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Enough with Rangers based navel gazing! Here's some golf based navel gazing. Football is a funny old game, said Saint and Greavsie in their inexplicably popular lunchtime show of the 1980's. I guess it showed how stuck in its ways Football Focus had become that such a dismally unfunny programme could actually be made, let alone become popular. At least it allowed Jimmy Greaves some later life rehabilitation, which given his abilities (before my time, I admit) and drink troubles counts for something. Takes a lot to justify inflicting Ian St. John on the nation, though. There's never been any accounting for football with logic, though. Or sport, in general. As the weekend draws to a close, the annual circus that is The Masters adorns our screens, the stunning flora of Georgia only matched by the stunning crassness of a set up which reduces golf to little more than hit and hope, a well paid version of the fabulous crazy golf course next to the ferry port at Brodick. One of the holes features a miniature version of the Forth Rail Bridge - Brodick, that is, not Augusta. Some may see this assertion as heresy, but it's ever harder to defend The Masters as anything but golf for people who don't get golf. Galleries made up of a-whoopin' and a -hollerin' Bubba lardos, about as unreflective of golf's horribly overdue racial diversity as you can get, greens which appear to be devoid of grass, golf's risk-and-reward ethos eliminated and replaced by pure luck: The Masters isn't golf, it's stick and ball based comedy. Such an opinion, alas, found me in the company of the awful Peter Alliss, about whom I feel bad being mean since he plainly is not long for this world. I won't miss his commentary, though, which is ever more a talking obituary column and less about the golf. Alliss has dared incur the wrath of Augusta's organisers by publicly, on air, calling out their tournament for the shambles that it is: 'Bobby Jones never played golf like this', he said this evening, and he was right: you probably couldn't have fitted Bubba Watson's ludicrously oversized driver into Jones' golf bag. How I would have loved to be good enough to get an invite! I would be torn between declining on the grounds that it isn't real golf and that to endorse such a bastion of sexism and racism is unethical, or turning up in full clown outfit, with wig, squirting flower in lapel and sporting giant shoes. The only worry is that, in the world of pro golf, such attire might not be thought unusual. I do often think, sardonic smile on chubby face, how Spiers can reconcile his decades long attendance at Augusta with his crusade on diversity in Scotland. Or how the BBC as a body justifies it. Or their coverage of our Open. However, golf is changing, and broadcasters no longer need be embarrassed to cover it. They can move on, so can golf. Be nice if they extended the same courtesy to us, but no matter. I fear to keep such conservative company as Peter Alliss, who is out there in the land where that Inverdale oaf is acceptable. Queer bedfellows, indeed. I am far more comfortable cuddling in with someone like Peter Tatchell, of Outrage, or gay rights group Stonewall. Like Nil by Mouth on golf, such people have been loud in their denunciation of football as a hotbed of homophobia, but although they have my every sympathy in their general aims, when it comes to football I just can't see it. Football must be the least macho sport around, replete with much mano-a-mano hugging, shorts which are again, after two decades of repressed, baggy shorts, showing signs of becoming short shorts again, more unconvincing acting than Rory McIlroy in that Santander ad (once more I wonder how some ad executives both get and keep their jobs) and - the final clincher, this - people who are always threatening violence but who never, ever actually throw a punch. Footballers are the weediest bunch ever. Why the game gets a homophobic name is beyond me: if we're going to accept 1970's stereotypes of homosexuality, you'd have to chalk up fitba as the game of Queens, on the pitch at least. I suppose it's like all those rockers who used to worship Freddy Mercury without either knowing or turning a hair about his rampant queer identity. Well, I can't work out people who want to make us all different anyway. Gay or straight, most of us are boring, dull people who don't differ all that much - work, sleep, work, shopping, complain, work and so on. Fetishists, those are the freaks we should be marginalizing, like fans of rubber or nihilist East Fife fans. The half-cut beer bellies who are presently intoning 'Kooooooch' in order to worship a lanky, inoffensive golfer aren't doing any more harm than some half-cut Weegie twat calling a footballer 'a big poofy bastart' because he shirked a tackle. But the lads in Georgia sound like wallopers, and so do unthinking or conscious homophobes at football games. It certainly doesn't take a PC totem like Spiers or Cosgrove, working to a highly selective agenda of inclusivity, to realise that this ain't the 70's, and that neither tartan flares on the golf course nor nasty jibes about what other people get up to in the bedroom are really on. Anyway, I'd bet that the idea that gay people indulge in a non-stop festival of sweaty shagging is as far from the mark as the idea that I, married 15 years, am doing likewise with my missus. Like I say, work, sleep, and so on is much the same regardless. But one of these days, like Augusta, we in Scotland will catch up with the rest of the world. Even St Andrews allows women in to the clubhouse now! Everyone, everywhere is in a flux, a process of change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, like in Ukraine. This idea that of the entire globe, only Rangers FC can never change has to be consigned to the bin, whether it comes from LUMP fundmentalists within our own support or everyone else who are ironically more puritan in their distaste of us than we, with our imaginary Calvinist identity, could ever be: look at the effort they have put in to demonising us over the last few years! We can only dream of such ideologically driven energy. Here's to the golf, anyway. No doubt I will watch again next year, as Westwood demonstrates that not being able to putt means you'll never win a biggie, and that golf should not really be allowed away from Scottish links. Perhaps it will help me forget another week of enormous letdown brought on by eleven men in shorts. It's a queer old game, right enough.

Any one else from here going down to this meeting at the Loudon tomorrow night ?

Rangers have secured a much-needed financial boost by agreeing a shirt sponsorship deal with internet gaming firm 32Red. The online casino company’s name will replace Blackthorn cider on the home and away shirts of the League One champions from the start of next season. A multi-year deal has been thrashed out that both parties will hope is seen in effect in the top flight of Scottish football. Ally McCoist’s men will be playing in the Championship next season, a platform sure to provide greater than usual exposure for sponsors with the presence of both Rangers and Hearts. The Gibraltar-based firm are already an established brand of backers of English club football. Barclays Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Swansea have previously worn 32Red’s logo on their jerseys and they are currently sponsors of League One Crawley Town and Newport County of League Two. The boost to the troubled Rangers revenue streams comes at the end of another turbulent week in which Dave King advised fans not to purchase club merchandise, as well as urging them to funnel season-ticket money into a trust fund, in his latest outspoken attack on the Ibrox board. The club also launched a campaign to encourage distrusting supporters to renew season tickets for the 2014-15 campaign ahead of a May 6 deadline. The success of that promotion drive is yet to be determined and the long-awaited 120-day business review of chief executive Graham Wallace remains under wraps. However, confirmation of the value of the deal that been clinched with 32Red should at least guarantee Rangers cherished income at the close of another season which has been full of financial turmoil. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2603545/Rangers-boost-coffers-signing-shirt-deal-online-casino-32Red.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

I appreciate this won't be a popular view but yesterday's performance was actually quite heartening and one that suggested to me that McCoist actually does have a chance. Let me explain before cries of 'burn the witch' and the pitchforks are produced. We took on a top six SPFL side yesterday, most if not all of us expected nothing from the match, yet we payed probably as well as at anytime this season. We showed a lot of fight and spirit yesterday, we matched our opponents for that, that hasn't always been the case this season. There clearly was a reaction to last weekend and to the criticism the side and players have had. That shows the players are still playing for the manager if nothing else. We didn't chuck it yesterday, even at 3-1 the heads didn't go down. That tells us something about the squad. The match itself told us the gap between the top and the third flight is small but telling. Individual errors cost us the match, no manager in the world can legislate for what Simonsen did. Likewise when we lost possession for their second, what can the manager do about that? I've read some blame Smith for the first, I disagree. It was scored by a midfielder, he ran from deep and should have been tracked, but not by Smith who was on the other side of the ground and already playing someone offside. We'd two excellent chances, they fell to our strikers too. We wasted them, however it showed the gap between the sides. In the third tier our strikers get lots of chances, in the top tier their strikers don't, so when they get chances they took them. Again, I'm not sure what we expect the manager to do about that. We created some very good chances yesterday, we had one cleared off the line and hit the woodwork. They had four chances and scored three of them. That's the reality of the gap between our sides just now. We'll need to improve next season, we'll need to cut put the errors and take our chances because we'll get fewer next season as the sides we'll play are slightly better than this season. It's hardly an unbridgeable gap. We were missing Bell, Wallace, MacLoed and Little yesterday, four certain starters, so all criticism should keep that in mind too. Like most supporters I've found our performances difficult to watch this season, there is much wrong with our side and our club. However, oddly, yesterday was the first time for a while I've thought McCoist just might make it after all.

Quote from Ally on BiasedBC, "The last two defeats confirmed what we need to do and add to the squad" Ally McCoist, Rangers manager. For me it's more about removal than addition. We are now a laughing stock. Useless managerial team, useless board. Helpless/hapless/utterly toothless fans groups. We're sinking fast. Heaven help us please, because we seem utterly incapable of helping ourselves.

I am hearing that both Keevins and Guidi have been rationalised, let go, elbowed, received their jotters, .................... etc from the Mirror Group. More to follow.

Rangers legend Richard Gough joins forces with Dave King in fresh assault on current club regime and says 'I trust Dave with my life' THE nine-in-a-row captain has agreed to be trustee for an account for fans' season ticket money after King accused the board of "an extreme act of bad faith" an accusation Rangers branded "disgraceful". The nine-in-a-row skipper has joined forces with Dave King in declaring all-out war against the current Rangers regime. Gough has agreed to stand as a trustee for the account into which the Light Blues legions are being invited to plough season-ticket money in return for a direct say in the running of the club. The patience of South Africa-based tycoon King finally snapped yesterday as he claimed Rangers chairman David Somers told him they had no intention of publishing the much-awaited 120-day business review until after the deadline for season-ticket renewals has passed. Rangers last night disputed King’s claims, branding them “disgraceful” on the eve of the Scottish Cup semi-final against Dundee United and are considering legal action. However, Gough is backing King’s version of events and insists the club are being disrespectful to fans who deserve to be given the board’s vision for the future after pumping tens of millions into their club in the last two seasons to help keep them afloat. Gough said: “It’s all quite astonishing. Dave has given the board every chance to come forward and publish the review at the end of the 120-day period and now they are not going to do that. I’m staggered by the board’s decision. I’m amazed the club have no intention of announcing details of the 120-day review until after the deadline for season-ticket renewals has passed. “It’s ridiculous. “It smacks of arrogance and they are cheating the supporters, the very people who have kept the club going these past few years. “Once again they are asking supporters to put forward their money without knowing how it will be spent.” Rangers fans were contacted this week by the club and told season tickets would soon be due for renewal, much earlier than usual. However, such has been the board’s haste to bring money in, fans have not yet been told the cost of season tickets, although price increases of at least 20 per cent from last year have been predicted. Gough, like King, has told them not to go ahead with the renewal process and to pledge the money to a trust fund instead, with the vow of transparency for how it is spent and the demand over the security of prized assets Ibrox and Murray Park in return. Gough added: “Let’s not give this board the money only to be disappointed again. “I’m firmly asking supporters to put their money into escrow and I promise we will look after it and use it for the best purposes of the club to get it back on an even keel. “I’m happy to be involved. I’d urge fans to put their money into this account and we’ll look after it. It will go to all the right places, nowhere else – which seems to have been happening these last few years. “I’m proud and honoured to be given such a trusted position and I’ll do everything within my power to help Rangers return to where we belong.” Rangers supporters have lacked a senior figurehead from among the ranks of former players and managers to fight their cause. Now Gough has stuck his head above the parapet and it’s believed other influential figures, trusted by the rank and file Rangers fan, are ready to join him against the unpopular board. Gough said: “Any Rangers fans I’ve spoken to recently has urged me to get involved, to stand up and play a part, to make a statement. It’s a no-brainer for me. I’ll help the club any way I can. I’m delighted to be involved with Dave. The bottom line is I trust Dave King with my life. I have known him a long, long time, from my days in South Africa. “He is a family friend and I’m proud and honoured to stand with him. Dave has already put £20 million into Rangers and has offered to invest another £30m. “It’s amazing the board have not already bitten his hand off and asked him to play a role at the club.” The cards have now been dealt on a game of high-stakes poker that could see an unpopular regime toppled, the club enter administration for a second time or the board secure finance from other sources to continue into the new season. The latter option is the most controversial as it’s unlikely they could source anything other than high-interest loans, similar to the one struck with investors Laxey Partners before wealthy Rangers supporter George Letham stepped forward and offered better rates. Of course, the loans are more than likely to be secured against Ibrox and Murray Park, which is a scenario Rangers fans dread. The board could also go back to the market for fresh finance but that would require a new share issue, dilution of existing shareholders and there’s unlikely to be a stampede by investors if a war is raging between the club and its support. Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley also owns around five per cent of Rangers and he is flush with cash – he was hardly on the breadline before – after selling seven per cent of Sports Direct this week for £200m. He could step forward and take a more prominent position at Ibrox and although it has been discussed at the highest levels of Rangers for the last 12 months, he is notoriously hard to read and has not suggested he is ready to move. Asked about the future of the club, Gough added: “I don’t want to commit to talking about the future quite yet and what may happen in the coming weeks and months. Let’s see how the next couple of days pan out first.” He also defended the timing of the statement, on the eve of the crucial Scottish Cup semi-final against Dundee United, as did King. King said: “The timing was not of my choice. Rangers jumped the gun with their season-ticket announcement.” Gough added: “No matter what happens in the game against Dundee United, the club’s future is more important than one match.” Rangers fan organisations are keeping their powder dry for now but their support for King remains unwavering. Chris Graham, spokesman for Union of Fans, which represents all the major supporters’ groups, said: “We’re pleased with the statement and will make a full comment on Monday. What Dave Kings says speaks for itself.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/rangers-legend-richard-gough-joins-3402766

Friday, 11 April 2014 18:55 Club Statement Written by Rangers Football Club "The Board of Rangers Football Club notes with astonishment the statement issued this afternoon by Dave King. In his statement Mr King makes a number of untrue allegations against the Chairman and the Board of Rangers Football Club alleging bad faith and false representation. The Chairman and the Board refute all such allegations in the strongest terms and have referred Mr King’s statement to the Club’s legal advisors. Mr King clearly has elected to ignore the Board’s previous public statement following the Board’s meeting with him. In this statement, which was reviewed with him prior to issue, the Board stated that it will issue the results of the business review prior to the season ticket renewal window ending. This position remains unchanged and Mr King is well aware of this having sought personal confirmation on this matter from the Chairman as recently as yesterday. The business review period has not yet even ended, as Mr King is well aware, however he has elected to make yet another public statement to serve his own purposes. When the Board met Mr King a few weeks ago, he made it clear that he did not want to put another penny into the Club and would prefer to see the Club using other investors' money. The Board was therefore surprised, but gave him the benefit of the doubt when, a few days later, Mr King made media comments about a willingness to invest his money into the Club. This is an easy statement to make to the media but is contrary to what he told the whole Board. It is extremely disappointing that Mr King should consider it appropriate to issue this latest statement, clearly designed to unsettle and mislead Rangers fans, on the eve of an important Scottish Cup semi-final match. For someone who claims to have the interests of Rangers at heart and as an ex-director, King's untrue comments are nothing short of disgraceful." http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6741-club-statement

The Rangers board and I issued separate public statements following our meeting last month. I made one correction to the RangersÂ’ statement but the Rangers board saw no cause to correct my statement. The board recommitted to issue the business review within the original 120 day deadline and, importantly, committed that the fans will have access to this review prior to advancing funds by way of season ticket renewals. Despite strong reservations from fan groups I asked the fans to give the board time to honour this commitment. Part of my motivation was that any public company board is bound to act in good faith and that breach of such a share price sensitive commitment would be an ethical, moral, and probably criminal breach. I followed up on this commitment with the board after the recent announcement on season ticket renewals. The Chairman has advised me that the board will now only issue the review at the end of the season ticket renewal period and it will consequently not be timeously made available to fans. Disturbingly, the Chairman has advised me that the true intention of the board had always been to delay issuing the review until funds had been largely collected. I apologise to all fans for wasting time by lending credibility to the board’s false representations. I was wrong to give them the benefit of the doubt. At least we now can no longer have any uncertainty about governance at the club. It is common cause that the club is not a going concern without access to the season ticket loan from the fans. It is also common cause that the season ticket money will only provide partial relief in advance of a more permanent recapitalisation. I have hitherto urged restraint in dealing with the board, however due to this extreme act of bad faith I believe that it is vital that fans now withhold season ticket money from this board and similarly refuse to support the club by way of the purchase of replica kit or any other retail product. An announcement will shortly be made providing details of a bank account that season ticket money can be paid into as an interim measure. The specific terms and conditions of this account will be made available to fans, including the basis on which funds will be advanced to the club and the basis on which funds will be returned to fans. As a minimum, the board must provide the club property as security against the season ticket money. I recognise that fans will have anxiety about “betraying” the club and the risk of loss of a cherished seat at Ibrox. However, the time has come when the trade-off is a potential loss of a seat against the loss of the club. That would be the real betrayal. This board has lost its right to be dealt with on a good faith basis. Richard Gough has agreed to join me as a custodian of the bank account that will be established and fan groups can nominate additional members.

This one's slightly bad taste, but sod it! Post your captions! Ally McCoist at training (Willie Vass) Copyright: 2014 Willie Vass More...

This is taken from FF posted by Kaiserbear53 Expect a response from Mr King in the next few days but it won't be until after the Game on Saturday as Mr King does want not to take the focus off the team and be blamed for protests and the anger that will come. As expected and as has already been stated, the current board have spat in the face of Dave and this attempt to under mine the restructuring and sort our club out once and for all will soon come to a resolution. The board will try and palm you off with a membership scheme which some may buy into but bide your time bears and bearets, listen to what Mr King has to say about the shiftiness off this move and make your own minds up. Kaiser _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Its what will happen, The information will be released through the press association as he is still in South Africa. Next week the battle begins. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Without breaching trust here to much? King was not satisfied, he was patronized and was fobbed off therefore played the board at their own game, he know's they are unprofessional and not capable of running the club short - mid or long term, what King done was simply give the board and CEO enough rope. They made public assurances which have been breached, do you honestly think a man who has spoken to his children and told them, this will be your inheritance, this is what I am doing, is going to let the current mob who couldnt organize a prayer in a mosque away with it? Have faith. I have no idea how true or who the poster is.

WALLACE PRAISES UNWAVERING SUPPORT Wallace praises 'unwavering support' of Rangers fans GRAHAM WALLACE insists Rangers are making 'good progress' on the road to recovery and are putting the foundations in place for a period of 'long-term success and financial stability'. Graham Wallace is nearing the end of his 120-day review The Light Blues yesterday unveiled season ticket prices for the 2014/15 campaign that will see Ally McCoist's side bid to complete their return to the top flight by landing the Championship crown at the first time of asking. While the Gers have claimed back-to-back league titles, the financial picture at Ibrox is still uncertain, with Wallace set to complete his 120-day review by the middle of the month. The Ibrox chief executive said: "We've come a long way already and we are pleased to be able to say that Rangers Football Club's progress back to the top of Scottish football continues. "Securing the SPFL League One title in record time, reaching the final of the Ramsdens Cup and competing in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup against Dundee United this weekend demonstrates this continued progress as we work to re-establish Rangers at the top level. "Off the pitch, we are making good progress in repositioning the club and business to be capable once again of supporting our challenge at the top level of domestic and European competition. "The journey, however, would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the Rangers fans. "People talk about players having to earn their jersey, especially at Rangers. Well every season ticket holder at Ibrox has certainly earned their seat. "Another exciting chapter in the history of this extraordinary club is about to begin. "With the continued support of the Rangers community together with a strong sustainable business plan, we are putting in place the foundations for a future period of long-term success and financial stability." Is this guy just extracting the urine?

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/321-rangers-hearts-and-the-case-of-wee-thistle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26959101 Every football club launches a season ticket renewal campaign. No club other than Rangers is likely to find it such a fraught process. Price rises, ranging from between 15% to 25%, were inevitable and had been indicated at the annual general meeting of shareholders last December. For fans, though, the decision on whether or not to renew is complicated by the club's state of affairs. Dave King King believes Rangers need significant investment if they are to challenge for Scotland's major honours Even the timeframe has drawn attention, since the renewal deadline is 6 May, less than four weeks away. In the context of the discontent that has gathered around Ibrox, the sense is of supporters being given little time to make their choice. There is always an emotional element to the commitment, but Rangers fans have generally become more wary, even before the prospect of the Union of Fans - a coalition of supporters groups - opening a trust fund as an alternative for supporters who don't want to renew under the current circumstances. In meetings last month with the former director Dave King, who wants to invest in the club, the Ibrox board had agreed to complete the business review being undertaken by chief executive Graham Wallace before the season ticket renewal process. King will consider the launch as a breach of that agreement and is likely to respond firmly. The results of Wallace's review, and subsequent funding plan, will determine how Rangers approach the attempt to gain promotion from the Championship next season. They will also go some way to determining King's approach. He wants to provide funds to invest in the team and the football infrastructure now, to enable Rangers to return and then immediately compete in the top flight. In his view, this should be done through the issuing of new shares, which could grant him overall control. The board agreed to similar sporting aims, but do not have the money to finance it since the cash reserves have run out. Wallace needs to cut around £3m from the current running costs, and increase the revenue streams, just to bring the business to an even keel, but the season ticket money is also required just to keep the business going. This is the backdrop to the renewal campaign, which is symbolic of the lack of unity that abounds. Wallace announced at the AGM that his business review would take 120 days, which ends on Thursday 17 April, yet in the notes accompanying the interim results last month he indicated that it might be the end of April before the review and report to the board are completed. The business's going concern status was also only signed off on the basis of the price rise and a modest uplift in renewals. Despite Rangers embarking on their bid for promotion back to the Premiership, in a second tier that will contain Hearts but also possibly other leading clubs, it seems a stretch to believe that more than 37,000 will sign up for season tickets. As well as uncertainty about what funding will be available, or if only cuts will be imposed on the squad, supporters have grown weary of the quality of football this season. The defeat by Raith Rovers in the Ramsdens Cup final drew a disdainful response, and there is still a Scottish Cup semi-final against a talented Dundee United side to address. Either through concern about the quality of the football, frustration with the board and the direction of the club, or just a doubt about the club's financial stability when £1.5m in loans had to be sought from two shareholders last February and both Ibrox and Murray Park require maintenance work, the willingness to renew is being eroded. It has previously been a matter of faith, an indication of the supporters' ongoing commitment to their team. It is now a matter of judgement, of trust or otherwise. There is no incentive to renew immediately, and even missing the 6 May deadline would not be critical since there is no waiting list and supporters who hold off could still retain their seats. The alarm for the directors is a significant drop off in numbers, since this would drastically undermine their means to continue, and make it more difficult, perhaps even impossible, to hold off King. Rangers will receive the season ticket income up front, since a finance company will underwrite the options that allow fans to pay in instalments, a common arrangement in football. The first £1.5m raised, though, will be used to pay back the shareholder loans - from George Letham and Sandy Easdale, who is also a director on the football club board. The directors will watch the initial renewal numbers with concern, while some supporters will await the review, and others will wait to see what the general uptake is like. With the money raised from the initial public offering of shares in December 2012, and two tranches of season ticket money, having been spent, wariness is widespread. It is also political, since the future of Rangers - as it stands - would seem to either involve cost-cutting under the current powerbase of directors and a group of aligned shareholders, or King becoming the significant influence. Fans can buy tickets on a game-by-game basis. The season ticket uptake will reflect the mood for change or otherwise, but also go some way to determining Rangers' short-term future.

THE Rangers skipper was banned from commenting on the post-match party - and boss Ally McCoist's karaoke turn - but says that he and his team-mates owe the fans for Rangers' Ramsdens Cup Final humiliation. LEE McCULLOCH last night apologised for a Ramsdens Cup embarrassment he labelled worse than liquidation. The Rangers skipper held his hands up for the shocking performance that saw Ally McCoist’s men lose Sunday’s final against Raith Rovers in extra time. But he was banned from commenting on the after-match “party” at Ibrox that featured manager McCoist singing Meat Loaf. Instead he laid bare what he branded the lowest point of his career – and that includes the insolvency events which rocked Ibrox two years ago. McCulloch said: “It was the lowest point in my football career. And I’m factoring in administration. The lot.” The 35-year-old apologised to McCoist and the fans for the Easter Road display and insisted they will up their game for Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final clash against Dundee United. He said: “The players obviously owe the manager for the support he has shown us, myself in particular, over the past couple of years since the club went into administration. “It would be great to give him something back when we play against United in the Scottish. “Also, after the support we took to Easter Road last Sunday, it would be great to give the supporters something to shout about after what has been a tough week for them. “We want to produce a better result than we did last week in the final. That much is obvious. “We owe it to each other as players. We owe it to the management and we owe it to the fans. “Hopefully we can get the result that we need. “But we are going to need men and we are going to need leaders. “What a chance we have as players to show we have those attributes.” McCulloch was at Ibrox yesterday to launch the sale of season-ticket books. He was asked pointedly if he would buy one after the result that embarrassed the fans who went to the capital and those far beyond. “Why not?” he replied. “If you’re a Rangers fan you want to be there to see the team progress. “I was delighted to pledge my long-term future to Rangers when we played in Division Three last season and I want to play my part in our rise back to the very top of Scottish football.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/no-comment-cup-karaoke-rangers-3395007

RANGERS fans could bring forward plans to set up a season ticket trust fund after prices for the 2014/15 campaign were revealed yesterday. The Light Blues have sent out letters to more than 30,000 supporters to renew their season books for next year as Ally McCoist's side look to make it three-in-a-row and clinch their return to the SPFL Premiership. But doubt remains over how many fans will give their cash to the club this time around after months of wrangling between the boardroom and the terraces. The Rangers Union of Fans have backed a plan by former Gers director Dave King that would see money placed in a trust and only given to the club when assurances have been given by the under-fire board, with a proposal to ring-fence Ibrox and Murray Park knocked back earlier this month. Chief executive Graham Wallace has yet to reveal the details of his 120-day review and Union of Fans spokesman Chris Graham told SportTimes: "We stated that we would give the board time to put the review out, in line with what Dave King said. "We will now have to discuss how we move forward based on the fact that the board have put the renewals out ahead of the review and whether we have to take action ahead of that review. "We have been working on the Season Ticket Trust in the background but took the position that we would give the board the chance to put forward their plans. "The renewals coming out before the review means we will need to decide over the next couple of days how we proceed and whether we need to bring that forward. "The idea of securing Ibrox and Murray Park is something we are very focused on and feel it is an important thing to do. "This move by the board doesn't give people confidence in terms of the financial position and we would like to secure the club's two most important assets. It is still something we want to do. "But it is hard to make any informed decisions until we see the review, which is why the renewals coming out at this time seems very odd." After selling around 72,000 season tickets for the Third Division and League One campaigns, Rangers have made an early push for punters' cash as fans continue to worry about the financial picture at Ibrox. Some supporters will see the cost of their briefs rise by 25%, but Graham admits it is the timing that will concern the Light Blue legions. He said: "With the renewal date being May 6, assuming the review is out next week, it doesn't give people much time to digest it and make a decision. It all appears to be very rushed and that obviously leads to speculation as to why the board are trying to get the money in so early. "I don't think there is a great surprise there is a price increase or that it is that much of an issue. Prices were always going to have to go back up prior to getting back into the top league so there wasn't a huge jump from one season to the next. "The way it has been rushed out and the renewal deadline coming so soon is disappointing." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangers-fans-ponder-next-move-on-season-ticket-trust-fund-159091n.23923386

Rangers Supporters ‏@rangersfctrust 9m Please note that the Albion car park will not be open on Saturday as the game falls under the jurisdiction of the SFA. Expand Rangers Supporters ‏@rangersfctrust 1m via @RFC_Rab there are 3,500 tickets left for Saturday. GET THEM SOLD. We need to make Ibrox a cauldron. View conversation https://twitter.com/rangersfctrust

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Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas

This should be interesting, renewals before the 120 days. Rangers will launch their season ticket renewal campaign at Ibrox tomorrow. As reported in the Herald today, prices expected to rise by 18%.

THE next crisis is scheduled for just after high noon on Saturday. Ally McCoist faces his biggest on-field challenge yet against Dundee United. Picture: SNS However, Rangers supporters, bloodied and bruised by two extraordinary years of turbulence, will be reminded bluntly about the realities of their club somewhat sooner that the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final with Dundee United at Ibrox this weekend. The season-ticket renewal letters will be sent out tomorrow, with informed sources suggesting an 18% hike. These missives might precipitate a period of reflection among supporters. The crisis at the club is political, financial and professional. It has seeped from the boardroom to the playing field. The crux of the matter in the wake of the Ramsden Cup victory by Raith Rovers appears to be the future of Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager. A simple investigation of "should he go or should he stay" has more twists than Agatha Christie on a Waltzer. Rangers are believed to be in the almost unique position in football of having a manager who can't walk away from a club that can't sack him. The belief is that the board and McCoist are welded together by mutual necessity. Being Rangers, however, it is not as simple as that. McCoist remains determined, even defiant. He has been sorely tested by the events both before and after liquidation. He has made mistakes both on and off the field. But he has become the rallying point for a support who have been introduced to more chancers and comic singers than a matinee audience at the Glasgow Empire. The Rangers manager could be forgiven for deciding that his future lies away from a club that he loves and a job that he craved. His professional abilities have been scrutinised with some rigour in the aftermath of defeat to Raith Rovers. The accusations include: his recruitment policy is and was flawed, his tactical acumen is limited, and his ability to make a game-changing decision is hardly conspicuous. There is a validity in all of this but McCoist is entitled to point out that players were necessarily bought in haste, that his tactics have been good enough to ensure only two defeats all season and who needs to change the flow of a game that your team is already winning? The pressure, though, is growing and is in danger of becoming intolerable. McCoist, famously, cannot do walking away. A personality with a strong sense of self-will and a belief in self-reliance, McCoist must wait on the deliberations of the board, however constituted that may be in the immediate future. The accepted truth is that he cannot be sacked in deference to his place as Rangers legend and as the enduring beacon in the most stormy of times at the club. This is no longer correct. First, there is a loud element of the Rangers support who are looking for change in the manager's office as well as the boardroom. Second, the present board includes those who have little time for McCoist. This disaffection stretches far beyond his capabilities or otherwise as a football manager. McCoist's decision to give the proxy vote on his shares to a supporters' club at the club's annual meeting in December was handled delicately by Graham Wallace, the chief executive. However, it was greeted with some anger by other members of the board. The chance of a united front against the requisitioners was weakened considerably by the manager's stance. This has not been forgotten or forgiven. There are also those on the periphery of power at Ibrox who are not admirers of the manager and have called on him to be sacked. McCoist has had a good relationship with Wallace but there are reports that this has been severely dented, if not fractured, in recent days. If they continue to sing from the same hymn sheet, it is with strained voices. There is, too, a constituency that argues that the sacking of the manager would give the sale of season tickets a necessary and timely boost. More sober voices point out that the level of uptake of season tickets may be beyond any such move given the continued uncertainty in the boardroom and the prospect of competing in the SPFL Championship with a squad that is not considerably improved. There is also the belief that finding a replacement for McCoist may be easy, but that does not mean it carries a guarantee of success on the pitch. "This place is bedlam," said a Rangers insider. "There is no budget, no scouting and no stability. "Who wants such a job? And are they the sort of people who could make it work?" Despite all this, of course, McCoist could be sacked and there would be little concern over any pay-off. "Can you imagine Ally suing Rangers?" said one cynical but acute observer last night. The manager thus prepares for a defining match against Dundee United against a backdrop of severe sniping, unyielding criticism and increasing pressure. He would be forgiven if he remarked with his trademark smile: "So what's new?" This rhetorical inquiry may be answered by Dave King, the South African businessman, who is pressurising the board to accept his plan for an immediate investment of £50m backed by a rights issue. The issuing of the season-ticket book reminders might prompt King to make another verbal intervention as he seeks to persuade fans that he offers the last best hope of a swift re-invigoration of the club. His supporters insist he would provide funds for a strengthened squad for next season's campaign. King would almost certainly also back McCoist, at least in the short term. However, King did not become a multi-millionaire on the back of a penchant for patience and a predilection for backing those who do not give him what he wants. Rangers now stand just more than a week away from the publication of the business plan that will set out the way forward. It is difficult to see how it can satisfy King. McCoist, meanwhile, must select and set up a team to defeat a quick, inventive and increasingly confident Dundee United side. The Rangers manager, ever the optimist, will point out his team are just 90 minutes away from unlikely redemption. Until, that is, the next crisis. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/what-to-do-with-a-man-who-cannot-walk-away.23908867?

Monday, 07 April 2014 12:48 Corporate Golf Day Written by Rangers Football Club RANGERS Corporate Spring Golf Day returns to the prestigious Mar Hall Golf & Spa Resort. Each group of three will be joined by a Light Blue legend to make up your four-ball, adding a unique Rangers element to the day. Guaranteed to be a great day out for you and your team, guests will enjoy an unforgettable game of golf with spectacular scenery, challenging holes and the chance to play with Rangers legends. Mar Hall Golf & Spa Resort: Monday 19 May 2014 Four-ball priced at £995 + VAT and includes: Return coach transfers Bacon rolls on arrival 18-holes of golf Complimentary half-way house 3-course dinner with wine Drinks reception Team photograph Prize-giving Complimentary gift Individual places available on request and are priced at £325 + VAT per person. Click here to download the booking form. Click here to book online or for more information, call the Hospitality & Events Department on 0871 702 1972 or email events@rangers.co.uk, calls costs 10p per minute plus network extras. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/club-news/item/6703-corporate-golf-day

Back in the Cold War, namby pamby lefty liberal types used to put on dramas every so often, depicting the aftermath of nuclear conflict. The production teams involved found it easier (cheaper) to take the deaths of millions as read and focus on small survivor units, depicted against a horribly convincing nuclear landscape. That the Britain of this period accurately stood in for an atomically ravaged landscape ought to tell us something about Britain in general (vote yes!) but the thing I recall best as a small child was the concept of the nuclear winter, a perma-sunless period of years in which nothing could grow or prosper. Grim stuff. Even then, though, the bleeding heart type couldn't resist closing with some hackneyed image of a small plant growing, as life started again without the fell hand of right wing government bringing about the apocalypse this time. There was always hope! No such luck for us, though. We seem to be struggling to take even a single step forward from the dark days of administration and liquidaton. The UK economy is tottering on Bambi legs toward recovery; Libya and Tunisia had their 'Arab Springs', and while Egypt and Syria are hardly the best of adverts for this particular crap analogy, it beggars belief that entire countries and fiscal systems can absorb shocks and recover faster than a well supported football club based in a settled, safe society. I've bored you before with my patented theory about the dark forces who are slowly killing us, but added to that sheer fatigue is doing people in. Many have stopped going due to the abysmal standard of play, others are deflated by online abuse, while some have just run out of steam. We saw over the weekend D'Artagnan packing it in and no wonder: years of firefighting the attacks of other fans and clubs, with no weapons except to point out their own stinking hypocrisy, while the weight of the media is borne down on our club would knacker anyone. But when the feeling grows that the thing you're spending a stupid amount of time defending isn't worth defending you're in big trouble. Not only is the football rubbish but the officials who run our club have been and remain rubbish since Craig Whyte walked down Edmiston Drive, to the cheers of about 40 people who recognised him. He stared killing us slowly from within, Charles continued (continues?) it, while the present incumbents don't bear speaking about, such is my contempt for them. I suppose the fans of other clubs are loving it, but our slow decline is mirrored in theirs. It's not just us going down, it's football as a whole. No amount of Politburo releases from Pacific Quay about the terrific standard and full stands around the country will fool anyone with a grain of sense: as late as the 70's, when I was watching nuclear dramas, clubs had attendances in the tens of thousands. Certainly the decline had set in and to some extent football has been staving off illness for decades, only ocassionally recouperating before falling ill again. I find myself wondering whether Rangers reflects this: since the heyday of European runs and titles in the 60's, it's been a story of boom and bust, staving off decline with some periods of success. That would be normal for a club in a normal country but it isn't normal in Scotland, because firstly about 90% of fans support two teams and secondly without some success for each of them the financial wellspring of the game runs perilously dry. This comes close to the old 'football needs the OF to thrive' argument, and while I think their dominance has hardly helped the game their withering will scarcely revive it, unless we're aiming for a top league with attendances roughly akin to those of Pollok juniors. Many threads on here are becoming increasingly nostalgic, and no wonder. If there's nothing to look forward to, what else can you do? Maybe the bluebells will be out on that grubby bit of wasteground across from Edmiston Drive by the time I fetch up for the next home game, offering the prospect of a new spring ahead. I have my doubts, though: it's more likely a passing fan of another club will have kicked its head off. edit - while a bunch of bluenoses fight amongst themselves and take no action!

I'm not wanting to start an 'Ally bashing' thread as such as right now I don't think there is any point. We could argue all day about decisions, tactics etc. After speaking to/texting all of my mates/family during/after the game yesterday it was clear than NONE of us wanted Ally to remain in charge. And a few of us were complete Ally defenders of late. Some may have been just a knee jerk reaction to the result I'm not sure. Which led me to this, is there anyone that actually wants Ally to stay? And if so why?

I was going through some old stuff at the weekend and came across a folder with the team photos from 1960-61 to 1967-68 (one missing 1963-64) which adorned the walls of my bedroom as a child. I’m going to start with this one of the 1961-62 line up because it is the only glossy photo, the rest are newspaper cuttings. It is stamped on the back “RECORD COPYRIGHT RESERVED” but hopefully it will long since have passed into the public domain. [/img] In those days, the big pre-season friendly, was the First Team v the Reserves and you can see the large crowd it drew. Another reason to start with this one is that the players are not named so you can have some fun trying to put names to faces. (I've played about with it endlessly on Imgur and this is the best size I can come up with that isn't just a small thumbnail or so big only half the picture appears. If Zappa or anyone else in admin can make it a bit bigger that would be appreciated.) The trophies won the previous season are displayed: League Championship (32nd time) League Cup and the Reserve League Cup. The 1961-62 Rangers finished second in the League on 51 points (2 for a win back then) from 34 games in the old 18 team First Division, behind champions Dundee on 54 points. However, we won the League Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Reserves won everything there was to win: Reserve League Championship, League Cup and Second XI Cup. Rangers defeated Hearts 3-1 in a League Cup Final Replay after drawing the first match 1-1 (Jimmy Millar). The regular forward line of the day: Scott, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson broke the Hearts with goals from Jimmy Millar, Ralph Brand and Ian McMillan in the first 21 minutes. At that time the European Cup was a straight knock-out competition for champions only with all matches played over two legs. In the First Round Rangers defeated Monaco 3-2 home and away. The French described our performance beneath the ramparts of Prince Rainier’s palace as “Magnifique”. The second round posed a strange “cold war” problem. The draw sent Rangers to East Berlin to play Vorwarts (pronounce Vorverts) and Rangers returned with a 2-1 victory. However, the Allied Authorities refused Vorwarts visas to travel and it was decided that the game would be played in “neutral” Malmo; actually it was played twice! The first match on November 22nd, 1961 was abandoned at half time due to fog with Rangers leading through a goal from 17-year-old Willie Henderson. The replay kicked off at 9.00 am the following morning and Rangers won 4-1 for a 6-1 aggregate, to bring forward a Quarter Final against Standard Liege. Eric Caldow pulled out of the away leg with an injured toe, 30 minutes before the kick off and was replaced by 19-year-old Bobby King. Teenagers Willie Henderson and John Greig were the right wing pairing (outside right and inside right). Rangers went down 4-1 in a mud bath before a “tempestuous, partisan crowd” (well, what would you expect?). Willie Henderson had been chosen to play again in the second leg ahead of Alex Scott whose fitness was in doubt; but Henderson got caught up in traffic on his way to the ground from Airdrie and did not arrive at the Stadium in time to strip for the match. Rangers won 2-0 but went out 4-3 on aggregate. As a 15-year-old, 28 clubs wanted to sign Henderson, “Manchester United and Aston Villa being the most persistent”; but he signed for Rangers on his father’s advice at age 16 and spent the next 12 years at Ibrox playing 478 times and scoring 36 goals. He won his first Scottish Cup medal in Rangers 16th Scottish Cup triumph when we defeated St Mirren 2-0 in front of 127,940 spectators who paid £17,980 (excluding stands!) at Hampden on 21 April 1962, the first of a three in row cup victories and my own first Scottish Cup Final. This was the legendary Rangers line up of the day: Ritchie, Shearer, Caldow; Davis, McKinnon, Baxter; Henderson, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. Four of our lads: Eric Caldow, Jim Baxter, Alex Scott (who was still selected for Scotland although he had lost his place in Rangers team to Henderson) and Davy Wilson, played for Scotland in the famous 2-0 win over England at Wembley. Wilson and Caldow (penalty) scored the goals for Scotland, to give us our first British International Championship since 1951. Ian McMillan scored Rangers 5,000th league goal v Raith Rovers at Ibrox on the 14th of October 1961 and I was there! The season ended with an incredible and highly successful three-match tour of Russia: defeating Moscow Locomotive 3-1; Tbilisi Dynamo 1-0; and drawing the last game 1-1 with Kiev Dynamo. Thousands of fans swarmed over the tarmac at then Renfrew Airport to welcome the team home. According to Professor Graham Walker Between 10 and 15, 000 flooded into the precincts of Renfrew Airport to salute the team on their return that June evening, with thousands more stuck in traffic jams on the roads from Glasgow. The fans indeed swarmed on to the runway. One journalist proclaimed that the ‘No conquering army ever received a more vociferous homecoming’, while the late James Sanderson, then a journalist for the ‘Scottish Daily Express’, called it ‘the greatest homecoming of any sportsmen to Scotland – bar none!’ (Rangers Standard) [/img] If this has been of interest I'll publish one season every couple of weeks or so for the next few weeks. Credit: The above account is drawn from Rangers - The New Era (sic) by William Allison, published in 1966.