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"There has been a fantastic response since launching the campaign at 4pm on Wednesday 5th of March with over 650 Rangers fans committing to RangersFirst. The initial launch has mainly focused on Twitter and Facebook with almost all the traffic coming from both social networks. On average for every 10 visitors to the RangersFirst website a fan signs up. In the next 7-14 days RF plans to launch the RangersFirst Promotional Video which will explain the CIC concept in detail. They are also in the process of setting up a road show team that will visit Supporters Clubs and Rangers affiliated venues across the UK." (For the avoidance of doubt I have inserted quotation marks to make it clear that this is not my wording, I received an email with this text which I have altered only insofar as changing from first to third person.) http://www.rangersfirst.org/

.......can only trade on his past glories as a player for so long. HUGH believes the Ibrox manager misjudged the mood after the draw with Albion Rovers and has only increased the pressure on himself from the supporters. IT would take James Ward, at his current rate of pay with Albion Rovers, 100 years to earn what Ally McCoist gets in 12 months at Ibrox. That’s not a flight of fantasy plucked out of the air for dramatic effect in the aftermath of Sunday’s 1-1 Scottish Cup draw between the clubs at Ibrox. It’s a cold fact underlining what two opposite worlds look like when their differences are written down in black and white. Football is indivisible from money, and that holds true with a vengeance at hard-up Rangers, where they’re borrowing money to look after their borrowings. What Albion Rovers did at Ibrox was to come within 13 minutes of eliminating the home team from a competition which would be worth £1million to Rangers if they won it. That’s also how close Ally came to losing his job as manager for non-commercial reasons. Defeat from Rovers would have been the most humiliating result in Rangers’ history and formed employment law’s grounds for constructive dismissal. It didn’t happen in the end, and slipping the noose is perfectly allowable in football. Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager of them all, did it when he went through the barren years in his start at Old Trafford. Neil Lennon was forgiven a 2-0 defeat from Ross County in a Scottish Cup semi-final and promoted from interim to permanent manager at Celtic Park in spite of that embarrassment. But there are those who believe Rangers’ off-field problems have disguised McCoist’s shortcomings on the managerial front. Not any longer. The manager’s declaration that a replay against Albion Rovers did not represent any kind of embarrassment has resonated badly with the Rangers fans. It has focused their attention on matters on the field while they wait for the next battle in the civil war for power at Ibrox to commence. Ally said he was withdrawing from the front line on that issue to get on with being the manager. And he was quite right to do so. McCoist has compromised his better judgment and given public support to individuals he might otherwise have left well alone over the past couple of years. But his desire to see Rangers emerge from the morass created by administration, liquidation and manipulation by people who used the club for their own ends got the better of him. Now he’d be better advised to focus on himself because too many Rangers fans are questioning his judgment as a manager. Ally might genuinely have been trying to be respectful to Ward, his counterpart, and all associated with Rovers when he said there was no embarrassment attached to being taken to a replay by them. That’s not how the Rangers fans saw it, and they’re the barometer of public opinion the Ibrox boss has to be aware of at times like these. The season started with a League Cup defeat suffered in extra time against the part-time professionals of Forfar Athletic. Not much changes, it appears. Ninety-five minutes against a League Two collection of gas fitters and office workers wasn’t enough time for Rangers to remove Albion Rovers from the Scottish Cup. There comes a time when past history as a player becomes an irrelevance. The greatest of them all on both sides of Glasgow’s great divide – John Greig, Jock Wallace, Billy McNeill, Tommy Burns and Davie Hay – were dispensed with when considered to be unfit for purpose. Reputation saves no one if your face no longer fits. It’s astonishing to think Ally will, in all probability, win a second, straight league title tomorrow night when Rangers host Airdrie while bedlam breaks loose all around him. But he’s lived in that frenzied environment since he signed for Rangers from Sunderland just over 30 years ago. Ally’s in the dock, and his list of “previous” where domestic and European failures are concerned has been brought up to be used in evidence against him. Uncertainty is in the air at Ibrox as Dave King prepares to fly into Glasgow tomorrow and challenge the club’s idea of proper governance at boardroom level. The manager will sit that one out as he prepares for the replay with Albion Rovers on Monday night at Hamilton’s New Douglas Park. Defeat is unthinkable. If you want to be judged purely on what you do as a manager then you must expect a jury to be formed for that purpose. And there are more than cinema’s Twelve Angry Men waiting to pass sentence on Ally unless he can offer a more convincing case for the defence than was evident at the weekend. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-rangers-manager-ally-3228364

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/318-take-the-power-back? By Ewan McQueen If you asked anyone who knows me well to tell you something I’m passionate about, it’s almost certain they would reply with the answer ‘Rangers Football Club’. It has been a huge part of my life since I started following the club in 1995. Like thousands of others, I live and breathe Rangers every single day and constantly check social media sites and forums to find out the latest developments inside Ibrox. And now it feels like a revolution is brewing amongst the fans. And for my mind it has been a long time coming. The horrors of administration just over two years ago are still raw and can never be understated. However, it should have been a watershed moment for us fans despite the shock we were in. It should never be forgotten that David Murray got us into a real mess before he sold us down the river to Craig Whyte. That has all been well documented and there’s no need to go over it again here. But Whyte’s reign at the club should have proven once and for all that there should be no more days of one man running the club. Like every Rangers fan, I was stunned on Valentine’s Day two years ago. But we missed an opportunity. To its credit, the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund was a superb scheme and raised a wonderful amount of money when there were huge fears Rangers would die. But the RFFF didn’t go far enough. It seemed as though fans were waiting for a saviour, whether it was the Blue Knights, Brian Kennedy, Jim McColl and Walter Smith or, as it transpired, Charles Green and his cronies. Administration should have provided the perfect opportunity for fans to mobilise to ensure it never happened again. After the simply astonishing squandering of money and obscene bonuses to board members under Green’s regime, Rangers can’t rule out admin mark two which is simply disgraceful. And that’s why it’s time to take the power back and create a situation where fans have proper representation in the club and control a significant amount of shares. Ask yourself this: would you rather see the club you love ran by fans that feel the same way as you or by men like the Easdale brothers, hedge fund managers and the continuously mysterious Blue Pitch and Margarita Holdings? For me it is a no brainer. This board aren’t fit for purpose and none of them have any idea what it is like to live and breathe Rangers. They are in it for themselves. And the fact they are now going to be using season ticket money to pay back a loan at a ludicrously high rate of interest just takes the biscuit. For many fans the loans have been the straw that has finally broken the camel’s back. Schemes like Buy Rangers and Rangers First are to be hugely welcomed. For far too long there have been divisions amongst the Rangers support that have held us back. Of course it is only natural that there are debates amongst any club’s support. I regularly have fierce debates about the manager, players and tactics with friends I go to games with. That’s natural. What isn’t natural is that until now Rangers fans haven’t grabbed the chance to gain real power at Ibrox. Look at what the Foundation of Hearts has done after the Gorgie club was run by shysters. They’ve just announced their 8,000th member while the Rangers Supporters Trust currently has 2,500 members. I am one of them and find that stat very depressing. Rangers First seems to have captured the imagination though. First up, the name is simple and extremely effective. For too long we have been run by men who have never put Rangers first. As fans, by selling 72,000 season tickets over the last two seasons to watch football which has been very poor at times, by raising £5.5m in a share issue before Christmas and by simply continuing to follow the team the length and breadth of Scotland, we have always put Rangers First. Modern football offers far too many opportunities for businessmen and ‘spivs’ to make a quick buck at the expense of the people that truly matter at a football club – the fans. You only need to look at the way Vincent Tan is running Cardiff if you want an example. The next few years need to see a massive increase in clubs becoming fan owned or run as a community interest company. As Richard Atkinson of Supporters Direct says, fan ownership isn’t just about owning shares. It is about getting what you want from the club. There is simply no chance of getting that under this board. In simple maths terms, Rangers fans can easily out do what Hearts supporters have achieved. Say only 20,000 of our fanbase paid £15 a month in direct debits. That would equate to income of £3.6m per year and, at current market levels, 5% of shares could be purchased in three months. Both the Rangers First and Buy Rangers options are very reasonably priced as well. The Rangers First option gives you the option of signing up for as little as £5 per month. The price of a fish supper per month to try and reclaim the club I love? Count me in. And I’ve also signed up to the Buy Rangers scheme of purchasing shares in the club from as little as £11.25 per month. Both schemes are simple and I would urge every fan to do something. It is time to show you REALLY care about your favourite club. The Rangers support can be found in corners all over the world. Quite simply, if we don’t do it this time through these projects, then it can be argued we deserve what we get as a support. It feels like the right time. The financial crisis has reached breaking point again. Whilst there might be criticism of performances on the park, we have strolled to the League One title. We have now completed the first two stages of our journey back to the top but we simply can’t afford to be cut adrift when we return there. Hanging over these schemes is of course Dave King. Now, King’s tax issues in South Africa have been gone over more times than I have had hot dinners but what can’t be denied is that he is a Rangers man. It seems baffling that the board call him disruptive when he is a lifelong fan willing to put money into a club he loves. His idea of a season ticket trust is to be welcomed. Let’s get one thing straight, it isn’t a boycott. It is about, as King says himself, getting transparency from the board over the state of the club. At the time of writing, over 5,600 supporters have signed up to the call from the Union of Fans to back King. Again, that is real and decisive action from a significant section of the support. Key to all this is engaging those fans who aren’t online or those who are perhaps switched off from the turmoil. Indeed, I have friends and relatives in this position. Fan ownership remains a long term dream, but it can be driven forward quickly with the right marketing and information that is delivered to the fanbase. Legendary US rock band Rage Against the Machine once sang a ferocious song which shares the title of this article. When the revolution is led by the people (or in this case, fans), the men at the top can find it nigh on impossible to fight back against it. This particular Rangers revolution has only just started but I’m excited what I see on Twitter, Facebook and various forums. We have woken up big time as a support and credit to everyone who has got involved already. It will take a while and it will require patience but we simply must get rid of this board once and for all. We have a voice and it’s the most powerful inside Ibrox- more powerful than Graham Wallace or Sandy Easdale or even Ally McCoist. It’s time to take the power back.

Hi everyone, Hope you are all well! Thank you for your continued support of the Rangers project so far. We're pleased to say that a new funding campaign is now being started on our Indigogo page to raise funds for the Rangers documentary! It's only open for 2 weeks though, so make sure you get your contributions early to support our project! Link to our Indiegogo page: http://igg.me/p/695323/x/6506085 We've got a short teaser trailer of the documentary now up on Youtube - check out our interviews with David Fisher, Clive Anderson and other Rangers fans and supporters. Filming is going well so far, lots of great footage and interviews with fans and people all passionately involved with Rangers FC to bring you the story of Rangers from the fans' view! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph0UAvTrTaU Thanks again everyone, looking forward to having you onboard with us! Best wishes, Niraj Dave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Niraj Dave | Researcher SDMC Productions Limited Email: niraj.dave@sdmcproductions.com Office: 0044 (0)161 2362112 Mob: 0044 (0) 7905942209 Web: http://www.sdmcproductions.com Disclaimer: The contents of this e-mail are confidential to the recipient to which addressed. It may not be disclosed or used by anyone other than addressee, nor may it be copied in any way. If received in error, please contact SDMC Productions Ltd @ mail@sdmcproductions.com quoting name of sender and addressee. PLEASE DELETE FROM SYSTEM Please note that neither SDMC Productions nor any Employees or associates accept any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan the e-mail and attachments (if any). No contracts may be concluded on behalf of SDMC Productions Ltd by means of e-mail communication

I've jumped between defending him this season along with trying to understand his position as the only ever Rangers manager to have dealt with the cards he's been dealt with. There's not a bear who'd deny that Ally has managed under unprecedented circumstances. The other side of the coin is that his resources still far outweigh all other Scottish sides except the ****s. Yet I, and quite possibly, many bears can't even describe what type of football we are meant to play. Little motivation, no tempo or obvious flow to the game is, besides board room shenanigans, putting supporters off. Think back to the early stages of the season where we played some lovely football and racked up silly scoreline after silly scoreline. The team won the league so early that it rendered October/November onwards meaningless. Then the cup results in February played us the best hand we could have wished for. When the draw was made I chatted with friends and stated that if Ally and the players can't get us to the final based on its Albion fucking Rovers, and with the semi final being played at Ibrox, then they're no good for the long term of Rangers. My expectations is that we should be collecting the treble based on the fact our squad is of premiership standard and very well paid. Throw in the fact the players and management have a golden opportunity to write themselves into the history books, then motivation and attitude should be a given. Many will be there already, some for quite a while now, but now I'm edging closer to adding to my sack the board chants. Only the chants might be aimed at the only genuine bear left at the club in a position of seniority. Any of you who has defended Ally now seriously considering Ally must go before the playing side reflects the executive side of the club? when does it become okay to add Ally besides the board in cleansing the club?

Expected big things from the lad today, he was outstanding against rovers at the start of the season. The whole team lacked imagination and I felt particularly let down by him as he is a player who should be making a difference. I for one don't blame Ally and to say we missed out the midfield yesterday would be untrue. We had the ball in front of their defence and all of our midfield players were involved. None of our players seemed to have any ideas or imagination as to how they could break down the opposition. Men like Law, Templeton and Shiels should have been instrumental but sadly they looked disinterested. You cannot blame Ally for that. When a player crosses the line at home in a quarter final you should expect passion and commitment - sadly none if our players showed any.

Serving his apprenticeship nicely at the moment and as it stands Im hoping he is our next manager. When Ally eventually moves on Id take him well ahead of the realistic candidates like Billy Davies. Got to give McInnes credit, 1 cup final, 1 semi final and 2nd in the league with a team who have been struggling for years. I liked him as a player in the 90s also, thought he was a fine midfielder.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/10686563/Rangers-Cup-Hall-of-shame.html Rangers' Cup Hall of shame Ally McCoist’s three seasons as manager of Rangers have put the shock into shocking when it comes to performances in the cups. Here are nine of the worst Rangers 0 Malmo 1 July 26 2011 Champions League third qualifying round, first leg The beginning of Rangers financial crisis which led to administration and liquidation. A goal from Daniel Larsson in the 17th minute gave the Swedes a vital victory and they drew the second leg 1-1 to deny McCoist’s men entry to the most lucrative competition of them all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NK Maribor 2 Rangers 1 August 18, 2011 Europa League play-off first leg Forgotten man Juan Manuel Ortiz gave Rangers a half-time lead in Slovenia, only for Agim Ibraimi to equalise in the 52nd minute. Etien Velikonja back-heeled the winner past Allan McGregor in stoppage time and a 1-1 draw in the return leg saw another revenue stream shut down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Falkirk 3 Rangers 2 September 21, 2011 League Cup fourth round Goals from international stars Dorin Goian and Nikica Jelavic looked to have taken the tie into extra time but Mark Millar’s last-gasp free-kick was fumbled over the line by Neil Alexander and the First Division side celebrated a famous win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 0 Dundee United 2 February 5, 2012 Scottish Cup fifth round First-half goals from Gavin Gunning and Johnny Russell put United in Easy Street and they cruised into the quarter-finals. Nine days later the club was forced into administration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 2 Queen of the South 2 (Queens win 4-3 on penalties) September 18, 2012 Ramsdens Cup quarter-final Nicky Clark (remember him?) fired the Third Division minnows in front after 49 minutes and, although Barrie McKay and Lee McCulloch put them in the driving seat another last-gasp goal proved costly as Gavin Reilly took the game into extra time. Rangers’ Kevin Kyle and Queens’ Willie Gibson were sent off before Dean Shiels and Anestis Argyriou missed from the spot in the penalty shoot-out, allowing the underdogs to go through. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 October 31, 2012 League Cup quarter-final Hampden hopes were raised by a 2-0 win over SPL high-fliers Motherwell in the previous round but they were comprehensively beaten by the Highlanders. Andrew Shinnie gave Thistle a first-half lead and goals after the break Gary Warren and Graeme Shinnie emphasised the superiority of Terry Butcher’s men. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dundee United 3 Rangers 0 February 2, 2013 Scottish Cup fifth round Jackie McNamara’s first game in charge of United got off to the perfect start when Russell gave the home side the lead after just 13 seconds. The Rangers fans who boycotted Tannadice were the lucky ones as their heroes were ripped apart. Jon Daly made it 2-0 before half-time and Russell had already made it 3-0 before Ian Black and Kal Naismith were sent off in the dying minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forfar 2 Rangers 1 August 3, 2013 League Cup first round A double from Gavin Swankie gave the Loons a surprise win at Station Park. He took advantage of a McCulloch error to open the scoring and, although Fraser Aird equalised six minutes from the end the part-timers looked the fitter side in extra time and Swankie struck again in the 115th minute. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 1 March 9, 2014 Scottish Cup quarter-final A controversial goal from Bilel Moshni 12 minutes from time rescued ropy Rangersat a half-empty Ibrox and earned the part-timers a money-spinning replay. Long-serving Ciaran Donnelly had fired the £30-per-week journeymen from the Second Division into a shock lead after only 13 minutes and they looked set for a famous victory until referee John Beaton allowed Boshni’s late header to stand.

Received this email today Over 650 Bears in 5 days We have had a fantastic response since launching the campaign at 4pm on Wednesday 5th of March with over 650 Rangers fans committing to RangersFirst. Our initial launch has mainly focused on Twitter and Facebook with almost all our traffic coming from both social networks. On average for every 10 visitors to the RangersFirst website a fan signs up. In the next 7-14 days we plan to launch the RangersFirst Promotional Video which will explain the CIC concept in detail. We are also in the process of setting up our road show team that will visit Supporters Clubs and Rangers affiliated venues across the UK

Help SoS and the Union of Fans, volunteers required. We have a leaflet regarding the Union of Fans and Dave Kings proposed Season Ticket Initiative getting printed for Sundays game and need help with distribution. If you are willing and able to help, please put name below or send personal message Meet 2pm top of Copland Rd stairs Thanks in advance Craig. Lifted from FF

Anybody know who is behind this?. Lifted from FF

...... when Albion scored. Could have been the effects mike but it sounded Richard Gordonish. He should be careful what he wishes for. Sheep might have a better chance against us than Rovers.

By Tom English BBC Scotland, in his new job with the BBC Charles Green's latest Rangers contribution might not have been as barmy a cameo as those provided by porn baron Paul Baxendale-Walker or that business with the Northamptonshire clown, Mr Custard. However, in the odditorium that is Ibrox, Green's bombast of Friday was another cringe-making moment. His new life may have taken him far from Glasgow, to an 18th-century castle in Normandy, but it would appear that the Yorkshireman is still of the view that he was God's gift to Rangers. Self-regard was always a stock-in-trade of Green's; self-awareness, far less so. At a time when Rangers have taken out a £1.5m loan in order to keep the lights on, Green's poor-mouth performance about being under-compensated for his work at Ibrox was laughable and must have served as a firm kick in the unmentionables to every fretting Rangers fan. His reappearance was fitting in one way, though. Things have reached the point of a free-for-all at Rangers. Pot-shots are being flung left, right and centre between suggested saviour Dave King and the board. Charles Green Charles Green believes he was under-compensated for his work at Ibrox The supporters needed Green popping into this saga like they needed a hole in the head. You watched Green climbing back into the narrative and, in that moment, it was easy to imagine the Rangers supporters repeating that line from Jerry Maguire, the film about the sports agent played by Tom Cruise. Maguire/Cruise was at what he thought was his lowest point only for further mishap to befall him. "Jump into my nightmare," he said, sighing. "The water's warm." The way in which former director King and the current Rangers board are training their guns on one another in public is remarkable. It was only last November that King called for some kind of decorum among key people in the Rangers story. "The best interests of the club will not be facilitated by playing it out in the media," he said. So much for that plan. Ten days ago, King issued his Gettysburg Address on the state of the club. It was damning stuff. There was a response, of course. Then King responded to the response. Graham Wallace, the chief executive, responded to the response to the response and King responded once again. The tit-for-tat carried on. David Somers, the chairman, slammed King and King slammed back. Director Sandy Easdale got involved and King replied. Then King went again. This is mortifying stuff. King is calling into question the integrity of the board while playing down other integrity questions closer to home, such as those raised by his guilty plea and subsequent conviction for epic contraventions of South African tax law, which eventually cost him more than £45m in cash and assets. We know that many Rangers fans are behind King regardless. This was the man who previously invested £20m in Rangers and lost the lot. That wins him kudos. Equally, it's the same man who sat on Craig Whyte's board of directors and who, according to the SFA's judicial panel, failed to do enough to question the former owner's disastrous behaviour. It's a measure of the mindset of Rangers people that so many have placed so much trust in King, a man denounced as a "glib and shameless liar" by a South African court. “Who will win this battle? It depends on how serious King and his supporters really are and what lengths they will go to in order to get a result” If the fans pick King over the board - and they are, in increasing numbers - then that tells you a lot about how the current incumbents are performing. They have been saying for months that there is no pressing cash crisis, while at the same time taking out a short-term, and high-interest, loan of £1m from one of its institutional investors, Laxey Partners. Their 'nothing to see here' mantra rings suspicious. Apart from the £1m loan (and the bank charges associated with it) there is an interest-free loan of another £500,000 from Sandy Easdale. Why would a club with no pressing need for money take out an emergency loan and then secure part of it against club assets? They haven't adequately explained it. There are questions everywhere for the board and not many answers. The Rangers Standard website wrote about some wealthy Rangers-supporting businessmen who would have been prepared to offer the club loans at more favourable rates of interest than the Laxey agreement. John McClure was one such businessman. George Letham is another. The board are said to be considering ditching Laxey's deal and taking up Letham's offer instead. What does it say about this board of directors when a fans' website can track down wealthy Rangers supporters who are willing to loan money on more attractive terms than the club's investment committee could negotiate? These supporters run this website in their spare time. They are not on the club's payroll. As head of the Rangers investment committee, it is the job of director Norman Crighton to do this kind of business and he's rewarded handsomely for it. Former Rangers director Dave King Former Rangers director Dave King is keen on a return to Ibrox And yet, in the hours between putting in a day's work and putting the kids to bed, the fans can find better deals than he can? Crighton really ought to state his position on all of this. At the heart of this are the fans and their season-ticket money and the power they wield because of it. Rangers can't live without that cash. More and more the supporters are saying that the board are not getting it until they answer questions and bring transparency where currently everything is clouded. King and the fans' associations want to drip-feed the season-ticket money into the club by way of a trust. It's a device that could bring the board to heel or bring the club to its knees. It's high-stakes stuff, but the fans are mobilising, that's for sure. Mobilising behind King. He is said to be on his way to Glasgow soon for this showdown with the board. They should put the Rangers TV cameras in the room and sell it on pay-per-view. In a relative blink, the cash crisis would ease. Who will win this battle? It depends on how serious King and his supporters really are and what lengths they will go to in order to get a result. Equally, it depends on how much financial trouble the club is truly in and how short of answers they really are. To the former, the response is "very serious" and in the case of the latter the reply is always "not much trouble at all". But you learn to be sceptical about everything you are told in this story. Green's cameo might have brought an air of black comedy, but at its essence the fight for control at Rangers is a thriller - with a touch of horror thrown in. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26459395

EAST Stirlingshire head coach John Coughlin said last night that he substituted Jordan Tapping in yesterday’s 4-0 defeat by Peterhead at Balmoor after the 17-year-old schoolboy was reduced to tears by a sustained level of racial abuse from a section of the crowd. Coughlin claimed the youngster was subjected to monkey noises and name calling from members of the home support situated behind the goal that Tapping was helping to defend in the second half. Tapping, the cousin of Hearts midfielder Callum Tapping, scored an own goal in the League Two match and was taken off with 15 minutes remaining. Coughlin said: “Firstly I want to say that what went on had no impact on the result of the game but it was a horrible incident. It was so bad that a couple of our players went to the referee to make sure that he was hearing it. “He took no action at the time but he is including it in his match report. Jordan is just a kid who is still at school and was understandably upset and bewildered at what was getting shouted at him. I looked at him with about 20 minutes left and knew I had to get him off the pitch. By the time I did he was in tears. Whilst no one should have to deal with abuse, a more experienced player or person might have been able to handle it differently but in reality it is not Jordan’s problem.” Referee Gavin Duncan is expected to report the matter to the SFA. Coughlin added: “The Peterhead chairman Rodger Morrison came up and apologised to Jordan after the game. Whilst he acknowledged there had been a problem, no one can quite understand why no stewards were asked to go and get the fans doing it to stop, or even more appropriately, throw them out or get them arrested. “Our players were very upset for Jordan and there was a lot of anger in our dressing room afterwards. They are all very much behind raising this incident as far as possible to show their support to their team-mate.” Tapping, pictured, was applauded off the pitch by his team-mates. One supporter who was at the game said: “The ref stopped the game in the second half and spoke to the linesman. Then he seemed to call the head steward or someone like that. It was good couple of minutes he was speaking to the steward. The steward went over and spoke to someone behind the goal. It was just a single guy that they seemed to be speaking to. When [Tapping] went off, all the other East Stirling players were applauding him off the park.” As of last night, the Scottish Professional Football League had received no complaint. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/east-stirlingshire-s-tapping-racially-abused-1-3325536

http://www.rangersfirst.org/

I know we need to concentrate on getting to the Cup Semi-Final first; but with Dunfermline drawing today, we can win the League if we beat Airdrie on Wednesday night. Hopefully an Airdrie and Coatbridge double.

THE League Two shocktroops will earn a bonus equivalent to 12-weeks' wages if they pull off the biggest shock of them all at Ibrox tomorrow. ALBION ROVERS will earn a staggering three-month wage bonus of £1000 a man if they manage to pull off mission impossible and beat Rangers at Ibrox tomorrow. The Coatbridge club are in their first Scottish Cup quarter-final for 80 years. A club source confirmed James Ward’s players are on a “substantial bonus” to defeat Rangers to reach the last-four stage. The part-timers stand to earn in excess of £150,000 from the tie which is live on Sky TV. The Wee Rovers also plan to refurbish their Cliftonhill stadium from their cup windfall which will see their ground capacity increase to 2500. While Rangers have met at plush five-star hotels before away games the Rovers squad will be ferried to Ibrox from various pick-up points on the team bus. Ward said: “I won’t even put the club to the expense of a pre-match meal. “The team bus will set off from Cliftonhill and we’ll pick up some players on the south side of Glasgow on the way to the game.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/albion-rovers-scottish-cup-heroes-3219404

Lifted from FF: By Grandmaster Suck Updated Friday, 7th March 2014 Official documents reveal Easdale and Laxey have joint security over both the Edmiston House and Albion car par properties. They will be paid back in the first instance from money generated by season ticket sales. The season tickets are effectively mortgaged to the debt. Laxey are charging a higher interest rate than Ticketus did. The details from the Registers of Scotland (land registry) - Security over Edmiston House granted to Sandy Easdale http://freepdfhosting.com/3474a90828.pdf Security over the Albion car park granted to Laxey Partners http://freepdfhosting.com/cef985a572.pdf Ranking agreement between Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners http://freepdfhosting.com/1bfcbe0abb.pdf The Ranking Agreement basically establishes that both have claims over both the car park and Edmiston House. Have a look at the page hand-numbered 19 (its 3 pages down) in the Ranking Agreement - this mentions that the money to Sandy Easdale and Laxey will be repaid in the first instance from season ticket money. Peculiarly, the announcement to the Stock Exchange said the loan would be repaid by 1st September 2014 - http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11872699 - but the Ranking Agreement says 1st September 2015. http://www.followfollow.com/news/tmnw/season_ticket_sales_will_pay_for_easdale_and_laxey_loans_826877/index.shtml

DESMOND, who this week celebrates 20 years with Celtic, said the club's financial position and performance on the field exceeds any other team in Britain. MAJORITY shareholder Dermot Desmond claims Celtic are the best-performing club on and off the pitch in Britain and predicts a “visionary” future on the international arena. Desmond this week celebrates 20 years with Celtic after joining forces with Fergus McCann to help rescue the club from going out of business under an intransigent and unpopular board. Celtic are now arguably in their most stable financial position and Desmond feels the next 20 years can be even brighter. Desmond told Celtic TV: “If you look at the financial metrics between Celtic and other clubs in the UK, our performance, the balance-sheet performance and the performance on the field, I think, exceeds any other club, recognising that we are shackled by lack of revenues we have from TV and other comparable income that Premier League and Championship clubs get. “We have got financial stability, good organisational structures as far as scouting, development squad and coaching go. We have a vision of how we want to keep on improving the playing squad. “If you look at the squads over the past few years, they are getting better and better each year.” The Irishman also hailed Neil Lennon as a “first-class manager” and Peter Lawwell as a “wonderful chief executive, as good as you will find in any football club in the world”. And his main pride over his time with Celtic is the culture. When asked for his highlights, he said: “I have too many to mention. I liked the evening we beat Barcelona and I liked when we did the same with Manchester United. “I like any moment at Celtic Park when we have had victories, especially over teams that wear blue. “Seville (the 2003 UEFA Cup final) was a great highlight but there’s many of them there. “But I think the highlight of the 20 years I have been involved with Celtic is that it’s an independent club with wonderful supporters and we have a great future. “I see the club getting stronger on the playing field. I see the club being visionary in developing internationally. And I see the Celtic fans and the club having a partnership that will be a model for all other football clubs.” Meanwhile, Celtic have arranged a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday, August 2. Celtic Park is unavailable at that time because of the Commonwealth Games. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-majority-shareholder-dermot-desmond-3215293

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/mccoist-to-meet-wallace-to-discuss-summer-signings.23632214

Just as the truth is widely recognised as the first casualty of war, the most striking and predictable consequence of the kind of circumstances in which Rangers have floundered in recent years is almost invariably the proliferation of myths and misapprehensions. Principal among these is the ludicrous notion that the Ibrox club (and their traditional rivals, Celtic, for that matter) warrant being referred to as “a massive institution” whenever their descent into the fiscal void is discussed, as if another General Motors has gone to the wall. This is clearly a preposterous description to apply to an organisation whose latest financial returns show an annual turnover of £19 million. That equates to about three months’ takings for the average-sized Asda supermarket. Hard evidence of the regard in which the market held the new Rangers company which was formed after the liquidation of the old – that is, their status as a business as opposed to a crowd-pulling football team – first emerged with the results of the share issue launched under the former chief executive, Charles Green, in December, 2012. At the time, Green talked of the “huge” interest from “institutional investors”, a claim which was less than convincing, given the recessionary times in which the prospectus was offered. Nor did it seem to make sense for institutional investors – these are hedge funds and the like handling pensions and other monies on behalf of clients – to be risking substantial amounts of cash on a football club, and especially one in Scotland that would be operating in the relative penury of the bottom tier of the game. In the event, these so-called heavy hitters limited their commitment to a total of just £17m, with another £4m worth of shares bought by individual fans. Now the eight most prominent institutional investors (not counting Sandy Easdale, an individual businessman) own equity worth an average of £1.3m. This is a figure that would not cover the annual remuneration of the common-or-garden hedge fund manager. Indeed, as an accountant friend confirmed, it suggests the kind of throwaway “investment” that results from the company involved having been advised it would be tax-efficient, rather than a source of profit. Nor could these reputed heavyweights be accused of an attempt at seizing power at Ibrox, since the biggest among them, Laxey Partners, holds a mere 12.47 per cent of Rangers. Curiously, the company about which there has been so much intrigue over the past year or so – with puzzling, widespread demands for the identities of their personnel to be revealed – appeared only this week to show a pronounced insouciance in the matter of the Ibrox club’s business affairs. Having agreed to lend the club £1m in return for an interest payment of £150,000 as well as security over the Albion car park and Edmiston House in the event of failure to repay the loan, Laxey seemed surprisingly ready to cancel the deal in order to allow an apparently wealthy fan, George Letham, to step in with the funds at a more favourable rate. This hardly seems to be the action of a City predator, interested only in maximising returns for minimum stakes. If anything, it is an episode that hints strongly at the possibility that, whatever priorities and imperatives drive their interest in Rangers (unlike certain individuals such as Green) making a quick killing is not among them. Celtic’s ‘lost’ treble is hardly unprecedented The impish cast to Fergus McCann’s mind would surely have been highly activated by the events of this week. While Celtic fans were remembering and celebrating McCann’s rescue of the club from the financial quicksand and looming oblivion during the most critical days in its history in 1994, there was a simultaneous outbreak of disgruntlement that the team under Neil Lennon at present were only 21 points ahead of the pack on their way to a third successive league championship. For those apparently endowed with the memory of a goldfish, this is clearly just not good enough. The notion that Celtic should stroll virtually unopposed to a domestic treble every season on the nonsensical grounds that their traditionally strongest rivals, Rangers, play in a lower league, is a supposition not 
supported by historical statistics. Some observers refer to Lennon 
“losing” a treble, seemingly unaware that you can’t “lose” one, but simply fail to win one. During the periods of virtually unchallenged domination by each member of the Old Firm, those many occasions on which they fell short of a domestic grand slam were almost inevitably the result of defeats by lesser opponents. Graeme Souness managed five years at Ibrox without winning the Scottish Cup, unforgettably losing to Hamilton at home in 1987. Martin O’Neill contrived to have the most formidable side in the country in 2003 and win nothing as Rangers under Alex McLeish lifted everything. O’Neill took his team to Seville and the Uefa Cup final. He also took them to Inverness and lost in the Scottish Cup, before conceding the championship on goal difference. In one bizarrely contradictory article, Lennon was first of all chastised for his part in two “avoidable” defeats, by Morton in the League Cup and by Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, thereby failing once again to land the treble. A few paragraphs later, however, Lennon was accused of being “ungracious” following his scathing remarks about referee Craig Thomson’s performance in Celtic’s defeat in their latest league match at Pittodrie. It is a perfectly legitimate view, but Lennon was “advised” by the observer that he should simply have accepted that “these things happen” and allowed Aberdeen the credit they deserved. These things certainly do happen – but, apparently, in some quarters 
they are only forgivable if they do no damage. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/glenn-gibbons-big-hitters-see-rangers-as-small-fry-1-3333239

We are delighted to announce that we have managed to secure two of the most well liked Dutchmen to have played for the light blues Tickets £20 and include a bite to eat and are available at http://www.thelouden.co.uk/events.html Doors will open at 7pm for the event with the Q&A scheduled to begin at 8pm. We are really looking forward to the event and hope to see a good number of our fantastic support there! Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis and all ticket sales are final and will be collected on the door on the night. One Rangers… No Factions – http://www.thelouden.co.uk, @TheLoudenTavern We Are The People God Bless The Rangers The Louden Tavern: Ibrox Stadium - More than a Pub Official Partner of The Rangers Football Club *We are responsible for The Louden Tavern: Ibrox Stadium, 111 Copland Road, Ibrox, G51 2SL solely and are not involved in the operation of any other premises

http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/rangers/266490-rangers-shareholder-loan-deal-to-be-repaid-using-season-ticket-money/ A controversial loan taken out by Rangers from two of its shareholders could be paid back using season ticket money, according to an agreement seen by STV. The agreement appears to show that both facilities shall be repaid either from "the sale of season ticket monies for the 2014/15 season" or "a placing or rights issue or other form of debt or equity fundraising of the company or any member of the Rangers Group, whichever is first to occur." Sandy Easdale and Laxey Partners are listed as the lenders, with Rangers International Football Club plc as the borrower and The Rangers Football Club Limited the chargor. After being contacted by STV, Rangers appeared to contradict the document. A spokesman said: "The loans, if drawn, will be repaid from the operating cash flow of the business at the relevant time. Operating cash flow comprises many sources including commercial partnership income, retail dividends and match ticket income." The Laxey loan is for £1m and is repayable with an interest payment of £150,000. The loan from Mr Easdale is for £500,000. Both are secured against club properties Edmiston House and the Albion Car Park, with both lenders security being on an equal footing. STV understands the joint loan facility has not yet been drawn upon by the club. If used, the amounts borrowed must be repaid by September 1, 2015, according to the document. The Laxey loan has attracted controversy due to its interest rate. Another shareholder, George Letham, has offered the same amount with a repayment of £75,000, which he insists he would reinvest in the club. A collective group of Rangers supporters' organisations, the Union of Fans, have also called upon their fellow fans not to pay their season ticket money for the 2014/15 season directly to the club. Instead the group, together with former director Dave King, want monies to be paid into a trust and only given to the club if assurances are given over finances. The Rangers oldco previously took out loans against season ticket money. Ticketus bought the rights to around 100,000 Ibrox season tickets until 2015 when Craig Whyte was in charge at Ibrox.

A Paisley man who shouted sectarian abuse at rival fans following the Aberdeen versus Celtic Scottish Cup fixture was today sentenced at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Jan Reilly (46) was fined £200 and had a two year Football Banning Order imposed for shouting the abuse as he exited Celtic Park after the cup tie on February 8 this year. Speaking following sentencing Stephen Ferguson, Football Liaison Prosecutor for the West of Scotland, said: "Football fans on the way to or from a match should not be subjected to insults and abuse by someone seemingly intent on provoking them. This sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable, brings shame on the game and embarrasses genuine supporters." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/paisley-man-receives-football-banning-order-after-shouting-sectarian-abuse.1394206879 Very vague report!,what team does he support?, I think I can guess!

alex thomson ‏@alextomo 28m Rangers to go into Administration on Wednesday? At least one senior Glasgow accountant is saying so tonight. https://twitter.com/alextomo