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Showing results for tags 'lies'.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30106866
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After 3pm apparently for those on Sky Go or in the house! He's going to be explaining the Ashley loans... Comments: - David Somers claims Dave King consortium investment offer was breaching regulatory requirements so rejected them at 'Stage One'. - Somers claims 8 people were in King consortium but SA businessman refused to provide names and proof of funds. - Somers said that King was prepared to offer up 3 names before giving the rest if agreement made in principle. - Stage Two represented comparing Ashley and Kennedy bids whereby former was approved due to better deal on interest and security - Somers also claims Rangers make a lot of money from existing retail deal with Mike Ashley.
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Grant Russell @STVGrant · 2m 2 minutes ago Rangers football board chairman Sandy Easdale issues a statement through his PR man. "I have grown tired of Mr [Dave] King’s antics." Easdale: "For a bid to be rejected it has to be received first." Grant Russell @STVGrant · 47s 48 seconds ago Easdale: "I can only conclude that Mr King’s phantom bid was designed as vehicle for self-promotion of some kind." https://twitter.com/stvgrant
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A super legend as a player but why is he allowed to still be manager....1 or 2 results could be swept under the carpet but the following shows he isn't the man. Peterhead 2-2 Rangers Berwick 1-1 Rangers Annan 0-0 Rangers Stirling 1-0 Rangers Rangers 1-1 Elgin Rangers 1-1 Montrose Stirling 1-1 Rangers Rangers 1-2 Annan Rangers 0-0 Stirling Montrose 0-0 Rangers Rangers 1-2 Peterhead Rangers 1-1 Stranraer Rangers 3-3 Stenhousemuir Raith 1-0 Rangers (cup final) Forfar 2-1 Rangers Rangers 1-1 Albion Rangers 1-3 Dundee Utd Brora Rangers 1-1 Rangers Ventura Fusion County (no laughing at the back please) 3-1 Rangers Rangers 1-2 Hearts Alloa 1-1 Rangers Rangers 1-3 Hibs Rangers 1-1 Alloa
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I don't always agree with the UoF but this statement is well worth sharing.
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What was/is their motivation for getting involved in Rangers? I've heard/read alsorts, such as they were 'sucked in' by Green and probably now wish they didn't get involved, or they were identified by Green to be his group's front after he made his supposed exit, or they were hoping to have sold up and been out with a good profit by now, or wanting some level of respectability that a Rangers director brings (or at least used too, what with the procession of chancers we've had lately), or even they are genuine Bears who want what's best for the club................ Interested in hearing opinions on why they got involved.
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I don't use twitter but facebook in particular is hard going. It's not just the fact that the views are so ignorant and misguided (eg one of the main pages has everyone discussing who will be signed with Ashley's 10m ), but the level of intelligence seems very low. People write in illegible English and generally do not represent our support well. Does this say something about our support or is it the platform? There's not a single person here who is incapable of conversing in legible English but on our fan facebook pages you are hard pushed to find anyone making well constructed arguments.
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Delighted by that... not. http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12133485.html PS: Apparently this is to oversee the appointment process of our new CEO. No laughing at the back.
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Apparently voting is now open for your favoured candidate in each section's short leet. I'm not a member myself but I'm sure someone can post the full list here if possible. http://fansboard.rangers.co.uk/
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THE WAR is over. The retailer has won. This morning Graham Wallace will be fired from his position as Rangers chief executive and this crisis-ravaged club will belong lock, stock and smoking barrel to Mike Ashley. Quite what Ashley has planned for it is still a matter of conjecture but the ruthless manner in which he went about last week’s power grab certainly suggests he wants it badly and also sees a way to make a killing by rolling his tanks into Glasgow. He now has security over two of the club’s major assets, the Albion car park and Edmiston House, and when his placemen arrive in the boardroom this week he’ll have grabbed this club firmly by the throat. As with everything Rangers, Ashley’s arrival on the scene will be spun in a variety of ways. The dark arts were evidenced over the weekend when it was leaked that, without his intervention, this basketcase would have gone bust within 48 hours. There were even muffled whispers from the shadowy sidelines Ashley had in fact ‘saved the club’ but the very notion the Newcastle United chairman had ridden to Rangers rescue in some sort of philanthropic or heroic act is completely absurd. In many ways, what actually went on amid increasingly frantic discussions on Thursday and Friday was a throwback to May 2011 when Sir David Murray invited Craig Whyte to trigger this omnishambles and set in action the catastrophic chain of events that has now led to Ashley’s increased involvement. That deal was a great bit of business for Whyte and for Lloyds Bank in particular – the £18million they recouped from the sale remains the outstanding trade of the last three and a half chaotic years – but it was a spectacularly awful one for the Ibrox club. Similarly, by taking control of Rangers for the price of a £2m loan, every penny of which will be paid back, Ashley has pulled off a serious coup in more ways than one. This is why he is known as the biggest beast in the jungle but even the Newcastle owner must be laughing up the sleeve of his safari suit at the way in which he managed to pull this one off. It was typically bold and eye poppingly aggressive and it included issuing the remnants of the Rangers board with threats of legal action both collectively and individually, should they turn him down in favour of a £3m loan from Brian Kennedy. Each of these directors was warned of potentially devastating repercussions should Ashley not get his way and as a result Rangers is his now to do with as he wishes. And all for less than the cost of a Sports Direct poly bag. It was an extraordinary stunt and it’s no wonder Sale Sharks owner Kennedy left Glasgow on Saturday still unsure as to how on earth the dysfunctional Rangers board – a collection of directors who have run the business into the ground – could allow it to happen in spite of his impassioned pleas. The farce began with the rejection of Dave King’s £16m bailout offer by the mysterious bloc of shareholders whose 26 per cent voting rights are represented by Sandy Easdale. On Thursday CEO Wallace, who knew his £300,000-a-year neck was now well and truly on the line, reached out to Kennedy and pleaded with him to make a counter offer. Kennedy worked through the night with his legal team to come up with his £3m offer, dependent only on him being allowed to place one man on the current board. He flew to Glasgow at lunchtime on Friday in the hope of getting the deal done. Kennedy was wasting his jet fuel. Not one of these directors was even at Ibrox on the day it was determined Ashley should be handed the keys. The fact all these discussions were held via conference call, underlines how little feel for the club these men have. Wallace headed for a beach in Greece despite being urged by at least two key protagonists to postpone his holiday for 24 hours. Finance director Philip Nash went one better by resigning and washing his hands of the entire Ashley v Kennedy showdown. That Nash threw in the towel is an indication he suspected the game was up and that another director, Laxey’s lackey Norman Crighton, had jumped camps at the last minute. Crighton had voiced his concern at Ashley’s move and had even said the Cockney must be stopped ‘at all costs’ but he performed a 180-degree turn at the last minute to leave Kennedy’s proposal in tatters. Chairman David Somers is another who may have cause to be persecuted by his own conscience. At least Nash had the principle to resign from his £1,000-a-day post. While Wallace was clinging on for dear life for his pay-off, Nash wanted no part of it and this included telling Ashley’s people he was unwilling to work for their man in the event he was successful. Having previously called for the removal of Nash and Walllace, Ashley had a change of heart. It’s understood he wanted Nash on board after crediting him with making £5m worth of cuts since February. One of those cuts was to a contract worth in excess of £100,000-a-year to Ashley’s own PR firm Keith Bishop Associates. This agreement was done as part of the £1 stadium naming rights deal Ashley agreed with Charles Green and which was signed off by Imran Ahmad – who then sued Rangers for £300,000 in bonuses for all of his good work. Deals like these are precisely why Rangers should brace itself for the full impact of Ashley’s arrival. He already pockets 49 per cent of all income from merchandise sales but may think this arrangement can be tweaked and improved in his favour. With two of his men on the board, a compliant chairman and confirmed allies in James Easdale and Crighton, he can do pretty much as he pleases. The only comfort in any of this for the Rangers supporters is to be found in the depth of Ashley’s pockets. He will not allow this club to go under, that much is certain. But from here on in Rangers will be run his way and for his benefit. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-mike-ashleys-rangers-4515761
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Rumours from media on Twitter: Andy Devlin @AndyDev28 51s51 seconds ago BREAKING: Sandy Easdale due at Ibrox shortly for crunch talks with Ally McCoist. The Rangers boss could be hours from the sack. -
By Chris McLaughlin & Richard Wilson BBC Scotland Rangers were 48 hours from going into administration until a £2m loan was agreed with Mike Ashley, according to one senior Ibrox source. Prospective administrators had been contacted by the Ibrox club. Newcastle owner Ashley put forward a financial package, which includes the option of a new share issue, on Friday and it was agreed on Saturday morning. And, as part of the agreement, chief executive Graham Wallace will follow director Philip Nash in stepping down. The arrangement could be finalised early next week. English businessman Ashley, who owns 8.29% of the Glasgow club's shares, had called for the removal of Nash and Wallace as part of his offer. Under Scottish FA agreement Ashley is not allowed boardroom influence or a shareholding of more than 10%. But his possible underwriting of a share issue could take his stake above that threshold if there is not enough buy-in from other investors. An alternative option could be further loans. The SFA plan to write Rangers next week seeking clarification on the loan agreement with Ashley. Rangers need a financial injection to cover wages beyond November and Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy became a surprise latecomer in the battle for control with a funding package offer of his own. In response to the news that Ashley's offer had been accepted by the board, Kennedy said he was "disappointed for Rangers" but would not be commenting further. Former director Dave King had also offered fresh funding to Rangers but could not agree a deal following talks with key shareholder Sandy Easdale and the board. Before returning to his South African business base on Thursday, King issued a statement saying that his group's offer remained on the table and that he was hopeful it would be accepted. Ashley, who already has control of Rangers' shirt sales and retail division and owns the naming rights for Ibrox Stadium, refused to back King's proposal. Sandy Easdale, who controls a 26% block of shares, also declined to agree to King's proposals. While Ashley is demanding two representatives on the board, King also wanted to choose its chairman. Nash, the former Arsenal and Liverpool executive, had been employed as a financial consultant by Rangers before joining the board in July. Wallace, currently on a family holiday in Greece, and Nash had been supportive of the bid by King's group, which includes fellow Scottish businessmen George Letham and Paul Murray. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29761396
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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...-call-4457552? ALLY McCOIST has backed Rangers’ move to call off last week’s league clash at Cowdenbeath – and says they will do it again. The SPFL turned down a bid from the Fifers to get it back on after the Ibrox men had it put back due to international call-ups. McCoist said: “Why would I want to play the game now when I can play it later with a full squad? It just doesn’t make sense. “If you have four or five players on international duty, logic would tell you they will be some of your better players. “I’ve got to look after the interests of my club. If we played without four players and lost, I’m not sure there would be much sympathy. Having called games off in the past, it would also be unfair on other teams. If we play Dumbarton when there is an international and have four players out, is that then fair on Cowdenbeath where we called the game off? “So we have to show fairness to everyone but the most important thing is that we have to look after our own corner.” @@@@ I can't think of more than one who would have been missing. And now, scared as we are to face Cowdenbeath, we'll drop points later in the season or go out of cups because we'll be playing three games week with players who train so little they are exhausted after 70 minutes far less 270.
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Here's the latest offering from oor Bill....
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http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7812-notice-under-section-303-of-the-companies-act-2006
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A LIFE-LONG Rangers fan today vowed to restore the grave of legendary manager Bill Struth. The boss was at the club's helm for more than 30 years, from 1920. Struth died, aged 83, in 1956, and was buried in a Glasgow cemetery, less than a mile from Ibrox. Today the Evening Times reveals how the grave of the club legend faces ruin and neglect. The final resting place of the most decorated manager in British football history lies crumbling in a forgotten corner of the cemetery. Now, Craig Houston, who instigated the supporters' group Sons of Struth, is spearheading a campaign to restore and maintain the legendary Light Blues manager's headstone. As he stood at Struth's memorial in Craigton, on the South Side of Glasgow, Craig said: "Bill was the most important man in the history of Rangers Football Club. "I have a phenomenal amount of respect for the man and it really saddens me to see his grave fallen into disrepair. "He did so much for Rangers, now we want to give something back and repair his grave." The high regard Struth is held in by Rangers fans is not just because of the success he enjoyed during his 33-year period as manager. With 73 *trophies to his name, Struth is the most decorated manager in British football history, despite retiring back in 1954. But his level of standards are the ones Rangers have prided themselves on throughout their 140 years of history. Since Struth every Rangers manager, from Graeme Souness to Walter Smith, have strived to be at his level. Craig said: "Bill Struth is a legendary figure at Rangers, that's how we arrived at the name The Sons of Struth for our group. "I didn't even know where his grave was, but when I went to see it and realised it had fallen into disrepair, I felt really strongly about it. "I knew something needed to be done." One-time stonemason Struth helped to carve the future of the Ibrox club in the first half of the last century. He was known as a strict disciplinarian, and the high standards Struth demanded helped to ensure Rangers became the most successful league club in Scotland and the world. Craig now wants the ideals Struth instilled in those around him to live on -especially at his grave. He said: "It is a privilege to be given permission from the Struth family to carry out repairs. "I want to make Struth's grave somewhere all Rangers fans can go to visit. "I want them to feel the emotion I did, standing at his grave." To donate to the fund, visit http://www.facebook.com/SonsOfStruth http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/fan-begins-bid-to-restore-grave-of-rangers-legend-184328n.25551395
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...and turn down Cowdenbeath's bid to get league match back on the fixture list. THE Blue Brazil had argued that the criteria for the postponement had changed - with Rangers missing just TWO players due to international call-ups. THE SPFL have rejected a final bid by Cowdenbeath to get their postponed Championship clash with Rangers back on. The match had been scheduled for Saturday because Ibrox players – Marius Zaliukas, Bilel Mohsni and Dean Shiels – have been selected for international duty. But Cowden say the criteria for the call-off has now changed because of a two-match ban given to Mohsni that would have ruled him out of the weekend game. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/spfl-back-rangers-postponement-plea-4387751?
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RANGERS today demanded an apology from Livingston over "outrageous and unacceptable" content in their match programme at the weekend. And the Ibrox club will also report their SPFL Championship rivals to the governing body over the "erroneous material". Gers supporters were incensed at two articles which appeared in the programme at the Energy Assets Arena. One story referred to "the club then known as Rangers" playing a game against Hibernian three years ago. It went on to state that "a brand new club" had been established after the old parent company was liquidated back in 2012. Another story in the Livingston programme mentioned the West Lothian club's record against the "now-defunct outfit" and "the newly-formed Rangers". However, High Court judge Lord Nimmo Smith ruled that Rangers was a "recognisable entity which continued in existence notwithstanding the change in ownership" two years ago. Livingston officials are believed to be horrified by the comments that appeared in the official publication which is edited by supporter Andy Crawford. However, Rangers still want their rivals, who they defeated 1-0 at the weekend, to apologise over the offence caused to the 54-times Scottish champions. A club statement read: "The content written about the football club and our players was outrageous and entirely unacceptable. "We will be raising the issue with the SPFL and seeking an apology from Livingston FC, who had a duty to prevent such erroneous material from appearing in their programme." Meanwhile, Rangers are set to escape any sanction from the SPFL over the crowd trouble that flared in the stands and outside the stadium in Livingston on Saturday. However, the League One champions are set to issue anyone who is convicted following the unrest at the weekend with banning orders from their matches. There were violent scuffles between Gers fans and police and stewards in one section of the stands during the first half of the second-tier game. Livingston safety officer Alan Scott confirmed: "There were five people arrested. The stewards and police assisted each other in dealing with the matter and no police or stewards were injured." And after the match mounted police reportedly had to break up an altercation between Rangers and Livingston supporters in the car park of nearby supermarket Lidl. The incidents are set to be mentioned in the official report to the SPFL by match delegate Alan Dick that should arrive at the Hampden offices of the governing body tomorrow. However, Rangers are confident their preparations for the match were professional and in accordance with strict guidelines laid down by the SPFL. They should, therefore, escape any official censure. After the match, Rangers manager Ally McCoist commented: "I did see it and it looked pretty unsavoury, but until I get a report on it I would be loath to comment other than to say we can do without incidents like that." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangers-demand-apology-over-livi-programme-article-183240n.25506990
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Not that we're interested or anything.
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RFC Good to see that some of our "more vocal" fans is helping the Rangers Family along.
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Rangers fans group Sons of Struth threaten boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct shops Ashley has been targeted after purchasing the naming rights to Ibrox for £1. The threat of a boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct retail group along with the business interests of other Rangers directors has been made by dissident fans’ group, the Sons of Struth, following a ballot of supporters. The group, named after Rangers’ longest serving manager, Bill Struth, staged a demonstration behind the directors’ box at Ibrox during the team’s recent meeting with Inverness in the Scottish Communities League Cup, but have now raised the possibility of direct action against McGills Buses, a transport group owned by the Rangers football board chairman, Sandy Easdale, and his brother James, who serves on the plc board. Ashley has been targeted because Sandy Easdale recently revealed that the naming rights to Ibrox had been sold to the Newcastle United owner for £1. Easdale himself has been the subject of condemnation from the Rangers support - whose boycott of season tickets has reduced the club’s income from that source by half - because he has been seen in the company of Rafat Rizvi, who was sentenced to 15 years in absentia when convicted of fraud in an Indonesian court. Rizvi, a UK citizen, is the subject of an Interpol international arrest warrant but cannot be extradited because the UK has no treaty with Indonesia. He was pictured recently in Glasgow along with Easdale and Malyasian businessman, Datuk Faizoull Bin Ahmad, who was named as a potential investor in the troubled club, although he subsequently denied any intent to take a stake or any knowledge of Rizvi. The Sons of Struth issued a statement detailing the results of their poll, which did not specify how many fans’ opinions had been sampled, although it is thought that they have around 3000 members. The statement read: "Due to recent events, such as Sandy Easdale's meeting with convicted fraudster Rafat Rizvi, his broken promises of having investors lined up and the selling of our stadium’s naming rights to Mike Ashley for £1.00, Sons of Struth have received an increased level of calls for tougher action against the board, Sports Direct and, Easdale-owned McGills Buses. “Recent polling of our members resulted in 99.35% calling for the removal of Sandy Easdale as a Rangers director and 97.19% wishing Mike Ashley to cancel his 7 year contract for the naming rights to Ibrox, 92.87% want to boycott McGills buses and 87.47% want to boycott Sports Direct in attempt to achieve the removal of Sandy Easdale and cancellation of Mike Ashley's naming rights agreement. “89.64% of those polled want to see some sort of boycott at matches with an aim of removing Sandy Easdale. The general feeling amongst our members is that he lies to fans and shows no respect to his position through his close association with Jack Irvine and his meeting with a man on Interpol's most wanted list. His words and actions are disrespectful to the position he holds as a director of Rangers Football Club. “Our firm belief is that Sandy Easdale is an obstacle to future outside investment and, despite his recent outlandish claims that the fans' actions may put the club's future in danger, we firmly believe that after 100,000 season ticket sales in three seasons the blame for the clubs perilous financial position lies squarely in the boardroom. “The club operate a "football board" which is viewed in the eyes of the fans as nothing more than a vehicle to allow Sandy Easdale a directorship as he may not be eligible for a seat on the PLC board. Does this "football board" have any other purpose? “We shall release our intentions for further protests and boycott action in the very near future and in the meantime would encourage the board to immediately remove Sandy Easdale if they wish to avoid this. “Sandy Easdale has been heard in the past to claim that if the Rangers support do not want him at Ibrox he would leave. We would ask him to take the hint and go before his association with our club causes more damage. “Sons of Struth also call on Mike Ashley to cancel his naming rights contract before the 11th of October. If he still retains the naming rights after this point we will instigate an immediate series of actions aimed at his Sports Direct stores. “We would ask all Rangers supporters in the meantime to use discretion when deciding to give either Sports Direct or McGills Buses their custom. We will hold a public meeting of Rangers fans in October at at a venue to be announced." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11131196/Rangers-fans-group-Sons-of-Struth-threaten-boycott-of-Mike-Ashleys-Sports-Direct-shops.html -
It’s been quite an exercise in the art of survival. A board who have misled shareholders at AGM, hidden the identity of investors, stand accused by a section of the press of lying over the withdrawal of credit/debit card facilities for season tickets, who, in their “comprehensive” 120 day review hid/omitted to divulge details of “the sale of the century” regarding stadium naming rights, have failed to answer satisfactorily structured questions from fans groups pertaining to the long term plans for the club, who have by unethical and unedifying association with known fugitives embarrassed the name of the club, the aforesaid which sees them, again, accused of misleading supporters regarding the nature of that meeting, have found in the last few days that there is one aspect of the club that even the most resourceful or duplicitous cannot hide from the fans – the state of the product on the park. There is even perhaps a warped sense of irony, that in the battle for our football club the ammunition or language is no longer anonymous investors, percentages or proxied shares but rather tactical ineptitude, poor performance, ill-discipline and unexplainable team selection. The current board cannot on this occasion use the convenient “get out clause” of laying the blame on previous regimes – this time it’s their call, and as thousands of bears demonstrated on Monday night as our team capitulated to Hibs, they will be held to account. In fact they already have been by thousands, the empty seats providing ample supporting evidence on that one. I fear it will get worse, much worse before it gets better. There is nowhere, nowhere the board can hide from this one. Monday night was a culmination rather than a knee jerk, perhaps the saddest aspect of it all was that it came as no great surprise to anyone. The failings of management, signing policy, tactics and team selection have been the subject of message board forums, supporter’s bus conversations and pre-match blethers for months. It is not a time for emotive and unhelpful descriptive language, either positive or negative regarding Ally, but rather a regrettable acceptance and emotion free analysis that in the most important area – on the park – Ally is not capable of taking us to where we not only want, but also need to be. There was a moment on Monday night when the cacophony of anger from the Copland Road, directed towards Ally, saw him withdraw to the dugout. It was notable that Durranty was tasked with the verbal coaching from the touchline second half. The board should be thankful there was such a volume of noise, if they prevaricate any longer over what needs to be done, then perhaps next time we fail, it will be akin to the tree falling in the empty forest – there will only be an empty silence from the empty stands.
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Wednesday 1 October 2014 IS ALLY McCOIST'S POSITION UNTENABLE? No, not yet, but we appear to be trundling progressively closer to that state of affairs. Six points behind in the SPFL Championship is a surprising position for him to be in after seven fixtures and the situation is worsened by the fact his side have already lost at home to both Hearts and Hibernian, generally regarded as their two main rivals for promotion. The question is: how far behind must they fall before something dramatic has to happen? Eight points? Nine points? What will tip things over the edge? Will it be defeat at Tynecastle on November 22, or the latest in a long line of losses in knockout competition when St Johnstone pay a visit to Ibrox in the League Cup? So far, McCoist's players have done just enough to keep him away from the noose. They scraped an ill-deserved win at Falkirk thanks to a late, deflected mis-hit from Lewis Macleod in their second league match of the campaign and beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle to maintain interest in the League Cup was a big result. The team showed promise when winning 4-0 at Raith Rovers, but that has been shown to be a one-off and belief that McCoist can turn them into a side capable of providing entertaining football every week is dwindling. Supporters are not yet calling in significant numbers for McCoist's resignation or removal, but performances are nowhere near the standards expected. A number of bookmakers have already installed Hearts as favourites for the Championship and that is only sensible on current form. McCoist did agree a pay-cut, understood to amount to 50%, on the £825,000-a-year wage he enjoyed until January 2014, but his earnings are going to continue to prompt questions when his team plays as it did in the process of losing 3-1 at home to Hibernian. Open revolt in the stands, if it happens, would force the issue. SHOULD HE CONSIDER WALKING AWAY IF THINGS DO NOT IMPROVE? Tough one. Would you walk away for less than to what you are entitled when you had witnessed a number of others from the boardroom - all accountable, in part, for almost £70m being squandered in two years - receive pay-offs? HOW MUCH OF THIS CAN BE BLAMED ON THE ONGOING UNCERTAINTY CREATED BY THOSE ABOVE HIM AT BOARDROOM LEVEL? None of it. The players state ad infinitum, after all, that they do not focus on financial concerns. McCoist knows the pressures at Ibrox. Whatever is going on in the background, asking Rangers to set the pace in the Championship with a budget that dwarves anything available to other clubs in the division is not unreasonable. The money being spent on Rangers' football department means they should beat everyone in the game other than Celtic. IS SPECULATION OVER McCOIST'S FUTURE NOT A KNEE-JERK REACTION AT AN EARLY STAGE IN THE SEASON? Not really. Rangers fans have, generally, been scathing over the standard of football they have watched for the last 2½ seasons. The team did win the Third Division and then SPFL League 1 by a street, but they regularly struggled to dispatch teams of part-timers. McCoist's record in cup competitions cannot be allowed to pass either. Rangers did not, whatever he may say, spend the money they did purely to win Scotland's bottom two divisions. If they did, they spent way over the odds. Losses to top-flight sides such as Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee United were dressed up as understandable and acceptable; questions over Rangers having a Premiership wage bill were glossed over. Defeats in the Ramsdens Cup to Queen of the South and Raith Rovers, who humiliated them in the final at Easter Road, were shameful in the extreme. WHAT WILL HAPPEN, THEN, SHOULD RANGERS FAIL TO WIN AT LIVINGSTON ON SATURDAY? McCoist will have to answer questions on whether or not he believes his time is up. ARE THE GROWING QUESTIONS OVER HIS TACTICAL APPROACH FAIR? Yes. Too many games have resulted in an over-reliance on long balls and there is a distinct lack of variation about the play. His team selections continue to raise eyebrows as well with players continually being played out of position. The side has been letting in goals too easily, but Darren McGregor, a centre-half, continues to be fielded at right-back while Bilel Mohsni remains a starter. McGregor admitted in the match programme for the Hibernian game that he had only played on the right "a couple of times with St Mirren". Wouldn't Richard Foster be a better bet there with McGregor in the middle? Lewis Macleod is a central midfielder who was being used on the left before injury. Rather than use attacking players with pace in the wide midfield positions against Hibernian, McCoist used Steven Smith, a full-back, and Arnold Peralta, a central midfielder. So much emphasis seems to be placed on sending Lee Wallace powering down the left flank, but Rangers are not getting behind opposition defences often enough and that is contributing to Kris Boyd's clear problems. He is a natural predator, but has failed to score in the league and has only hit the net in two of 12 appearances. There have to be greater signs of an established style of playing at Rangers. Regular supporters also note the absence of a Plan B. BOYD SCORED 22 TIMES FOR A POOR KILMARNOCK TEAM IN THE PREMIERSHIP LAST SEASON. WHY HAVE THE GOALS DRIED UP? He missed a number of chances at Raith Rovers and Alloa and looks a shadow of his former self, but he is not receiving adequate service. Rangers have lacked invention, variation and creativity. Boyd admits that he has been forced to feed off scraps at times. WHY HAVE SO MANY ESTABLISHED TOP-FLIGHT PLAYERS STRUGGLED AT RANGERS? Great question. Dean Shiels, Ian Black and Nicky Law all arrived in great form. David Templeton had just scored for Hearts against Liverpool at Anfield in the Europa League qualifiers. Marius Zaliukas, signed this summer, is not even deemed worthy of a start in a defence leaking goals left, right and centre. All these players are going backwards. Are they simply incapable of handling life in the goldfish bowl or are their collective troubles a reflection of wider failings within the team as a whole? Probably a bit of both. WILL THINGS CHANGE WHEN KENNY MILLER IS FIT AGAIN? Will Kenny Miller be fully fit again? He is three months from his 35th birthday. His career has been built on relentless workrate and selfless running. That catches up with you eventually. We are a month into the season and he has already been laid up with hamstring and calf problems. A NUMBER OF OLDER PLAYERS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN AND REMAIN. SHOULDN'T RANGERS HAVE USED THEIR TIME IN THE LOWER LEAGUES TO CONSTRUCT A STRATEGY BASED ON YOUTH? Of course they should. Jon Daly, for example, admitted earlier this week that he can no longer train two days in a row because of knee trouble. McCoist is not entirely to blame for the way Rangers have frittered away their millions, but they missed a trick. Two years in the bottom divisions could have been used to build a young, fit squad that could grow together. If those in the existing youth set-up were not good enough, a more structured, long-term and cost-effective transfer policy could have been employed. Instead, Charles Green was struggling to sell season tickets following his takeover and permitted McCoist to lure established top-flight players to the club. He needed quick results and could be understood in having gone for a quick fix. In the meantime, Rangers' footballing department was allowed to continue without a recognised scouting network. Rangers' development squad, for the record, currently sits close to the bottom of the SPFL Development League with three points from four games. EVEN IF HEARTS DO WIN THE LEAGUE, WON'T RANGERS STILL ACHIEVE THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF GETTING BACK TO THE SPFL PREMIERSHIP THROUGH THE PLAY-OFFS? Let's just say that anyone who has watched Rangers' two meetings with Hibernian so far would be reluctant to place money on that. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/...=email%2Balert
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Reading twitter and lots of bears are hoping or expecting the filth in the next round. So, what about Gersnetters? Timmy or a home draw to a so called lesser side to the tims? I'd love a spot of 'battle fever' but I'm not sure we'd get lucky and be drawn at home. Other big concern is some of our players being able to handle the atmosphere against them. Thoughts?
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...that is the question facing Sons of Struth members as Rangers woes continue The Sons of Struth protest group this week polled its 1,500 members over whether to stage a boycott of Rangers. The controversial move has divided opinion among followers of the Ibrox club. Many believe it is the only way to achieve change at the troubled Glasgow instutition. Others are of the opinion that it will do further damage to a club facing serious financial problems. Matthew Lindsay of SportTimes spoke to Craig Houston of SoS and asked him about their plans... ST: Why are you polling your members about a potential boycott of Rangers? CH: It's quite simple. In the year the Sons of Struth have been in existence, a lot of people have asked us: "Do you want to boycott?" But we have always been of the opinion that it is a big ask to say to a fan they can or cannot go to watch their team. So we haven't spoken about it in any great detail. But over the last two weeks that has changed with the stories about Rafat Rizvi and the stadium naming rights being sold to Mike Ashley for just £1 coming out. The number of people who are asking us, both online and in person, if we would have a boycott, has multiplied. More and more folk have been raising the issue. There are a lot of angry Bears out there. In the last few weeks we have set up a Sons of Struth membership scheme and we now have over 1,500 members. With the feedback we have been receiving, we thought it was fair and democratic to ask our members their views. We have not told anybody to boycott. We are simply asking their views on it. But, unlike the club, we will listen to what they have to say. ST: What are you asking Sons of Struth members? CH: We are asking them three things. Do they think there should be no boycott? Do they think there should be a one-game boycott? Or do they think there should be a boycott for the rest of the season until change is made? We have also asked them about the prospect of boycotting Sports Direct and McGill's Buses. ST: What change would you like to see? CH: We believe if Sandy Easdale leaves Rangers Football Club we would be better placed to attract investment. In an ideal world we would like the entire board to change. But in reality that is not going to happen. It is a big ask to get rid of every director in one fell swoop. We are aware of people who are willing to invest money in the club. We believe the only people stopping them from doing so are Sandy Easdale and those investors whose proxy votes he holds. ST: But Sandy Easdale lent Rangers £500,000 last year to keep them afloat. And he hasn't called in the debt. Where would the Ibrox club be now without him? CH: Probably in exactly the same situation. I am quite sure if he wasn't involved that somebody else would have put up the money. Certainly, he isn't the first director to do so since we went into administration. One ex-director put his own money in to pay the electricity bills when we were waiting for funding to come through. It is not a new thing. But Sandy Easdale is the first person to have loaned Rangers money at a time of need who has required security on his loan. ST: Why are you targeting Sports Direct? CH: Mike Ashley took a deal that any businessman who does not care about Rangers Football Club would have taken. But we do not want Ibrox to be renamed - for a pound or any other sum of money. Ashley could exercise his right to name the stadium the Sports Direct Arena or he could sell the rights to another company in the years ahead. Rather than wait until that happens we will, if it is the wish of our members, be proactive. We will hit him in the pocket. We will give him £2 if he makes the agreement disappear. He will double his money. ST: You have just over 1,500 members. But the Rangers support is hundreds of thousands strong. Who cares what you think? CH: Nobody in the boardroom, anyway! Seriously, though, if you put all of the Rangers supporters' groups together they would still be in a minority. The vast majority of fans are not part of any official organisation. But the Sons of Struth have members who are different types of people and who are different types of personality. So they represent a broad cross section of the Rangers support. If the majority of them want to take action and boycott I think it is fair to presume the majority of supporters want to. When the Sons of Struth was just two people strong we still managed to get over 30,000 people to take part in red and blue card displays at Ibrox. If the consensus among our members is to boycott then we will put it out to the wider fan base. ST: So if you do decide to stage a boycott what exactly will you do? CH: You are putting the cart before the horse there. Our members might come back and say we shouldn't take any action. But it would be foolish to think we have not discussed what to do in the event that the majority of our members back a boycott. We have a few ideas kicking about. ST: Ally McCoist has stated his Rangers team will perform better with a full support behind them. Aren't you concerned a boycott will harm the side on the park? CH: Unlike a lot of Rangers supporters, I was at the League Cup game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Ibrox on Tuesday night. There were just over 15,000 in the stadium. So it was at a third of its total capacity. But that didn't seem to affect the players too much. I certainly respect Ally McCoist's view. It would be far better to have a full stadium behind his side. But I don't think fans boycotting games will impact upon the players too much, if at all. ST: Rangers are in a precarious position financially. Won't a boycott do further damage to a club you say you love? CH: If we do decide on a boycott it would not surprise me the club said investors had been put off getting involved due to the actions of the fans. But we have been told that investment is lined up by two separate directors in the last year and we only started talking a boycott in the last couple of weeks. Everything gets blamed on the fans. It is scandalous for anybody to suggest the actions of Rangers fans are detrimental to the club. In the last two years we have filled stadiums week in, week out. We have bought approximately 100,000 season tickets. To suggest we have put the club in peril is laughable. Certain people within the club should have a long, hard look at themselves for suggesting that and questioning the loyalty of fans. If our members feel a boycott is the best course of action to take then it will send a message to the board. It will underline they are not happy with the conduct of a certain individual at the club or with the naming rights to the stadium being sold for £1. We will talk to them in pounds, shillings and pence. Hopefully, they will then take action. ST: What has the reaction to a potential boycott been so far? CH: It has been a mixed bag. A lot of Rangers fans are already boycotting Ibrox of their own freewill. You only have to look at attendances to see that. They are the "not a penny more" camp. They made the decision we are asking our members to consider now before this season kicked off. Others have not gone to games for two or even three years. They want more people to take their stance. They are telling us: "Great. We hope you do this." But some Rangers fans want to go and see their team regardless of who is running the club and what is going on. No matter what the result of our survey is, I would not dictate to any Rangers fan not to go to a game. ST: Why don't you protest in a way that won't damage the club or the team? CH: If somebody can tell me of a protest that is guaranteed to work we will do it. No matter how crazy or bizarre. We have staged marches, have put postcards addressed to the chief executive through the door of Ibrox, have had John Brown hand in an online petition, have held red card protests and blue card protests. If somebody can suggest something else we can do that will have positive results then we will do that. When you go to a game as a football fan you are entitled to air your view. If the right-back has a shocker and scores an own goal then you can have a pop at him. I reserve the right to criticise the board if I think they are not having a good game. Many people feel that giving more money to Rangers just now is akin to giving an alcoholic you love a bottle of gin. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/to-boycott-or-not-to-boycottthat-is-the-question-facing-sons-of-struth-180991n.25356637
