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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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RECORD Sport asks eight key questions about the Sports Direct Tycoon and attempts to discover the reasons behind his bid for power at Rangers. AS the power struggle within the Ibrox boardroom intensifies it would appear “Iron” Mike Ashley is spoiling for a fight. The Sports Direct tycoon last week launched a dramatic bid to remove chief executive Graham Wallace by calling an extraordinary general meeting. If Ashley succeeds in ousting Wallace and director Philip Nash it could deal a knockout blow to Dave King’s hopes of assuming control. King is preparing a £16million rescue plan along with Paul Murray and George Letham – which has the backing of finance expert Nash and the CEO. However, Ashley has increased his shareholding to 8.9 per cent, sparking rumours he’s preparing to sell Newcastle and plough some of the cash into purchasing Rangers. And if he secures enough support to remove Wallace and Nash it would almost certainly kill off any hope of King pumping money into the ailing club. The outcome of the scrap could go a long way to deciding the future of Rangers although it is abundantly clear the supporters would much prefer the South Africa-based businessman to the secretive Ashley. The billionaire Londoner is a loathed figure at Newcastle and has already had several run-ins with the Toon Army. A reluctance for making public statements only serves to increase the sense of mystery surrounding Ashley and his interest in Rangers. A hugely controversial yet influential figure, the Newcastle owner already has the naming rights over Ibrox and is reported to want control of the club crest in exchange for an emergency loan. But just who is Mike Ashley and what are his motives in football? Does he deserve the hatred he gets from some Newcastle fans and should Rangers fear his bid for power? Is he a ruthless tycoon who tramples on tradition and ambition? Or is he a sharp businessman whose challenge to the status quo, and ability to put up his own hard cash rather than borrowed money, should be welcomed? Here Record Sport asks eight key questions and attempts to discover the reasons behind his intervention: Q: Who is the real Ashley? Colleagues describe him as gregarious, enthusiastic, passionate, ruthless. Always ready to challenge the perceived wisdom and act on instinct. Loyal to those who show him loyalty. Socially he’s personable, far from being the introvert people think. Those who have crossed him are less flattering in their assessment. His business practice is to aggressively pursue opponents until he’s won the battle, leaving losers in his wake. Q: Why is he in the football business? Surely it isn’t worth the flak? Initially he claimed to be a Newcastle fan – a colleague says Chelsea and England were his teams – who wanted to “have some fun and win trophies”. But in reality he is a football speculator who has worked out the game is the perfect platform to promote Sports Direct’s global ambitions. There are more than 130 Sports Direct signs around St James’ Park – and they don’t pay for the ads. Sports Direct also made £3.4m by taking over Newcastle’s commercial sportswear business. Q: But no football club owner makes money, do they? With TV cash rolling in, a policy of selling the best players at a huge killing, and tight financial controls, he has made Newcastle one of the most profitable clubs in Europe, making £9m last year. Flush with cash from floating Sports Direct, he bought Newcastle seven years ago for a cheap-looking £133m, and has loaned £129m of his fortune to settle inherited debts and keep the club running after relegation in 2009. Q: Attempts to sell Newcastle have failed and now he is snapping up nine per cent of Rangers. Surely this comes at a price to the club? Renaming St James’ Park the Sports Direct Arena to “showcase” it for future sponsors, and bringing in pay-day lenders Wonga as shirt sponsors, show cash wins over sentiment, tradition or business morals. Ashley has also ordered Newcastle to put survival in the league over cup glory, which the club argue risks relegation. That has infuriated supporters. The Magpies owner made this public through a fans’ forum because he wanted the message out with no PR flannel, typical of his brazen, controversy-courting decisions. “Mike makes decisions from his gut instinct,” says a close business pal. “It is hard to argue because he has built up a huge empire.” Q: Has Ashley actually done any good at Newcastle? Most fans will say no, fearing the ambition and excitement have gone. But the £129m loan is interest free. A commercial loan that size would cost millions a year in interest. Just ask Manchester United and the Glazers. He instructed staff to keep the stadium full with well-priced ticket deals. Ashley also told them he hates “overpaid freeloaders” such as agents who demand the going rate of 10-14 per cent of a deal in commission. “Just because that is the way football has always done it, isn’t a reason to keep doing it for Mike,” says one source. “He’ll want it done differently.” Q: But what about the current plight? Why won’t he listen to the fans, check the terrible 2014 results and sack Alan Pardew? Perhaps out of loyalty. Pardew has gone along with all Ashley’s policies, including selling players such as Andy Carroll and Yohan Cabaye, and never taken his boss on in public. There’s a theory that Ashley can’t be bothered with the upheaval of finding another manager. “Patience is the word,” said one source. Q: So does he not care? Ashley has been a regular at games this season, sometimes flying into the city in the business helicopter with what is close to a personalised reg: G-MAOL. This could be support for Pardew, or to check out how poor the team has been, ahead of making a decision on his future. Q: Has he got the fortune to own Newcastle and a big slice of Rangers? Ashley’s stake in Sports Direct, which he founded, is worth £3billion. His holding company MASH has assets of £581m and makes an annual profit of £281m. He has the clout to bail out Rangers immediately but will exact a price for any financial help. Newcastle fans soon found his fortune won’t be used to bankroll a bid for glory. He will stabilise his “asset”, use it to help Sports Direct, and hope it increases in value over time. One source said: “Mike won’t be drinking with fans on the terraces again, and understands many of the reasons why supporters are unhappy at Newcastle, but he is doing it his way.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-power-struggle-eight-questions-4433421 -
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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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2789354/furious-rangers-fans-staged-angry-protest-against-mike-ashley-s-increasing-influence-sports-direct-stores.html
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...the Ibrox throne is big enough for Mike Ashley and Dave King. AS King and Ashley continue to vie for control at Rangers, KEITH insists it may be in both men's interests to discover a common ground that incorporates the interests of the club and its fans. THEIR tanks have rumbled into Edmiston Drive, ready for the climactic Rangers shootout. But before Mike Ashley and Dave King begin blowing each other to bits outside the Big Hoose, perhaps it might make more sense for them to find a better way. Maybe, before the guns start blazing, there is a chance for them to discover common ground. Of course, that would require a bit of common sense and where this club is concerned there is seldom any place for sound logic. But let’s indulge ourselves for a moment in any case and pretend that the two men, who seem so willing to go to war over Rangers, may still be capable of some eleventh-hour reason. Ask yourself this. If you were Ashley why on earth wouldn’t you want King to take control? Those closest to the Sports Direct boss – and even those Newcastle fans who can’t stand the sight of him – all agree that his primary focus is on protecting and expanding his bargain-basement retail business. Which makes perfect sense. Okay, so Slazenger polo shirts and laceless Lonsdale trainers might not be everyone’s giant novelty mug of tea but Ashley’s firm has always been more Buroo-lander than Zoolander. It’s a high street jumble sale and it’s made the man a fortune. This real-life Derek Trotter is a genuine billionaire. Not like the last one who, for all anyone knows – including Glasgow’s finest for that matter – may be currently strolling around some town centre in Panama dressed in Lee Cooper and Le Coq Sportif. He always did have a bulging eye for a bargain. But be that as it may, Ashley deserves to be taken a great deal more seriously. Which is precisely why now might be the ideal time for King to sit him down for a chat, assuming of course that he really is serious about handing over so much of his children’s inheritance. King has not always convinced and not just because of the 41 criminal convictions for stiffing the tax man which have stained his name in South Africa. His PR has been poorly thought out and his strategy over the last 12 months impossible to fathom as he has tip-toed around the edges of this farrago without ever looking prepared to get his feet wet or his hands dirty. But finally he has waded back in, promising an initial £16million bailout and more millions to follow. For that reason alone he deserves to be taken seriously, even by those who continue to doubt him. If Ashley counts himself among those cynics, what would be the harm in asking to see the colour of his money? Because if it really is the case Ashley is interested only in what is best for his own business, there is no reason for this pair to remain hostile over the running of Rangers. Yes, in an ideal world, King may wish to walk into Ibrox on day one and rip up the retail contract Ashley is apparently so determined to protect. This seven-year kit deal, of course, was gifted to him by Charles Green and has been described by those who have seen it as a ludicrously generous and one-sided agreement. Green later wasted a small fortune of Rangers money on legal fees in a failed attempt to have it annulled but the consensus is that this contract is watertight. In other words, Rangers have already sold the jerseys to Ashley and there is nothing King or anyone else can do about it, even if it means the loss of millions of pounds. And this is where logic ought to kick in because if Ashley wants to keep coining it in from shirts and merchandise then surely King’s arrival as a potential saviour stands to make him even richer? King, after all, is perhaps the one man capable not only of uniting a fractured Rangers support but also prepared to throw good money after bad in the reconstruction of a club which continues to hang by the thinnest of threads. If indeed there is enough cash left in the bank to cover this month’s payday then November’s could be a killer. But only in this omnishambles could a business that is wheezing and gasping for breath continue to keep a £30m life-saving injection so stubbornly at arm’s length. King wants to save them. But he can’t get his money bags across the front step. And, yes, logic dictates that Ashley must see the sheer lunacy in this. Over the past few months around 15,000 Rangers fans have gone missing from Ibrox. The numbers are so large that they have blown a hole in Graham Wallace’s attempts to keep the business afloat. And there is a danger many more thousands will follow if Ashley guns King down in the battle for control, while also boycotting his stores. However, if King was to walk back in, flanked by fellow lifelong supporters such as Paul Murray and George Letham, then it is almost certain business will begin to boom again at the turnstiles and in the club stores which Ashley also now has firmly in his grasp. King plans to plough £8m into the coffers with Murray, Letham and a group of wealthy fans cobbling enough together to match him pound for pound. Straight off the bat, that’s £16m that Ashley doesn’t need to bother looking for down the back of his office sofa. There will be more to come as King intends to invest his whole £30m in returning his club to a fit and competitive state and to restore a stadium which, much like the team, is in a state of decay. This is King’s manifesto and so long as he can convince Ashley he is for real and that the money is there and good to go, then both Rangers and Sports Direct stand to benefit from it hugely. So tell me, what possible logic is there in Ashley blowing this man away? The answer is, there isn’t any. Or at least, none that is obvious from the outside of this wretched mess. Which means there must be something hidden from view, perhaps even something deeply suspicious behind the naked act of aggression earlier this week which saw Ashley set his sights on Wallace and Philip Nash, the men trying to facilitate King and his consortium. What else is there to hide here? Surely nothing that stretches back to when Ashley climbed into bed with Green in the first instance and began this merciless pumping of Ibrox? Come to think of it, who on earth did bring these two together? He already owns the strips and the shops which sell them. He bought the stadium’s naming rights for a quid. And had Wallace not grown a pair last month then he would have owned the club’s badges by now as well. But it’s hard to see the value in any of it if Ashley’s power grab does indeed drive more and more of the customer base away. In fact, it will cost him millions of pounds in emergency loans just to continue to light up an increasingly empty stadium. If he’s not careful he could end up sitting alone in the directors’ box with only his drinking buddies, Sandy and James Easdale for company and if that thought doesn’t terrify him then it should. This club is broken and it needs fixed, not by a bunch of Trotters Independent Traders but by those who genuinely care for it. If Ashley cannot, or will not, see the logic in that then it will indeed be time to clamber back into the tanks. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-another-rangers-war-4411056
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THE Rangers fans have been absolutely magnificent in their backing of the Ibrox club since they dropped down to the bottom division two years ago. So it was desperately sad to see a small number of individuals involved in some ugly scenes in the stands in the SPFL Championship game through in Livingston. I couldn't see what happened from my position in the commentary box. But it has been claimed police attempted to arrest a supporter who was clearly the worse for wear and scuffles broke out. There were thousands of travelling supporters at the Energy Assets Arena who behaved impeccably. But the unfortunate incident reflects badly on Gers fans as a whole. If anybody is prosecuted as a result of what happened then Rangers should definitely come down hard on them and issue banning orders. They have to send out a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/dj-ban-rangers-troublemakers-as-deterrent-183989n.25553620
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NOBODY is denying that Rangers need money from somewhere - and soon. Despite the share offering last month raising over £3million, there is not enough in the bank to see the Ibrox club beyond the end of the year. But are Rangers going to fall into the same trap as they have on so many occasions in the last few years? Are they going to turn to somebody who is, at the end of the day, primarily concerned with making money? Personally, I want people in charge who have the best interests of Rangers at heart and are not simply hoping to make a fast buck. For me, Dave King, George Letham and Paul Murray all fall into that category. Their priority isn't making a profit on any investment. No, they want to see the club flourish. They would, too, be there for the long haul if they got in. Dave King, who has previously invested £20m of his personal fortune, has shown in the past that his prime concern is the club he grew up supporting as a boy in Glasgow. I know George Letham. His love of Rangers was obvious when he stepped in and loaned them £1m of his own money to keep them afloat last season. Paul Murray could easily have walked away two years ago after the Blue Knights consortium he was a part of was scuppered in its bid to buy the club. But he hasn't. Along with many other fans, I want people involved at Ibrox who have reasons to be involved apart from money. King, Letham and Murray are all Rangers men through and through. I would like to see individuals with a passion for the club having a say in its future instead of those whose main concern is making money. King, Letham and Murray have been in negotiations with chief executive Graham Wallace about a multi-million pound package that would sustain the club to the end of the season and beyond. I would be happy if something could be agreed and they could work together with the current board to return Rangers to the forefront of Scottish football and take them back into Europe. But now, of course, shareholder Mike Ashley has called a extraordinary general meeting of the club in a bid to oust Wallace and director Philip Nash. If he is successful - and I would not bet against a clever operator like the Sports Direct owner getting what he wants - then what happens then? Some Rangers fans are very unhappy about the prospect of Ashley taking a greater role in the running of the club. Others would like to see the billionaire businessman involved. But Article 13 of the SFA Articles of Association prevents somebody having stakes of more than 10% in two clubs without their "prior written consent". Also, if Wallace and Nash are removed then it is going to take over £500,000 to pay up their contracts and honour any bonuses which are due to them. But the funds are running out. So where is the cash going to come from? There is a lot of talk about Ashley being prepared to lend the club money. But if that is the case, no matter what the terms are, then the club is immediately in debt. Is that really what we want? Especially when a man like King, who has said he is prepared to plough in tens of millions without a return, is waiting in the wings. However, Ashley hasn't got where he is today - and the Cockney is apparently the 250th richest man in the world - without being a cunning customer. He has ploughed tens of millions of pounds into Newcastle United. He certainly wouldn't have to invest anything like that to resurrect the fortunes of Rangers. In the last two years nobody appeared interested in the club. Now, all of a sudden, we have two rival camps fighting over it. That in itself has to augur well for the future. Whether the billionaire businessman or three people with the best interests of the club at heart takes control, at long last something is happening. But as I say, my preference, along with a lot of other supporters, would be for guys who love Rangers and want to see it do well coming on board. I WAS looking forward to meeting up with my old mate Andy Gray next week when I head out to Dubai. So I was sad to hear he has returned to Glasgow after his mother passed away. My thoughts are with him and his family. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/dj-cash-allied-to-passion-is-key-for-rangers-184026n.25554712
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keith jackson @tedermeatballs · 9s 10 seconds ago OK bed time. Back page will be up soon. Suffice to say a multi million pound bailout offer has been made by a three man consortium. https://twitter.com/tedermeatballs/with_replies
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Here's the latest from McMurdo.........
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The old man shuffled in the large leather chair, one of those traditional ones designed to encourage good seating posture rather than slouching, pushing his steel rimmed glasses onto his forehead he took what he hoped would be another sip of inspiration from the lukewarm tea on the table, just for a brief moment he thought about undoing his top shirt button and loosening his tie to provide relief from the late afternoon sun beaming through the office window and which was taking its toll – but that would just not do, “standards, standards, standards” he muttered to himself, the presentation was tomorrow and the speech had to be finished, so reaching for his trusty pencil and notepad he collected his thoughts and began scribbling… “I have been lucky — lucky in those who were around me from the boardroom to the dressing-room. In time of stress, their unstinted support, unbroken devotion to our club and calmness in adversity eased the task of making Rangers FC the premier club in this country. To be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football. They must be true in their conception of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them. No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him.” Our very success, gained you will agree by skill, will draw more people than ever to see it. And that will benefit many more clubs than Rangers. Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase. It is healthy for us. We will never hide from it. Never fear, inevitably we shall have our years of failure, and when they arrive, we must reveal tolerance and sanity. No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome. That has been the philosophy of the Rangers since the days of the gallant pioneers.” I have spent my whole life in awe of that speech. The utter selflessness at the heart of it, the appreciation and acknowledgement of the work and dedication of others, the dismissal of the importance of the individual and the emphasis and focus on the dedication of others around him merely serve to underline why this man has left such an indelible stamp on our club. It speaks of a football club with a sense of direction, where the people at the very heart of it share not only a common vision but realise the necessity of working together with shared values to deliver that vision. We have fallen, fallen a long way from that sacred trust, taken there by men with little concept of what the Ibrox tradition seeks from them, men whose importance of self, of ego, was the very antithesis of everything Mr Struth stood for. It has opened a revolving door of charlatans, of profiteers, with no interest in preserving the shrine other than seeking to exploit the faithful who still come to worship. In these days of anxiety, amidst the clamour of boardroom battles, of money men and PR gurus, of percentage shareholdings and damaging headlines, one group, to the exclusion of all others, has sought to uphold that sacred trust and remain true to the concept of the Ibrox tradition. Disengaged and disempowered from the powers and processes which govern our club, and in the face of considerable, or as some hoped, insurmountable adversity, we have strived and endeavoured to keep the flames of that sacred trust burning. We conquered the insurmountable, breaking attendance records along the way, we laid waste to the false accusations of “glory hunters” at the Gayfields and Station Parks of this world. Borough Briggs and Ochilview had to be postponed as the manifestation of “unstinted support” and “unbroken devotion” descended upon them. Who are these people ? Go look in the mirror you will see them there, staring right back at you – we are the people. We are the people and this is our time. It’s time for those who have proven themselves in the face of adversity to no longer be disempowered or disengaged. We are the rightful sentinels of that sacred trust, do we honestly believe that anyone else could protect it better ? If you do then stop reading now. Rangers First, Buy Rangers and Vanguard Bears all offer a means of achieving that goal via their various fan ownership models. The choices we face are simple but critical nonetheless. Who do we trust most to decide the destiny of our football club, to safeguard all that we cherish and value ? To run the club in a way which upholds the traditions spoken of by Mr Struth all those years ago ? Who would ensure that every single decision which is made, is done so solely in the best interests of Rangers ? Or should we continue to fracture as a support, tearing ourselves apart doing the bidding of masters who offer no guarantees, in the hope of some scraps off the table ? Isn’t it about time we either sat at that table ourselves or had a considerable say in who does and the decisions they make concerning our club ? I am under no illusions – it will not be easy. There will be considerable challenges ahead, without doubt considerable adversity as well, but only a fool would bet against a Rangers support united in purpose and vision – it’s probably what those who wish ill will against our club fear most. Our club is once again in need of “gallant pioneers”, men and women who will remain true to the concept the Ibrox tradition seeks from them, and the reward is ensuring that sacred trust is preserved for generations yet to come. “No true Ranger has ever failed in the tradition set him.”
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Article submitted to Gersnet by Dan Teelsey http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/latest-news/282-the-world-turn-d-upside-down The World Turn’d Upside Down written by Dan Teelsey Listen to me and you shall hear, news hath not been this thousand year: Since Herod, Caesar, and many more, you never heard the like before. Holy-dayes are despis'd, new fashions are devis'd. Old Christmas is kicked out of Town Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down. What’s known as the English Civil War produced, like all wars, many odd and unexpected results. Wars are often the mothers of strange children: we hardly associate Hitler and his motley collection of unimaginative halfwits with Neil Armstrong and ‘one small step for man’, but without the V2 technology, which went to the States with Nazi scientist Werner Von Braun, it would certainly have taken the USA longer to get to the moon. Few would link the Falklands War to Scottish independence, but without that conflict Mrs Thatcher may not have gained her second victory, and the excesses of monetarist economics which pushed so many to vote ‘Yes’ could have been avoided. One aspect of the English Civil War – which was fought in all corners of the soon-to-be-Union, but let that pass – which seems a little quaint today is the struggle over whether Christmas should be celebrated in a sombre, ‘respectful’ fashion, as was suggested by Parliament, or in the traditional, carousing, festive spirit familiar for centuries. Parliament’s position was mocked in a folk ballad of the times, ‘The World Turn’d Upside Down’, which noted that what was good enough for the Magi – ‘The wise men did rejoyce to see our Saviour’ – ought to be good enough for the people of England, and that if celebrating wars – ‘Kill a thousand men, or a Town regain, we will give thanks and praise’ – was acceptable, so to was celebrating Christ. The song’s mix of sardonic satire and brilliant title have seen it remembered, even if the rationale behind it is increasingly lost in the mists of time. In Scotland, the echoes have been heard until recently, with workers right up until the 1950’s working on Christmas morning – here the day was not that far removed from Parliament’s idea. Only recently has Christmas taken a place alongside Hogmanay, the traditional Bacchanalia of the North, although since nowadays so many people are slaughtered on a regular basis the one-off appeal of a blow out at Ne’er Day is somewhat diminished. Diminished, too, is another icon of that Presbyterian settlement which obtained over Scotland for so long. The Rangers are a pale shadow of what they once were, on the pitch, in the boardroom and in the stands. Replace the word ‘Christmas’ in that quote above with ‘Rangers’ and you get the picture: the convulsions which have racked the club since they entered into dispute with HMRC are reaching ridiculous proportions. Many organisations come into conflict with HMRC over one thing or another, but surely few can have reacted to it with quite such incompetence and drawn out sickness. Maybe it’s the shock at being kicked in the balls by bodies which, perhaps, Rangers fondly imagined were on the same side as them; maybe it’s surprise at finding themselves quite so isolated when the chips were down; maybe it’s merely impotence as the entrepreneur culture which so many lauded comes home to roost with a vengeance. Whatever the reason, there are people in West Africa who have shaken off Ebola quicker than Rangers have gotten over their fever: their world turn’d upside down, right enough. Some, it is true, are taking the fight to the club, with what they would doubtless be horrified to read as an enthusiasm comparable to the activism of the ‘Yes’ campaign in Scotland’s recent referendum. When online fans who are also shareholders email board members to innocently enquire about standard procedures, the replies (or lack thereof) have revealed quite a lot about those wearing the blazers. Only this week, internet poster ‘Govan Derriere’ revealed that, after several weeks of trying, he had finally obtained a response as to when the AGM would be held this year. Hardly the most explosive of questions, you might feel. Before 31st December, in line with the law, came the terse response from Mr David Somers, apparently Chairman of Rangers. One wonders if he treats shareholders in his other companies with quite such disdain and one concludes that, no, he probably doesn’t but considers football fans so much dirt on his shoes. An odd attitude for a Chairman of a football club, you might think. However that may be, ‘Govan Derriere’s’ questioning landed quite a few blows on Mr Somers’ credibility, a rare case of a fan hitting the shit. What strange days these are, indeed. As a lapsed Rangers fan with more to worry about than a football club falling to bits I should really be getting on with other things, but the fascinating freak show which unfolds almost daily on Edmiston Drive is hideously addictive. Adding yet another group to the notoriously splintered Rangers fan base – that of pissed off former attendee who can’t quite seem to shake off the habit of 30 years and who keeps returning to pick over the bones – is probably not helpful, but then again I can’t see how it can makes things any worse. I suppose Rangers fans can only hope that their club will still be around in 300 years, and that someone will have come up with songs which reflect this period, to be sung in the stands of Ibrox. Maybe this civil war will result in unforeseen results, one of which at present would be the sight of a healthy Rangers. The titles and the music are unlikely to be very uplifting, though. Perhaps they could nick this old one off Jim Morrison: it seems very apt. Strange days have found us / Strange days have tracked us down / They're going to destroy Our casual joys / We shall go on playing / Or find a new town [video=youtube;-NSz-9qqgKE] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NSz-9qqgKE
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Tuesday 7th October 7pm. Grovsner Hotel Gt Western Rd Glasgow. Public meeting for all fans concerned with recent events at our club and who wish to explore possible actions available to the fans. We have one guest speaker confirmed so far and the meeting will include a Q&A session Much better from Craig here. Hope it goes well.
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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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...but it won't be long before Kris Boyd hits the target. by JonathanMcFarlane BOYD might still be looking for his first league goal of the season but JONNY says there is a very good reason why the Rangers fans are not writing him off. THE biggest shock of the season so far has been seeing Kris Boyd, the top goalscorer in SPL history, struggle to get off the mark in the Championship. Eight games and zero goals is a dreadful statistic that few would have considered possible at the start of the campaign. To most of us it looked like a top signing. Here was a club legend, a striker of undoubted repute, leading the Kilmarnock line like a man reborn and scoring goal after goal at the top level for a struggling team. Surely, with his confidence back and a new appreciation for hard graft forged in his years abroad, this was the quintessential no brainer signing. So far it’s not worked out that way and Boyd cuts a frustrated figure at Rangers with his eagerness to please the support seeming to have affected his killer instinct. He looks like a player who wants the goals to come so much that his goal radar has been knocked slightly out of sync. Against Livingston on Saturday, he had the sort of game where he couldn’t hit a barn door. It didn’t matter if it was a header, volley or open goal, he just couldn’t find the calm precision with which he made his name. This assassin is currently firing blanks. To be fair, at times he’s not been helped by the style of play of the team and this has seen him feeding off scraps in the bigger games. He is much more likely to get back to his best when he has creative players like Aird, Templeton and McLeod buzzing about him creating chances. Ally McCoist must do his bit by giving Boyd the platform to succeed. Perhaps this is why few are writing off the striker just yet. He has shown that he is a better all-round player than in his last spell and is more involved in the team’s patterns of play. While he has been enduring a frustrating spell he is still getting himself in great positions and history has taught us this will inevitably lead to Boyd goals. Thankfully, confidence, the main stumbling block for strikers in this kind of fallow period, is never going to be an issue for such an experienced and self-assured guy. You always get the impression that no-one believes in Kris Boyd’s ability to hit the net more than Kris Boyd. That is exactly the reason he will soon be back with a flurry of goals, I’m predicting 20 before the season is out. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/record-fc-rangers-assassin-might-4393960?
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With a vital period in the club's ongoing challenges coming up I'd like to make a few points of order. 1. Abuse and insults While I don't expect everyone to get on like a house on fire and I'm more than aware a few people like to be loose in their interpretation of debate, please keep it civil and avoid insulting anyone. 2. Discussing other fan groups/forums Once again, while I don't expect everyone to be a fan of other websites or all fan groups, I think it's important to note we are all Rangers fans and I don't want people on here to add to the division we see elsewhere. 3. Trolling Yes, it's easy to circle round to underlying issues from time to time. However, parroting the same stuff can quickly become tedious - as can refusing to answer points in relation to this. Either take an constructive part in discussion here or do your baiting elsewhere. A few people have already been warned in relation to the above. I don't care if you have 1 post or 10,000; you're not immune from censure, temporary and permanent bans if you consistently refuse to adhere to the above simple requests. No excuses folks.
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http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...n-Rangers.html MIKE ASHLEY has doubled his stake in Rangers. The Newcastle owner now owns around nine per cent of the Scottish Championship club. Investment group Hargreave Hale confirmed it was behind the sale of £853,000 worth of shares in the fallen Glaswegian giants. Ashley’s purchase came hours after Gers fans threatened to boycott his Sports Direct stores over the cut-price deal he struck for the Ibrox naming rights. A spokesman for fans’ group Sons of Struth said: “We call on Mike Ashley to cancel his contract before the October 11. “If he still retains the naming rights after this point, we will instigate an immediate series of actions aimed at his Sports Direct stores.”
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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
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For anyone who isn't already aware, I have been elected to the Rangers Fans Board to represent fans who attend away matches. Rangers are creating email addresses for direct contact with the Fans Board Members but they will not be live until after the first meeting on 6 October. In the short term if anyone has any particular issues or concerns that affect “fans who attend away matches”, can they please post them here. I said that “I will arrange an early meeting with Susan Hannah”, the Ticket Office Manager. I have kept this promise. The meeting will take place on Monday when I will try to get answers to any immediate concerns. TB has already raised a number of points: Possible profiteering by charging Rangers fans higher than normal prices. I responded that “I think that there is a league rule about that but there will be ways round it I'm sure. I did notice at Alloa that £18/£9 was posted at the away gates and that is what we were charged, well I was anyway, not quite old enough for a concession.” Children’s ticket availability and pricing. I replied that “If that is a league issue I will pursue with Mr Doncaster.” Small allocations and how to divide between supporters’ buses and those who travel independently. If anyone has recent evidence of any of these situations can they please post here or PM me as appropriate. SB commented about “the variables Ulster Bears must contend with and the size of support travelling over for home games”. This is not my constituency per se but I responded that “If you have an issue that relates to travelling or attending or otherwise is relevant to away matches please let me know”. STB commented about “the short notice between being allocated a game and the payment getting taken.” I replied that “I think the issue is the short notice Rangers often get from the other Clubs and the fact that they need to collect and pay for the tickets within a certain period.” More information on any of the above issues would be helpful and feel free to add anything else. On a more general note, I have taken on board the comments about the categories and would welcome any other comments about organisational issues since these will be discussed at the first meeting.
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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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Posted Today, 07:02 PM SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 / BILLMCMURDO The boardroom saga rumbles on at Ibrox with the news that Rangers CEO Graham Wallace has had talks with representatives of Dave King. My understanding is that these representatives were Paul Murray and George Letham. No big surprises there but this is where we enter into the Twilight Zone once more. When contacted by a prominent daily newspaper, I am told that Dave King denied that these men were his representatives. Which begs two questions: 1) Why are these men purporting to represent Dave King? 2) Or is Dave King being economical with the truth? We could also ask why he is, if he is., Given that Rangers fans want transparency and that this requirement for transparency is often spoken of by Messrs Murray and King, surely it would be very much in the interests of both these men to clear matters up for the fans. In a nutshell, is Paul Murray representing Dave King in talks with Graham Wallace? This opens up a whole raft of other questions. Why is Graham Wallace speaking to Paul Murray? Is he doing so with the backing of fellow board members or has he “gone rogue” and if this is the case, what can be done to stop him? It is no secret that there is a rift in the boardroom and this is not something Rangers fans want to be reading about, especially in anti-Rangers outlets. I personally am fed up of all the cloak and dagger, which is playground stuff. We need men leading us, not boys. Yes, confidentiality is often necessary in business dealings but you can’t call for transparency to score points while being furtive and even deceitful. If Paul Murray is representing Dave King, fans should be told and not lied to. The whole matter hinges around Dave King’s now legendary £30 million to invest. Is the £30 million for real or a mythical figure that keeps Dave King in the limelight while deceiving the Rangers support? Even if Kings’ 30 mil is real and in place for investment, other questions need answering. These include a very important one i.e. Is that it? Is the 30 million all there is or is there more to follow? Not as a possible but something far more concrete? I mean, are there other investors lined up or does King himself have more in reserve? Just as vital is the question: What role does King want for his investment and can he get it? There are huge question marks over King’s suitability as a director of RIFC PLC both from the stock market perspective and from that of the SFA and SPFL. King needs to answer those for his own sake and others. Should King fail to get a directorship, is he happy to take a back seat and does this also mean there is a very real prospect that he will fall foul of AIM regulations concerning “shadow directors” who hold no office but exercise inappropriate clout? Can King’s ego handle being just a good guy investor with no hands-on power? I see the papers are waging a campaign against Sandy Easdale attempting to pressure him not to block this mooted Dave King investment. Easdale may be crazy to try and block this investment if it saves the club but he would be crazier still to rely on it given how precarious it appears to be. The fact that he is active in seeking alternatives is indicative, not of a churlish anti-King prejudice but of commendable business prudence and responsibility. As I wrote previously, Rangers require a custodian. Both Dave King and Sandy Easdale may have a lot to do to convince fans they can fill that role. Being more honest with the Rangers fans would be a good start. http://billmcmurdo.w....the-kings-men/
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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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I didn’t think it was possible for the Rangers support to be more fractured and lacking consensus than we were in the first half of this year but rather depressingly we’ve managed it. In the maelstrom of a referendum on Scottish Independence the boardroom turmoil that has dominated the forums, social media and old fashioned conversations took a back seat to Loyalism, Unionism and the bogey man topic of Nationalism. Such is the ineptitude of our board, they missed the opportunity to bury some negative news in amongst the fog of the ideological war that raged throughout the month of September but I digress. Being a pro-Independence Rangers supporter these last few months has been a real challenge. I’ve been confronted by many fellow fans on social media and called everything from a “timpathiser”, (whatever that is) to a Nazi and Quisling. One particularly poorly adjusted and misinformed fellow told me I was a “traitor to Rangers Loyalist Unionist roots…” The idea that a Rangers supporter could support Independence just would not compute for many and my follower count on Twitter tumbled dramatically, I won’t lose any sleep over that however I must admit to now facing somewhat of a crossroads. Do I plod on attending matches listening to chants about where people like me can “stick your Independence” and the Loyalist songbook which was given an airing in George Square on Friday night amidst scenes of thuggery and hatred? Do I carry on turning a blind eye to the continual linking of Rangers Football Club to Loyalism and The Orange Order just as I have done for many years? The thought of turning my back on the club I’ve supported since I was five years old and which has provided myself and my (now deceased) Father so many happy memories makes me physically ill. The thought of a future devoid of one of the precious few constants in my life so far is unthinkable and so that is not a road I’m willing to go down just yet. So what are my options? I could become the archetypal armchair fan and refrain from discussing football matters on social media but we are in an age where it’s almost impossible to avoid. I could fool myself into thinking that it’s not so bad and the majority of my fellow fans are reasonable, open minded individuals but I’m not capable of cognitive dissonance on that scale. It seems that the core of our support are labouring under the misconceptions that being a “real” Rangers man means that you must also be many other things. I’ll use this juncture to clarify what I mean by “core of our support”. There are probably thousands of Rangers supporters (I don’t like term “fan”) who are feeling similarly disillusioned at the moment and those are probably a large percentage of the several thousand fans who’ve been missing for the last few home games joined by those who are boycotting, suffering from boardroom related malaise or simply disillusioned with how we are playing. What’s left are a core (match attending group) and of those I’d estimate that 75% fall into the category as described previously in this article. There’s also a large group of fans who, for one reason or another don’t regularly attend matches and again I’d estimate that a large percentage of those are politically and ideologically aligned with their brethren sitting in the stands. I’m conscious that I’m in danger of pigeon holing large swathes of people here and would only offer the fact that this is how I see things in basic terms. I’m sure there are reasonable folks in amongst the core who do not fall into any of my hastily preconceived notions and that I do not think the situation has reached the point of no return just yet and this leads me to the only other option I feel I have left. I’d urge everyone who considers themselves to be a Rangers supporter to distance the club from toxic and divisive affiliations. To seriously consider for a moment that we are in real danger of losing thousands of people like me who feel marginalised by their fellow bears and more importantly that we are in danger of losing the next generation of season ticket holder who have shown throughout the referendum run up and beyond, that they are increasingly well informed and turned off by Northern Irish politics, by far right-wing rhetoric and the kind of vulgar displays of aggression that we’ve seen both online and in the streets of Glasgow from both Unionists and Nationalist factions. Next time you’re attending an Orange parade maybe leave the Rangers merchandise at home, remove the Loyalist symbolism from Rangers flags and banners, try not to marginalise your fellow supporters who don’t care about that kind of stuff really, that’s all. Is that too much to ask? For some, what I’ve asked is probably tantamount to singing rebel songs in a tri-colour but to me it’s just common decency, something that has been eroding away for many years and something that the gallant pioneers probably had in abundance. Try to be a bit more like a Moses McNeil or a Tom Vallance and live the values which built the very thing that we all hold so dear. If we want a positive future for our club we all have to sow the seeds of that starting from now after all, we share much more in common than we do which divides us. I’ll remain a supporter and will try to live by my own code, respecting others right to support the club any way they choose but speaking out against intolerance, negative affiliations and polarizing attitudes. Let’s see if we can build a stronger and more together support from the rubble. The alternative I’m afraid would be a very dark period in Rangers history. It’s only a matter of time before we will be back attempting to compete with Celtic. It may be only a matter of time before we see major boardroom change. Do we really want to be facing these challenges with a support that can’t agree on what colour the sky is? The answer is obvious to me.
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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
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...until assurances over club's direction are given. The Rangers Fans Fighting Fund set up in 2012 after administration Group has raised more than £600,000 in donations to date RFFF will only give £500,000 to Rangers if assurances are given Ibrox board must be able to prove they have long-term project set up The Rangers Fans Fighting Fund will not pass on their £500,000 kitty to the Ibrox board until they receive assurances about the club’s future direction. The organisation was set up in the wake of the descent into administration in 2012 and raked in more than £600,000 in donations. Money was used to settle football debts owed to Falkirk and Dunfermline, as well as helping pay for the relaying of the Ibrox pitch. The Fighting Fund is now ready to disband and it’s thought they would prefer the money still in their account to be used for a long-term project at Rangers, such as youth development or the establishment of a club museum. Chairman Andrew McCormick wrote a recent letter to chief executive Graham Wallace detailing 13 questions about current and future policy within the club. Wallace responded by asking to postpone any further discussions until after the completion of the share issue which last week raised £3.13million to stave off an immediate financial crisis. The Fighting Fund have grown increasingly frustrated about the lack of progress in terms of communication and released a statement on Wednesday evening to confirm their position. ‘Mindful of its obligations to the Rangers Family and the money we hold in trust, the RFFF has sought information from the board of Rangers International Football Club plc to enable us to make decisions regarding the future of the RFFF and the disbursement of funds,’ it said. ‘We had a meeting on May 5 this year with Graham Wallace, chief executive of the club. Unfortunately, as he was not accompanied by another member of the board, he felt unable to make any statement on areas of policy which we could communicate to supporters. ‘Since then, we have attempted to engage in dialogue but this has run its course and no further meetings have taken place or have been scheduled. ‘With the passage of time, our chairman, Andrew McCormick, wrote to Mr Wallace on August 28 and received a reply on September 2. ‘Having considered the content of Mr Wallace’s reply at our most recent meeting, the RFFF has decided to retain the funds donated to our safekeeping until we are satisfied that the club is financially stable.’ The stop-gap share issue has removed any doubt about Rangers meeting this month’s payroll and will also enable the repayment of £1.5m in loans to shareholders George Letham and Sandy Easdale. However, the club will need to raise further significant funds to make it through this season, most likely via a wider share issue. The distrust that exists between fans and the current regime has caused damaging falls in matchday income, with just 15,208 turning out for Tuesday night’s League Cup win over Inverness. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2760388/Rangers-Fans-Fighting-Fund-not-500-000-Ibrox-assurances-given.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
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For all you guys who refuse to support your club,shame on you all. Watching the game over here with a few of my Canadian friends, So this is the mighty Rangers you're always braging about asks one buddy. I'm lost for words,and I am truely embarrassed.(okay we won tonight) but the stadium is practically empty,with no atmosphere. On our recent north American tour,we had sell out crowds,and way more atmosphere(noise buzzing for 90 mins.) I'm not sure what's holding you guys back from picking up your season tickets, but I am sure that you are killing our club.as I said before,SHAME ON YOU ALL.
