

........says former Hearts boss Paulo Sergio. SERGIO was dismayed when the winger left Tynecastle to join Rangers in the bottom tier last term and says Templeton has been dragged down by his 18 months away from the top flight. PAULO SERGIO fears playing in the lower leagues has stifled David Templeton’s development but is praying it doesn’t stop him fulfilling his true potential. The former Hearts boss was dismayed when the winger left Tynecastle to join Rangers in the bottom tier last term. And the Portuguese believes twinkle-toed Templeton has been dragged down by his 18 months away from the top flight. Sergio worked with the 25-year-old during his one season at Tynecastle and marvelled at the ability of the player who scored against Liverpool at Anfield just 24 hours before he signed up for a battle in the Third Division with Gers. It was a crucial stage in Templeton’s career and Scottish Cup-winning gaffer Sergio reckons he would now be flourishing rather than floundering if he’d held out for a switch to the English Championship. Instead Templeton, although hampered by injuries at times, has struggled to capture his best form at Ibrox. He has mustered just five starts this season although his scoring appearances off the bench in the last two games show signs he could live up to his £800,000 transfer fee. Sergio just hopes his talent doesn’t suffocate in the time it takes Rangers to get back to the Premiership. The 45-year-old said: “I always believed during my time at Hearts that David had the ability to move to a higher level. “I spoke to him and others and told them they had the qualities to progress. It was my way of motivating them, trying to work their mentality. “I explained to them they go could higher and I really believed in David’s case he could do it. “That’s why, in terms of career, the move he made to the lowest division in Scotland wasn’t the best choice. “In these last two years he’s been playing in a standard of league that isn’t the best to develop a player who is 23 or 24. In the lower divisions the quality isn’t so high. “I know Rangers are a huge club and I hope they can get back to the Premiership but at this time I don’t believe it’s best for David. “You could argue he should stand out more than he has because he’s up against players with less ability than him. “But the way I see it is if you are a top pianist playing in a bad orchestra then the music won’t be good. If you want to develop yourself I believe you must play with and against the best. “If he’d come to me when he was making the decision to leave Hearts I would probably have advised him to go to the Championship in England. “I know he’s playing in a huge club with a great history but individually I’m not sure it was the right move for him. “He’s working with a fantastic manager and technical staff but the competition is not the same. My only hope is there is still time to see the very best of David. “I hope these years of playing in the lower divisions don’t kill his development and the level he could reach. “I like him, I only have good words to say about him. That’s why I’m sure he could have picked up a club in the English Championship when he was leaving Hearts and that would have been a good move.” While Sergio always believed Templeton had the ability to reach the top he insists a strong mentality is equally essential to ensure he gets there. And he wants to see his former protege show the hunger to be the best he can. The former Sporting Lisbon boss said: “To play at the highest level the thing that makes the difference is the brain. You need to marry ability and mentality together. “David was a vital player for me at Hearts because he’s so quick with lots of technical ability. “When I first joined Hearts and I assessed all the players he was one who stood out. His technical ability and pace sets him apart and that’s why I had a lot of belief in his ability to reach the top. “But mentality is so important and what level he reaches depends on his head. It’s about mentality, desire and hunger. “Did I have concerns about his mentality? Any small issues I might have had with players stay between me and the player. “I had a good relationship with him and only have positive things to say about David. He was crucial for me and I’m grateful to every player I worked with at Hearts.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/david-templeton-being-dragged-down-3068184

You know, some had to do it! Barrie McKay might be off to Morton for ONE months. Greenock Telegraph

I spotted this and thought it was a bit odd to say the least. THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED on the companycheck website here - http://companycheck.co.uk/company/SC425159 (scroll down to the Event History list) ... it states that the most recent event is: "22/01/2014 - New Board Member Mr A. Easdale appointed" Why would a Mr A. Easdale have been appointed on Wednesday when a Mr A. Easdale had already been appointed back in September?

Former Rangers director Dave King fears a savage programme of cuts will leave the Ibrox club unable to halt Celtic’s title-winning momentum. Reacting to news of Rangers players being asked to consider wage cuts of up to 15 per cent King remains committed to investing heavily in the club via a new issue of shares. As Chief Executive Graham Wallace tries to slash the club’s losses before seeking fresh investment, however, South Africa based King tells Sportsmail in a wide-ranging interview of his fears that could hand Celtic a free run at 10-in-a-row. +4 Fears: Rangers director Dave King believes a programme of cuts could hinder Rangers' chances of halting Celtic's title-winning momentum in the future What is your view on the proposed Rangers cut-backs by Chief Executive Graham Wallace? 'My view has been very clear from the start and it hasn’t changed. I think the club require a level of investment in the playing squad that allows it to hit the ground running when it gets back into the SPFL Premiership. 'My view has always been that the funders should be like-minded people who are willing to come in and fund ahead of what’s required to win the leagues they are currently in. 'If we cut the club back to a level that’s just enough to win the League One or the Championship then that’s fine. But the gap between ourselves and Celtic when we get to the Premiership will be obvious. 'And it will render Rangers a small club in SPL terms for a longer period of time than need be. 'I’m concerned that because the shareholders there at the moment don’t have the appetite or willingness to invest ahead of getting back to the top league we will be really short in terms of the financial and on-field strength. 'No one wants to see Rangers finishing sixth or something like that. 'That would be absolutely horrendous. And certainly contrary to what I would want to do with the club.' +4 Widening gap: Rangers Chief Executive Graham Wallace (pictured with manager Ally McCoist) is proposing more cut-backs at the club The counter argument is that they are losing £1million a month. Even Rangers can surely only spend what they earn? 'They shouldn’t be losing £1million a month. There is no question that you must run the business at an appropriate level – that is clear. 'But I have seen comments that they could run it with the Dundee United wagebill and make a profit. 'They could even run it with the Dundee or Stranraer wagebill and make a profit because of the revenue a club like Rangers has. 'But if you run a club like Rangers on the budget of an East Fife it makes Rangers an equally small club.' But wouldn’t the cuts allow the club to stockpile cash for the Premiership as you suggest? 'Look, we have a situation where they had a fund-raising exercise where they raised tens of millions of pounds. 'One would have thought that that amount of money for a club operating in the third division with the revenue Rangers get for home games compared to the competition would have meant Rangers comfortably winning the third division and running up a surplus which would allow them to slowly move up the leagues and upgrade the quality of player as they go. 'In the latter half of the final season in the Championship they could significantly improve the squad. 'But they have not maintained a strong financial platform. 'We know now the money has been wasted on legal fees, wasted on so many different areas. 'But I don’t feel the club should respond by cutting the costs to the point of saying ‘we only have to do what is necessary to beat East Fife or whoever.’ 'Because if you do that Celtic will build up to 10-in-a-row and we could be so far behind them that even when we are back in the Premiership we are not in a position to catch up.' So there has to be a middle ground between the cuts proposed by Graham Wallace and lavishing cash on the team? +4 Finding middle ground: King believes the club need to spend appropriate sums of money 'Yes. It’s about finding the middle ground and the balance between losing money and doing what it takes to win. 'You certainly don’t want a Premiership wage structure to win the third division or even the second division. 'Your costs have to be appropriate. But just cost cutting per se and doing just enough to get by in the lower leagues is not what the fans pay for. 'The fans are not paying East Fife prices for season tickets. So they should get more on the pitch than the level they are at. 'We have not used the opportunity created by being forced down to the lower leagues to start blooding youngsters and getting them mentally attuned to the demands of winning titles with Rangers. 'Young players allied to a kitty to bring in the level of players needed to compete with Celtic was the way to go. 'Celtic are getting stronger financially. They have sold the McGeadys, the Hoopers, the Wanyamas and they are building up a reserve. 'They have cut their cloth and they are going to be in such a strong position with the revenue coming in that the gap may just be too large for us to bridge. 'That is my concern. Cost-cutting is not going to help us when we get to the Premier League. 'Because we could go into the SPFL top tier and finish fifth. 'The only alternative is someone having to open the taps up - and you can’t just buy a whole new team in a season. You can’t do that.' Do you fear that the cuts might even endanger the smooth path back to the Premier League for Rangers? 'Absolutely. Rangers ambition should not be to be slightly better than the teams in the first division. 'We really have to have a team, next year in particular, which is strong enough to prevail. 'We have to get through at the first time of asking next year. 'We have to be in a position to go up to the Premiership and we have to be in the position to launch a challenge to Celtic. 'There is no guarantee we are going to beat Celtic in the first season – infact it’s unlikely. 'It would be a miracle if Rangers were to go on and win the league the first season back. 'But, similarly, we cannot risk going to Celtic Park and being battered 6-0. 'We can’t start losing 3-1 to Hibs and Aberdeen and accepting it. 'Saying, "we are in a period of adjustment, it’s not too bad a season," is not an option. It’s totally unacceptable.' Should boardroom executives be shouldering more of the burden for cut-backs? 'If the CEO of the company has no money he has no choice but to cut wages and costs any way he can. 'But then Rangers are going to be a small club. 'They need an investment profile and what I was expecting post AGM was for the board to say, "we understand we have a funding gap, we understand we have to go and raise funds to start preparing Rangers for the inevitable return to the Premiership. We need to start bringing a youth squad through, we have to start scouting and having a proper preparation for challenging Celtic." +4 Winning mentality: David Templeton (centre) celebrates scoring in the 2-0 victory over Forfar on Monday 'And that would require the raising of funds in the marketplace. 'But it seems to me they are either unwilling or unable to do that. 'So what they are saying is, "we will cut the costs to make sure we do not need money."' 'Which effectively means living on the fans season ticket sales.' Graham Wallace says he could speak to you about investment once the cuts are made. Should he be doing it now? 'I think that’s a decision they must make. 'For me there is no problem with any CEO making cuts to right-size the business if that’s what they want. 'But the fans deserve more than the downsizing of Rangers to compete in the Scottish first division. 'They deserve a team which is superior to the competition in the lower leagues because they are paying for that. 'They deserve to see a progression in the quality of the finances and the players on the pitch as they move up the leagues so that we enter the Premiership in a competitive frame of mind. 'My concern is that we are making the club smaller. And that we are creating a gap. 'That’s not the fault of Graham Wallace because he is the CEO and has to deal with what he has got. 'It’s an issue relating to the board who should be having a rights issue – and that could mean the existing guys putting the money in if they want. 'The club needs a level of funding that allows it to go forward above the level they are competing in and make sure they have a fighting chance in the Premiership. 'I would never have expected us to go into the Premier League and come worse than second 'I’m mentally not attuned to the possibility of going up there and coming fourth of fifth. 'As a fan I would find that quite unacceptable and I don’t think Rangers should be run as a club which finds it fine to finish fourth or fifth while saying, "that wasn’t bad for a first season back." The worst we must do is finish second.' Have you had any communication at all from the Rangers board since your offer to invest after the AGM? 'None at all.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2545041/Rangers-director-Dave-King-Listen-simply-risk-6-0-battering-Celtic-Park.html#ixzz2rIRgYNDJ Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Down to 30.4p, is there only one way for the shares to go with the present board ? Does the share price really matter?