Search the Community

...Former director wants board punished for assuming loyalty Dave King will fly to Scotland to spearhead his supporter revolt against the current Rangers board. The South African-based former director released a statement Wednesday urging fans to withhold their season-ticket money unless the current Ibrox regime provides full transparency over the club’s finances. The board responded with a brief, one-line statement, insisting that his comments were ‘potentially de-stabilising and damaging to Rangers Football Club’. However, having been frustrated in his attempts to lead a fresh bout of fundraising via a new share issue, King told Sportsmail he wants to meet fans’ groups face to face after claiming the ‘business is not commercially sustainable in the short term’. Amid anger over a £1.5million loan by director Sandy Easdale and investors Laxey Partners, the Castlemilk-born businessman has warned fans they risk pouring their season-ticket money down a ‘black-hole’ to repay the cash and wants to front a fan-based consortium in the acquisition of shares in the club. Confirming he plans a direct appeal to supporters in the coming weeks, King told Sportsmail: ‘For the moment, I can deal with things remotely. But I do believe it will be necessary to travel to Scotland in the near future to meet with fan representatives.’ King flew to Glasgow in October in a bid to unite the warring boardroom factions prior to the annual general meeting and work out an investment package — but he returned home empty-handed. A direct offer to lead a new round of fundraising via a share issue has been ignored, prompting anger among fans. King has now appealed to them to stop the in-fighting and join him in the battle for the club’s future. ‘The football club is at risk and it will take a united front to overcome the obvious challenges that are ahead,’ he said. ‘The board can continue with its stubborn refusal (to listen) but that would not be a prudent response.’ Repeating a recent warning in Sportsmail that Celtic will ‘shoot to 10-in-a-row — and beyond’ if cuts are made and a substantial one-off investment is not accepted, King said in his statement that Rangers are doomed to compete for ‘minor places’ in the SPFL Premiership without it. ‘The board is focusing on right-sizing the business — cutting costs to match the income,’ said King. ‘It is correct that any club must, over the long term, operate within its means but in the short term Rangers needs a significant one-off financial boost that cannot be met from the current revenue stream. ‘Without this we will not get back to where we should be. ‘If we cut our costs to suit our present income we will remain a small club and Celtic will shoot through 10-in-a-row — and beyond — while we slug it out for the minor places. ‘That is not the Rangers that I grew up with and not the Rangers that we should be passing down to our children and grandchildren.’ King told Sportsmail that claims he offered a £1m loan to the club are inaccurate and rattled Rangers chairman David Somers also issued a statement, saying: ‘I have been in email correspondence with Mr King and suggested that, even though he is not a current shareholder, I would be interested in hearing any proposals he might have. ‘Mr King replied and indicated a willingness to consider participating in any future equity issue that the club might undertake. ‘This has been the extent of the discussion and I repeat that no offer of an interest-free loan has been received from Mr King, or anyone else, apart from Mr Sandy Easdale.’ Chief executive Graham Wallace is in the middle of a 120-day review of the club’ s finances in a bid to cut the spending that saw Rangers post an operating loss of £14.4m last season. Wallace has also instigated a survey of supporters on the running of the club. Convinced an unaccountable board are only interested in using fans as a cash cow, however, King says season-ticket money should not be used as a crutch for a failing business. ‘I would like to lead a fan-based initiative to acquire an influential shareholding in the club,’ he continued. ‘If the board does not provide disclosure to the fans then it is time to draw a line in the sand.’ Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2568814/EXCLUSIVE-Dave-King-issues-call-arms-Former-director-wants-board-punished-assuming-fans-loyalty.html#ixzz2uTQYwxMm Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

A spokesman said: "The board notes Mr King’s comments with concern as they are potentially de-stabilising and damaging to Rangers Football Club."

Because of my ongoing interest in the future direction of the club I have deliberately avoided immersing myself in the day-to-day "noise level" that is being played out in the media. By doing this I had hoped to serve as a bridge between non-aligned stakeholders and the club, as well as seeking a way forward that could accommodate all interests. I no longer believe that I can achieve this with the board that is presently in place. I consequently wish to update the fans on my current position. Late last year I travelled to Scotland in an attempt to find a way forward that would accommodate all parties and ensure sound corporate governance and sound financial planning for the club. Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain. During this period I made it clear to the board that I am a potential source of funding by way of a new capital injection. My prime condition is that any funds introduced by me would go into the club for the benefit of the team and the dilapidating infrastructure. For the avoidance of doubt, I appreciate that the Rangers board has no obligation to engage with me or to agree with my vision for the future of Rangers. My assessment is that the business is not commercially sustainable in the short term and hence requires a level of soft investment. The board is focusing on right-sizing the business ie. cutting costs to match the income. It is correct that anyclub must, over the long term, operate within its means but in the short term Rangers needs a significant once-off financial boost that cannot be met from the current revenue stream. Without this we will not get back to where we should be. If we cut our costs to suit our present income we will remain a small club and Celtic will shoot through 10 in a row - and beyond - while we slug it out for the minor places. That is not the Rangers that I grew up with and not the Rangers that we should be passing down to our children and grandchildren. Such a soft investment will only come from a fan based group that regard their return as winning trophies in the top flight. I have been such an investor and want to be so again. I would like to lead a fan-based initiative to acquire an influential shareholding in the club. I hope that the board will belatedly recognise the importance ofcommunicating with fans on the true state of the club's finances.Financial transparency should now be a non-negotiable requirement of the fans prior to investing in season tickets. It is an easy deflection for the board to suggest that it has had insufficient time or that it is restricted by AIM regulations. That is simply not true. Legitimate concerns about the club's financial position have been voiced for a long time. It should have been the board's number one priority to provide the comfort that the fans need - if it is able to do so. Craig Whyte employed exactly the same reasons for avoiding disclosure of the true financial state of the club during his ill-fated period of ownership. The board has previously dealt with queries around the club's finances by giving categoric assurances that there was sufficientfunding until the end of the season. We now know that these assurances were untrue and that emergency financing has been put in place on terms that are not commercial and that indicate the desperate financial position that the club is in. This lack of transparency on the present and projected funding position isextremely worrying. The Craig Whyte purchase would never have happened if the true source of "his" funds had been known. Similarly, the fans would not have purchased season tickets at that time if they had known that their funds were going out of the club. The fans lost their cash and almost lost their club. So now, at this critical time, I remind fellow supporters of the old adage - fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. The fans have no proper insight into the owners of the club and who represents which shareholders on the board. The board has strenuously resisted any attempt by the fans to find out who key shareholders are. What is known is that the current board members have a very minor stake in the club. Rangers has also developed an extremely un-Rangers like culture of "turning on its own". It is not in Rangers culture to have spin-doctors that feed information to the media in an attempt to damage our own players, management, potential investors, and supporters. Much of what has been fed to the media is clearly untrue or exaggerated. Ultimately, it is in the hands of the existing shareholders (through the board) to decide to issue new shares to investors. There is a clear reluctance to do this at the present time and the reasons for this can only be speculated upon. Undoubtedly, the club requires a significant injection of new equity from existing or new shareholders but this will take some time to put in place. A proper financial evaluation will have to be undertaken and all the necessary AIM requirements etc. complied with. Clearly, by not having acted sooner the board is making it clear that it has decided to rely on the fans' cash once again. The big question is- "What can fans do to protect themselves but still assist the team and management"? Fans must remember that the purchase of a season ticket is essentially an individual loan from the fan to the company until such time as all games are played. No banker would lend money to a company without knowing its true financial position. Unless the board departs from its present stance of opacity the fans will be asked to lend money to the company with no security and with no comfort that the loan advance is not going into a financial black-hole. It must be stressed that the board was happy to give security to Laxey Partners for the recent facility as well as a massive return on this short-term loan. It seems wrong that, if the board gets its way, these new loans will be repaid from interest free and unsecured loans provided by long suffering fans. If the board does not provide disclosure to the fans then it is time to draw a line in the sand. I propose that the fans buy the season tickets only on one of the two following bases; 1. The fans pay the season ticket money into a trust and the funds are released to the club on a "pay-as-they-play" basis. 2. The fans pay the season ticket money into a trust and the funds are released in full to the club but against security of the club property until such time as all games are played. In that way the fans will have some protection from a future event of failure if the board cannot bridge the funding gap that clearly exists. Additionally, the fans should insist on a board appointee prior to renewing their season tickets, to look after their interests. I also suggest that the following questions be put to the board on condition that satisfactory answers must be given prior to fans agreeing to make cash from season ticket sales available to the club. 1. Will the board provide legally binding assurances that the club is a going concern and has sufficient funds and/or facilities in place for the 2014/2015 season. 2. Will the board undertake that none of the proceeds from season ticket sales will be used to settle any financial obligation that arose prior to receipt of the season ticket monies by the club. 3. Will the board confirm that the club assets continue to be unencumbered. 4. Will the board explain its previous statements that the club had sufficient cash resources to last until the end of the season. I previously invested 20 million pounds in the club and lost it all.Like all Rangers fans I continue to loyally support the team and the manager. I am willing to provide funding again but I do not believe that Rangers should be under the control of one owner/benefactor. We have already seen the damage that has been caused at Rangers (and many other clubs) when the club becomes a hostage to thefluctuating whims and wealth of a single owner. I see my role as being the lead investor of a like-minded consortium that will invest in the club, along with the supporters, without the "short-sightidness" of an immediate return on investment. An immediate return on investment will guarantee a non-immediate return of the team to the top flight. The fact that it believes it can proceed as it is doing without financial transparency makes two major statements about the board's thinking. First, they have correctly understood the fierce and unbending loyalty that Rangers fans display towards the club and the team at a time of common difficulty. Secondly, they have seriously misunderstood this loyalty as being something they can take for granted and offer nothing in return. We shouldn't allow that to continue. At this critical juncture, the fans control the funding that the board is relying on. How we proceed will determine our club's future.

Stand back and survey the scene. The institution that once believed itself to be Scotland's premier football club; a national monument, an establishment-protected icon, a pillar of excellence and endeavour, is in disarray once again. The red brick Ibrox facade hides a multitude of sins and an array of secrets. The Old Lady is a bank of opportunity for hedge funds and a safe haven for overpaid, bonus-ridden, bean-counters. Its fading grandeur reflects the impoverishment of its host, and like a stately home with a leaky roof and a never-ending list of repairs, the old ground has an uncertain future. The Old Lady is a victim of the disease of avarice. As she struggles to hide the scars of neglect, a succession of carers has swanned off into the sunset with money-laden suitcases, and now a crisis loan is required to pay bills and keep third division players on top division wages. Rangers' problems have not gone away. Maybe they never will. As smaller football clubs receive public sympathy for their financial difficulties, Rangers, uniquely, stands accused of depriving schools and hospitals of income. As football minnows wallow in victim-status, Rangers is in the dock, roundly condemned by press comment and regularly vilified by public opinion. The world has changed: Scotland has changed: the political establishment has changed. Rangers has become a misfit. In modern Scotland, the club has few friends and even less powerful allies. The club has been so denigrated in recent decades that it taints reputations merely by association. As the club flounders and falters, there is an almost unspoken hope in polite society that its final act will be to disappear altogether. To Rangers fans, this is an unpalatable prospect, but there are people across Scotland - not just Celtic fans - whose most fervent wish is that Rangers goes away: permanently. To them, Rangers represents intolerance, sectarianism and bigotry, and in this hypersensitive and politically correct age, the club is perceived to be an anachronism that has outlived its usefulness. They want it to wither and die because only hardcore bigots and sectarian morons will mourn it. Decent people, in their eyes, will be glad to see the back of it. Beleaguered Rangers fans can attempt to deflect blame, point the finger elsewhere and proclaim innocence, but no-one is listening. The jury has already made its mind up. Rangers has lost the respect of a nation and edged towards the precipice. It has become the black sheep of Scottish football. Administration and liquidation didn't kill the club, but they highlighted something that should be deeply concerning to a support which aches for a leader to look up to and respect. Within the million-strong Rangers fanbase, there is a noticeable lack of people who have the means to rescue the club and the willingness to actually do so. When David Murray bought Rangers in the late nineteen-eighties, it seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Scotland's biggest club had been taken over by a young businessman who had the means, the cojones and the ambition to further the Rangers cause, and enhance his own reputation along the way. From being a well-known business figure, Murray quickly became a household name, and he relished the fame that was part and parcel of being owner of Scotland's establishment club. In time, he became Sir David Murray - a dream come true for a man whose ego matched his not inconsiderable bank balance. Would a thrusting young Scottish businessman buy Rangers today, or would he prefer to duck the opportunity and steer clear of the hassle that being custodian of Rangers brings? Given that there are no budding David Murrays knocking on the Ibrox front door, it would appear to be the latter. What respectable businessman or woman would want to take on an ailing institution that has incinerated millions of pounds at an alarming rate and now has to borrow to keep the wheels on the wagon? What entrepreneur needs his name associated with a club whose existence is played out while the spectre of sectarianism still haunts it? What hard-won reputation wants to take a chance on a club that habitually pays out too much money for too little reward? What business type would enjoy being the man or woman to sack the club's management team and bring in new blood more appropriate for the task ahead? Would the young David Murray be as quick to buy Rangers in 2014 as he was in 1988? Rangers Football Club is a bloody mess. The team plays dreadful football, the club spends exorbitant sums in the process, it makes the undeserving rich, it is owned by people whose God is greed; it has a reputation that will take years to repair, it can't afford to look after its stadium, and its fans excuse incompetence out of a misguided sense of loyalty. The Rangers support, for the most part, doesn't welcome soul-searching and reflection. It prefers to talk itself up and believe that a full recovery is not only possible, but likely, and this is a mistake. Rangers urgently needs to be re-born. In a relatively short time, the club has descended from being the centre of the Scottish football universe to become an outcast within the sport - and a much-ridiculed laughing stock within the country. The Rangers support has played a minor role in the club's downfall, but it will never fully recover until it plays a major part in its recovery. Fan ownership has to be the future for Rangers. Nothing else will return it to where most fans believe it should be. Only a revolution - a people revolution - will save this club now.

taken from FF King offered interest free loan but was snubbed By ANDY DEVLIN Published: 34 minutes ago DAVE KING offered Rangers an interest-free loan and was SNUBBED. The South African-based tycoon was bewildered when Ibrox chief executive Graham Wallace assured supporters there had been board contact with him and he would only invest in Gers if there was a new share issue. King said: “I can’t believe Mr Wallace would have said that. “Mr Wallace has never spoken to me or even attempted to communicate with me in any form whatsoever.” SunSport can reveal King is ready to blow the lid off his dealings with the under-fire Ibrox hierarchy. A planned statement will include the revelation he offered the crisis-hit club a loan of around £1million WITHOUT looking for the £150,000 interest that hedge fund firm Laxey Partners will pocket. The only person King has spoken to is Sandy Easdale and he is NOT a member of the board. The refusal to take King’s interest-free loan will trouble Gers fans. Fans’ favourite King approached Easdale last month and set a deadline of February 7. But he has never heard back from anyone at Ibrox. The suggestion he was in talks over a return was made by Wallace on Monday in a series of interviews designed to allay supporters’ fears over the recent £1.5m short-term loan. Chief executive Wallace claimed the board had been in contact with would-be investor King in recent weeks. Wallace is adamant he can win the trust of the Gers fans. But with continued chaos and confusion behind the scenes, he’s facing an uphill struggle. And the news King’s cash has been snubbed will send shockwaves through the Ibrox support. A joint statement from fans this week condemned the terms of the deals with investors Easdale and Laxey Partners. Easdale has handed over £500,000 in the form of an interest-free loan, whiles Laxey are believed to be demanding 15 per cent APR. Both loans are also secured against Edmiston House and Albion car park facilities adjacent to Ibrox. The cash is repayable by September 1, but Laxey can opt to take repayment in the form of fresh shares at a knockdown price, as long as the club receives the approval of the shareholders. However Castlemilk-born King’s loan would have been interest free and would not have been secured against any of the club’s properties.

Rangers chief answers the big questions over controversial £1.5m loan IN an exclusive Q&A session with the Ibrox chief executive, Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks Wallace to explain what is really going on. RANGERS chief Graham Wallace was back in the firing line yesterday after confirming he has agreed £1.5million of loans to keep the club out of short-term financial distress. Fans reacted angrily as details emerged – with hedge fund outfit Laxey Partners set to rake in £150k for lending just £1m for less than six months. Here Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks the Ibrox CEO to explain what is really going on. KJ: You do appreciate the fans will be hugely concerned you need to raise this £1.5million in the first place? They are repeatedly told there is no need for alarm but you must see why they would be so jittery. The need for this new money – just a year after raising £22m in IPO cash – doesn’t suggest the healthiest of financial positions, does it? GW: The money raised through the IPO has been spent in a variety of ways. But that’s in the past. I can’t respond in detail as to how those monies were used. What I can do is look at the business as we see it now and how we are going to move it forward. The need for a financial facility is no different for Rangers than for any normal business. We need time for people to see how the business is being operated and for people’s trust in Rangers as an organisation and trust in the credibility of those who are running it. KJ: But you are getting a hard time about this loan from elements of your own support. Many of them ask why Laxey and why the Easdales? Why were other shareholders not invited to loan the club their money? GW: The board looked at a long list of alternative sources of short-term funding. The club, through its adviser, thought this opportunity made the most sense. A third of the money is coming totally interest free. No costs, no interest and no cost to the club to service the facility. That’s the cheapest money you will ever get and if there is a long list of people wishing to support the club to that level then I’d like to talk to them. KJ: Haven’t you created a potential problem with other shareholders or would-be investors who might ask why they weren’t invited to make a similar loan? And I’m talking here specifically about Dave King. GW: The board has had a dialogue in recent weeks with Dave King. He has not been rebuffed by the board. He is not currently a shareholder. He has indicated he’d be an interested participant in a future equity raising at the appropriate point in time. Our shareholder base has also expressed willingness to invest in fresh equity. Dave King has not come to the club with an offer, other than an interest in participating in a future equity. KJ: Just to be clear, are you saying Dave King has not offered the club short-term funding? GW: He has not done that, no. Dave is not a shareholder and he has not made the club any offer of financial assistance. That’s not a criticism of Dave King. I have not met him but as a board we have had some dialogue to try to understand his intentions because there has been a lot of talk about his interest in investing. There has been no other proposal made by him at all. KJ: At the time of the agm, the board said there were a bunch of investors lining up to plough money into the club. So were they there at all if ultimately this money has had to come from the Easdales and Laxey? GW: The board did consider a range of alternatives from a mix of shareholders and other sources. It was an extensive process and the facility received the support and sign-off of the company’s NOMAD as an appropriate facility and one which was arrived at in the right way. KJ: How difficult would the financial situation have become without this investment? GW: Football is a very cyclical business, with big incomes generated early in the summer which progressively run down. So this is not a crisis move. It’s not a last-gasp policy. We have some fairly significant income streams that will arise in the summer. So this is just a short-term facility. We have no bank debt, no overdraft and a balance sheet which is probably the envy of a lot of football clubs but yet consistently everybody talks about us being in a crisis. KJ: If there’s no crisis then the financial situation will not impact on Ally McCoist’s budget then? GW: People laugh when we talk about putting in place a medium-term strategy but when you are signing a player on a long-term contract it’s a significant financial obligation. So we need a clear idea of what the financial outlook looks like. We are looking at this summer’s window and beyond, over the next 24 months. But it’s too premature to say right now what the outcome of that will be. KJ: Will his budget have to come down this summer or not? GW: Player costs are not surprisingly the biggest aspect of the business. We’ll look at what we need on the football side and what ongoing costs are. We’ll do it in a very considered way. There will be no knee-jerk reactions. Fans will expect us to take a medium to long-term view. KJ: The trust of these supporters is crucial to the club’s financial position. Do they trust you? GW: I have said the club needs to engage to a greater extent with the supporters and I mean it. But people require a period of time to form a view on what is being done. I don’t expect them to instantly accept what we say. All I ask is for a reasonable period of time to get the business refocused and to demonstrate that we are listening to them. We have to show that we are doing things for the right reasons – for the greater good of this club. KJ: You’re bang on there, given the behaviour of some individuals around this club in the last few years. You have to be seen to be acting in Rangers’ best interests. GW: That’s right and I can say from the time I have been here people are 100 per cent focused on doing the right thing for Rangers. It does take time to demonstrate that. We’ll be judged on our success and on our ability to do things in the right way. When you hear external comment about the club teetering on the verge of administration or whatever, some of it is quite irresponsible. There is no way this business was ever going to go into administration again because the fundamentals are too strong. Some of these stories will quite naturally have alarmed supporters given what they have come through. But hopefully, in time, the supporters will recognise that the board and myself are doing the right things for their club. KJ: But then they see Laxey picking up £150k for giving you a secured loan, doesn’t that smack of the previous regime and people with their noses in the trough? GW: I can understand why people might look at it this way. The other way to look at it is it’s no different from any other commercial organisation which would make loan capital available to a business. There is a level of return that they would expect for their money. The cost we’ve agreed with Laxey is deemed appropriate in the market. I don’t think there should be any concerns about the level of commerciality on that. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/graham-wallace-qa-rangers-chief-3181015

The third meeting of the CIC Working Group was held tonight at the Louden Tavern. It was agreed that the suggested contribution would be £18.72 per month but with a minimum of £5.00; and it was confirmed that the cost of collection will not exceed 1% of the contribution. I have been asked to draft Minutes for review rather than publishing a report here first. The Minutes with any post-Meeting notes will then be published asap on http://www.rangersfirst.org.

Douglas Fraser ‏@BBCDouglasF 14m #Rangers announces it's secured £1.5m working capital from director Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners. Repayable by 1 Sept.

Scottish Youth Cup quarter-final against Dunfermline Athletic at Murray Park today, kick-off 1pm. Put the Pars in their place. I hope the overnight weather has not ruined the playing surface of the pitch?

.....and renew their season tickets. Supporters were alarmed to discover this week that Gers officials were in talks with two investors about a £1.5million loan. They are speaking to the Easdale brothers, James and Sandy, and Laxey Partners, the major shareholders, about the cash injection. The development immediately led to fears that the SPFL League One leaders are in danger of going back into administration. Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace, who is conducting a 120-day restructuring plan, has dismissed that. And McCoist, who attended a board meeting in London on Thursday, has stated he is confident current club hierarchy are on the right track. Fans have threatened to "disengage" with the club in the past by not buying season tickets or official merchandise. But the manager has appealed to them to keep faith in Wallace and his fellow director. McCoist said: "I can understand concerns. Who wouldn't have concerns after what has happened in the last two years? "But at the same time I definitely think that Graham Wallace in particular and the board in general deserve an opportunity to see what they can come up with. "Personally, I feel that I'm building a good relationship with a chief executive who has football experience and I firmly believe will do the best for the club. "I'm in a better place in that respect. There's no doubt about that. The relationship between the chief exec and the manager is the most important at the club. "I feel in a better place with the dialogue I have with Graham. I speak to him a couple of times a day and we meet two or three times a week. "Hopefully in the coming weeks and months a brighter picture will be painted of the long-term future of the club." McCoist added: "There hasn't been a push for season tickets yet, but I think there will be one or two things going on before then that will hopefully point the supporters in the right direction. "For the supporters to buy 70,000 season tickets in the last two years is a staggering statistic. The importance of the season tickets is absolutely vital. "In the coming weeks and months, when we do have the push for season tickets, we will be in a better place to indicate to the fans what the short, medium and long-term future will be." McCoist was told the £1.5m loan is part of an overall business plan at the board meeting and was assured there was no prospect of administration happening. He said: "It's nothing that wasn't planned. It's part of a business plan. The impression that was given to me was that too much has been made of it. It's nothing that wasn't on the agenda. "It was told to me that there certainly won't be administration No.2. That is encouraging because a lot of people are asking the question and I totally understand that." The Rangers Supporters Trust, however, does not share his ease with the current situation. In a statement sent to members last night, the Trust said: "The Rangers Supporters Association, Assembly and Trust have contacted the CEO Graham Wallace to ask for clarification on the proposed loan by directors and/or selected shareholders." Meanwhile, fixtures have been rearranged - Gers v Dunfermline on Saturday, March 15 now at 12.45pm instead of 3pm, live on Sky; Brechin v Gers on Saturday, March 22 now the following day with a 12.45pm start on BT Sport and Gers v Forfar on Tuesday, March 25 at 7.45pm moved back 24 hours to the Wednesday. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangers-board-backing-is-just-the-ticket-for-mccoist-153156n.23500951

5 years at 300k per week. Fair play to him but silly from Man Utd. IMO he has peaked. Some players peak earlier in their careers than others and I can only see Rooney starting to wind down now. Change of shift in power...Man Utd wont win the league in the next 5 years.

LEE WALLACE knows Rangers are closing in on the League One title but he has urged his team-mates to retain their focus as they look to get over the finish line as quickly as possible and with a bit of style. As things stand if Ally McCoist’s players can win their next four league games and then beat second place Dunfermline on March 15 at Ibrox they will be crowned champions for the second year in a row. This, of course, is assuming the Pars win all their games through the same period. Having helped his side win their last nine games following the 1-1 draw against Stranraer on Boxing Day, Lee would love it if Rangers can extend this impressive run until the end of the season but he is aware how tough that will be. Tomorrow the Light Blues will welcome Stenhousemuir to Ibrox for the second time in 2013/14 and the Warriors, with Scott Booth now in charge of the club, will be out for revenge following the 8-0 defeat they suffered on September 28. Wallace was on target on that occasion, the left back sliding the ball under keeper Chris Smith with a low finish to make it 5-0, but he is expecting a 90-minute battle against the Warriors from Ochilview this weekend. Speaking at Murray Park this morning he said: “I think we certainly got our best result and probably one of our best performances against them in the 8-0 game earlier in the season. “It’s been hard to try and re-achieve that type of scoreline and get close to that type of performance but I think we’ve picked up recently. “Obviously in the recent game against Dunfermline we were more like ourselves but we know it’s going to be a tough game against Stenhousemuir. “They have some good individual players who can hurt us and if we don’t match them and more we will be in a bit of bother. But we’re looking forward to it and trying to keep this run going. “There have been times in here when we’ll talk about how far away the league title is but when we take to the training field or get ready for games on a Saturday we’ll always be focused on winning, we’ll never let complacency creep in. “We know there are difficult games and that’s just how it is always going to be. We have to stay focused, be professional and try to recapture a level of performance that excites fans and gets us all playing exciting football. “That’s obviously what we are trying to achieve and we can’t look too far ahead.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6370-we-can%E2%80%99t-be-complacent

Update on poll result Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Rangers Supporters Association, Assembly & Trust Statement The Rangers Supporters Association, Assembly and Trust have contacted the CEO Graham Wallace to ask for clarification on the proposed loan by directors and/or selected shareholders. It is of great concern that at the club's AGM in December 2013 Graham advised there was sufficient cash in the business for the club to be able to continue to trade in the short to medium term yet two months later we require a loan for working capital. We would also like assurances that the club have explored all options for attracting fresh investment and this is the best deal available to the club. On the day that the club launched a survey on listening to fans they have ignored shareholding fans overwhelming opposition to resolutions 9 & 10 at the club AGM. Resolution 9 seems to be being used to increase the influence of certain shareholders without affording the same option to others, which is an affront to shareholder democracy and rights. Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2014 The Rangers Supporters Trust, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website and you are currently a Rangers Supporters Trust Member or Follower Our mailing address is: The Rangers Supporters Trust RST / BuyRangers Administration Clydebank Glasgow, Scotland g80 United Kingdom Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

Can anyone confirm or not the differences that exist between these two schemes. 1. BuyRangers you can get your money back after 3 years if you decide to leave the scheme, with RangersFirst you lose the money? 2. BuyRangers all monies raised go to buy shares, in RangersFirst money could be used for other things? 3. BuyRangers and RangersFirst seen it posted elsewhere that more will be used on expenses/costs etc. with RF than BR. Is this correct?

Club website link: http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6350-ready-to-listen Received by email Dear At our recent AGM I outlined our intention to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire Club and I am pleased to report that we are making excellent progress with this. A key element of looking at how the Club operates and engages is to understand what is important to you, the Rangers supporters. If we can obtain your constructive input and suggestions then we can develop a comprehensive insight into what is needed to address the areas that are important to the fans. We are in the process of rebuilding how your Club operates and based on feedback from many of you, it is clear that there is a need for professional business management, honest conversation, transparency and greater communication to allow us to move forward together. Your Club Executive and Board is wholly open minded on how we can work together for the better development of Rangers. The Club, and you the supporters, have continued to be tested in recent months as we work on developing the long term strategy for rebuilding the Club. We need you to know that by working together, we have the ability to position your Club for a stable, successful and sustainable future. We hope that you will engage with the Club and talk to us openly. We value your input and we are Ready to Listen. To start us on this journey together, I would ask if you could take a few minutes to complete this short survey which will give you the opportunity to commence the process of sharing your thoughts and opinions with us. We will consolidate all input received and use this as the basis upon which to move our wider supporter engagement initiatives forward. Please click here to start survey. Thank you for your support. Graham Wallace Chief Executive Officer Rangers Football Club

......we've even had agents in Africa contacting us. WARD and his League 2 troops are looking forward to a money-spinning Scottish Cup quarter final at Ibrox and he has revealed how their giantkilling story has gone global. ALBION ROVERS boss James Ward last night revealed his side’s Scottish Cup heroics have been creating shock waves in Africa. Ward admitted his part-time League Two men have captured the imagination worldwide after making it through to the quarter-finals for the first time in 80 years. So much so that Rovers have been inundated with DVDs and CVs from agents representing players around the globe. Ward has been busy sifting through a pile of applications from players desperate to play for the club, who face Rangers at Ibrox in the last eight of the competition on March 8. And he told how lifelong fan Paul Reilly, who works in Africa and doubles up as one of the club’s photographers, had the locals hailing his team after viewing their exploits on Sky Sports. Ward said: “Our Scottish Cup story has gone global. “The response the club has had to reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in 80 years has been unbelievable. “We have been sent YouTube clips from agents representing players from South America, USA, Africa as well as Europe “All of a sudden everybody wants to play for Albion Rovers and think we are an attractive proposition. “I have had a couple of DVDs and CVs from players in Africa – they must have thought Coatbridge was like the south of France but they have been put right. “I even had one player offering to pay for his flights from France for the chance to play with us. “When it was explained what we pay and that we are a part-time side I don’t think he was quite so keen. “I am watching these DVD and YouTube clips thinking, ‘What am I looking for here?’ “Our story has even reached Africa as one of the club’s photographers, Paul Reilly, was working there when we beat Motherwell. Paul was telling the locals all about us – they had never heard of us. “Sky Sports was on TV and suddenly we were on after beating Motherwell. Paul was shouting, ‘That’s Albion Rovers, that’s my team’. “The Africans were all going crazy and cheering us on.” But Ward sounded a note of caution and insisted that the club are unlikely to pursue any of the DVD or YouTube leads. However one Norwegian player who is studying in Scotland has been handed the chance to impress. He said: “I don’t want people getting the wrong impression about Albion Rovers. “If we are fortunate to make money from the tie then I want the club to use it for good purposes moving forward and not to sign the wrong type of player which would be an unsustainable model. “It is nice to get the chance to cast your eye over players and I will watch them in case there is something we may have missed but I am very wary of this kind of thing. “People suddenly think Albion Rovers have had a major windfall but we have no idea what kind of money we will make from the Rangers game. “We have many more things to consider before we start thinking about signing players from other countries. “We have looked at a player from Norway who has a decent CV and is studying in Glasgow. “He used to play for Viking Stavanger and has trained with Hearts but they were not able to sign anyone. “A part-time player who is a student is much more in line with us than us bringing in a player from South America.” Ward insists he doesn’t want his side’s Scottish Cup journey to end at Ibrox. He said: “People think I am mad but we want to beat Rangers – there is no point in going there if we did not think we could win the tie.” **** Albion Rovers chairman John Devlin insisted that playing Rangers live on Sky Sports in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox was like winning the lottery. The part-time League Two minnows are set make over £150,000 from the March 9 tie. Devlin said: “It’s akin to a lottery win and a bonus ball. In the context of what we’re used to working with it’s life changing and lets us to prepare for the future.” Full schedule for the Scottish Cup quarter-finals: Saturday March 8 – Raith Rovers v St Johnstone, (12.15pm, Sky Sports) Sunday, March 9 – Inverness v Dundee Utd (12.30pm, BBC); Rangers v Albion Rovers (3.30pm, Sky Sports). http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/albion-rovers-boss-james-ward-3164871

Being reported that Laxey have bailed us out in the short term. Wonder what the interest rates are?

I watched a wonderful short film this week, on the effect the reintroduction of wolves has had on Yellowstone National Park in America. Wolves were wiped out in the area 70 years ago but several packs were brought back twenty years ago in the hope they would breed and reestablish them. A highly controversial move, the wolves were closely monitored and the effect they had on Yellowstone was studied during this period. As a large carnivore there was much apprehension about the wolves; would they decimate other species, clear large parts of the park of other mammals, indeed would they endanger man? The actual findings were mind blowing. The wolves mainly hunt deer and prior to the wolves return the deer had enjoyed decades with no natural predator except man. As such, they grazed where they wanted for as long as they wanted, they moved slowly through the landscape and their numbers grew and grew. The reemergence of the wolves changed this. The change wasn’t that large numbers of deer were killed (there aren’t that many wolves and there are tens of thousands of deer) it was that the return of the deer’s natural hunter led to a dramatic change in deer behaviour. Previously the deer grazed where they liked but now they were much more cautious and this was particularly noticeable near rivers. The grazing is good there, but it is open, and the deer were easily hunted. As the deer modified their behaviour and avoided grazing on the lower ground the vegetation changed, grass grew longer, bushes and trees reached maturity instead of being stripped back by hungry deer when small. This led to insects returning which in turn brought birds. The longer grass brought rabbits and the eagles who hunt them. Bears returned to eat the berries that now ripened on the bushes, beavers returned and used the mature trees to make dams. Most astonishingly of all the course of the river changed. Previously it meandered, it flooded regularly and the rain ran off the surrounding land quickly eroding the area. Now the increased vegetation soaked up much of the rainfall and its roots held the soil together. So the river ran deeper and faster, it no longer meanders it flows true. The wolves had indirectly been responsible for changing the course and flow of a river. What must be remembered is that wolves weren’t artificially introduced to the area; rather their absence in the first place was artificial. The ecology of Yellowstone evolved over thousands of years and at the top of the food chain was wolves. This large carnivore was meant to be there, nature had decided that a long time ago, the rest of the park actually depended on it. Its removal caused the damage, not its reintroduction. Every aspect of the park relied on the wolf directly or indirectly. Rangers play Stenhousemuir for the fourth time this season on Saturday. We’ve won our two previous league meetings and our meeting in the cup. Our last match at Ibrox saw us triumph by eight goals, our subsequent meetings have been much closer affairs. This match is being played against the backdrop of continued problems in Scottish football. The removal of Rangers from the top flight has upset the trophic cascade, the natural order of things evolved over more than 100 years is seriously out of kilter. Celtic have no serious rival as such and they are now meandering, their club is selling its best players, their manager speaks openly about being unsettled and their support, as well as showing apathy towards attending matches now fill their time by promoting songs about Irish murder gangs, making ill-thought-out political statements or indulging in good old fashioned hooliganism. The game’s governing bodies now no longer even hold the pretence of parity. They award cup finals and semi finals to grounds months in advance rather than wait to see who’ll contest them. Their decisions regarding cup matches and Inverness have bordered on the corrupt, the ticket allocation for the League Cup final being only the latest example. The side who finished second in the country last season, Motherwell, still managed to make a loss of nearly £200,000. The prize money they should have received was drastically cut half way through the season you see, no surprise there. This happened despite them cutting their player budget the previous close season. Still the league has no sponsor, in the top flight the champions and the side relegated was decided before a ball was kicked and the standard of play and player continues to drop. Without its largest animal the competition is reduced, the drive is lost and the revenue that follows it dries up. All of these things are interconnected, remove something from the natural order of things and it takes a long time to recover, if it ever does. Stenhousemuir go into this match with a new manager, former Scottish international and feted wunderkind Scott Booth. Although the current Scotland under 17 coach doesn’t take up his post for a few more weeks we can expect his new players to be eager to prove their worth to him. So motivation shouldn’t be an issue for stand-in coach Brown Ferguson’s side. Stenhousemuir are in a bad run of form with no victories this year, only their early season good results afford them the relative safety of sixth place. Rangers go into the match without Moshni who remains suspended. Cribari did well against Ayr and should retain his place although I expect McCulloch to return to the defence and Foster to drop out. Beyond that the side should pick itself, MacLeod should come into contention if fit again but I expect Bell, Law, Wallace, Black, Daly, Faure, Templeton and Aird to start. I don’t expect a repeat of the early season 8-0 but half that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow particularly if we score early. Stenhousemuir have both suffered and benefited from being in the same league as Rangers. Having the largest carnivore in the country close by drastically reduces the likelihood of promotion for every other club in our division, but it does offer them other tangible benefits. Our presence is artificial though, man made and it is upsetting the natural order of things. The trophic cascade refers to interconnectivity, how removing something from the top of the food chain has consequences all the way down that chain, how these changes can’t all be foreseen or managed and it is vital that chain isn’t allowed to be tampered with artificially. Recent meetings aimed at securing a voice for Rangers supporters in our boardroom should be welcomed, not only by all Rangers fans but also by all football fans. Whatever your feelings towards our club, we are all connected and interdependent, it’s in everyone’s interests that we’re back where we belong believe it or not. The only thing that should prevent that happening is our side not being good enough. Financial stability and accountability are vital, not just for our sake but for every club in the country. Nobody should fear the return of the wolf, its return should be welcomed by all.

BuyRangers Direct Debit now from £11.25 a month! The Trust has reduced costs to make BuyRangers more efficient All current contributors will have your DD automatically reduced Following several months experience of operating the Direct Debit scheme, we are pleased to advise you that we are able to reduce the monthly contributions. The administration costs per community share are lower than previously advised and we are now in a position to cover all such costs from receipts of membership subscriptions. All direct debit receipts previously taken have been used exclusively for the purchase of shares and you will have seen our recent announcement increasing our Community shareholding by 200,000 shares. The new monthly Direct Debit amounts (including annual membership) are now as follows: 1 Community Share: was £12.84 is now £11.25 2 Community Shares: was £23.25 is now £21.67 3 Community Shares: was £33.67 is now £32.08 4 Community Shares: was £44.09 is now £42.50 These revised Direct Debits amounts will be adjusted automatically for all contributions made after 1st March 2014. We hope these reduced contributions will encourage even greater participation in the scheme and we will be ramping up our marketing efforts in the near future to attract new members. http://www.therst.co.uk/buyrangers/

Scotland squad for the friendly with Poland Goalkeepers Matt Gilks, David Marshall, Allan McGregor Defenders Phil Bardsley, Christophe Berra, Gordon Greer, Grant Hanley, Alan Hutton, Russell Martin, Andrew Robertson, Steven Whittaker Midfielders Charlie Adam, Ikechi Anya, Barry Bannan, Scott Brown, Chris Burke, Darren Fletcher, James Forrest, James Morrison, Charlie Mulgrew, Robert Snodgrass Forwards Steven Fletcher, Ross McCormack, Steven Naismith

RANGERS have been awarded the maximum six-star status by the SFA in their 2013/14 Club Academy Scotland audit. The annual review has reaffirmed the Light Blues as a leading force in this country when it comes to laying a platform for the development of emerging talent. A performance-based youth programme, teams participating in Club Academy Scotland are given a rating after they are rigorously assessed on various criteria. These include aspects such as academy plans, coaching curriculums and staff qualifications in coaching, medical and sports science. It also takes into account scouting procedures and administration and Gers are one of only two clubs to have been given the highest possible grade. The audit was conducted by the association’s Club Licensing Department using a rating programme compiled by its Performance Department. An accompanying grant is issued which corresponds with a club’s rating, meaning Gers will be given the highest possible amount as they seek to go from strength to strength. It has been a terrific season for Rangers at youth level so far this season, with Gordon Durie’s under-20s competing well as they continue bidding for a league and Youth Cup double. And as the club strives to keep producing exciting new players, Director of Youth Development Jim Sinclair is happy with what’s being achieved. He said: “We’re delighted to have achieved six-star status and it’s a great compliment to the standards we set. “Across all our disciplines, whether part-time or full-time and in coaching, sports science or something else, it’s a great pat on the back to our staff for the work they do. “A number of factors were considered when the audit took place and having a facility such as Murray Park can only be a good thing in that respect. “Having this status certainly won’t do us any harm. It’s nice to be recognised as being there as the best in the country. “After everything which has happened at the club in the last couple of years, it’s good that people get a reminder of that. “We’re making good progress with our youngsters and we’re confident there are a lot of young players in our system who will benefit from the environment here at the club.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/item/6344-six-star-status-for-gers

Don't have much to go on, but apparently King is predicting our financial meltdown again in another Keith Jackson article....

GORDON backs Hearts' incoming chairwoman to revive the club while lamenting the damage done by the would-be saviours at Ibrox. THE definition of altruism: When the answer to the question “What’s in it for you?” is “Nothing”. That’s Ann Budge for you. Sixty-five years old, self-made multi-millionaire, family woman, treasures her privacy and relative anonymity, sees her Saturday afternoons as sacred time with her daughter and grand-daughter in Section D of the Wheatfield. What could possibly be in it for her to commit herself to four or five years inside the washing machine of Scottish football? Nothing. Not a single thing. Which is why Hearts fans should be eternally grateful that she has. And, as I wrote back in September, Rangers fans should be peering east, mournfully lamenting what they could have had. The deal to take Hearts out of administration and forward is the result of months of good leadership, good governance, good PR, good organisation and, most of all, good intentions. And what they’ve emerged with is the perfect template for the handover from tyranny to the terraces. Make no mistake, Budge’s role will not be passive. She’s no figurehead. She’s real. Incongruously, for fan ownership to succeed in the long run, they’re going to need her to be a strong individual, making hard-headed decisions that would be impossible to arrive at if the club were being run by committee. Her job is to hand Hearts over in the best financial health she can create in as short a time as possible. And the only way that won’t happen is if Jambos fail to live up to their end of the bargain. That’s why they’re lucky to have her. She’s the anti-Craig Whyte, the anti-Charles Green. As executive chair, she’ll be working five days a week pro bono. She’ll be arriving at conclusions plenty may disagree with but the one thing no one can dispute is that she’s doing it for anyone’s benefit other than Hearts. There’s a legal agreement that she has to hand the club over to the Foundation as and when they hit their pre-agreed targets. She can’t change her mind, can’t flog them to a predator who fancies the place for himself when they’re back on an even keel. What that means is the fans have to create the bank of last resort for the club with their membership scheme, the financial cushion for the months where there’s a shortfall, where the season ticket money has run dry and the commercial income is a struggle. All they have to be able to do is prove that in the absence of support from an actual bank, they will never get back to the day when the wages won’t be in the bank. And there’s no reason they can’t. At the moment the Foundation of Hearts bring in £130,000 a month in direct debits. That’s £1.5million a year as your slush fund. The season tickets, corporate and commercial income, sponsorship, catering and anything else they can raise funds from provides their working capital. If they do all that? If they create a model that washes its face? There’s no reason why a club of their stature, with their support, can’t be golden in four years’ time. And in the meantime? What a Championship it’s going to be next year. A tale of two clubs from two cities whose stories over the past two years may as well have come from two different planets. The team who’ve done everything right to get out of administration against the team who’ve had every wrong imaginable done to them. Rangers will be looking at Hearts and thinking, “If only...” To be fair, their Supporters’ Trust still have faith they can make it happen. But when they needed the kind of altruism Budge offered Hearts, they got shafted. Twice. When they needed a Jim McColl, he ran shy. And when they needed unity of purpose, they fragmented. Even now, their intentions may be there. But neither the Easdales nor Dave King as a potential investor seems prepared to engage in the idea that the club need a move towards fan membership and ownership for the long-term good. They’re still saddled by the “What’s in it for me?” brigade and as long as the answer is “plenty”, they’re fighting a losing battle. But you know what? Despite the fact that Hearts’ total budget next year will probably be around the £1million mark, less than 20 per cent of Rangers’, if it’s spent well, they could challenge the assumption the Ibrox club will stroll through that league the way they’ve strolled through the last two. If they can get 16,000 inside Tynecastle every week, create a cause the way Hibs did when they went down in 1998, the way Rangers’ fans did when they went into the bottom tier? Keep the best of their kids, get a few course and distance guys in to help them when the embargo goes? Get a little momentum going? It’s going to be a hell of a race. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell-altruistic-ann-budge-3151057

...........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

IAN Black has vowed to earn a new deal with Rangers - and help the Ibrox club complete every stage of 'The Journey'. The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hearts man is out of contract at the end of next season. But he is keen to pledge his future to Rangers so he can help them compete against their Old Firm rivals. Black said: "I have been consistent this season and the manager has been happy enough to play me every week. I have been doing something right. "I just need to work hard, keep my head down and try to earn myself a new contract. "I have got this year and next season just now. When you have got a year-and-a-half left then you obviously look to get a new deal and a bit of security for my career and for my family as well. "I just want to work hard and hopefully things behind the scenes can work out for me." He added: "My aim is to play in the top flight. Coming here when we were at the bottom my aim was to help the club get back up. "Hopefully I can be rewarded with getting a deal to play in the Premiership with a club this size. It is up to me to keep playing well and trying to get one." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/black-aim-is-a-ticket-to-ride-on-journey-152249n.23438571