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

the investigatoin into hmrc???? not heard much in the last year or so.

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

Lawyers for Rangers' former commercial director, Imran Ahmad, will on Tuesday ask a judge to arrest funds of £750,000 as their legal battle continues. Ahmad's lawyers will argue that the Rangers Football Club Ltd is trading insolvently and would be unable to pay if he won his claim against them. The man who arrived at Ibrox along with former chief executive Charles Green initially intended to pursue £3.4m. He claims he is owed at least £500,000 in unpaid bonuses. The case will be heard by Lord Tyre at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning. It emerged earlier this month that Ahmad's lawyers wished to call Green as a witness, something Rangers are reluctant to see happen. Rangers currently do not have their financial woes to seek and announced on Monday that they had secured loans totalling £1.5m to help them meet cashflow requirements for the remainder of the season. Players also refused to accept a 15% pay cut proposal as the Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace seeks to make savings. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26333152

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

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

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

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

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

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

Been googling and looking through other sites to refresh my memory. The fact that we require loans now to get through the next few months has me questioning the ability/honesty of CEO Graham Wallace. This is what he said in a Q&A article in The Herald on 17th December 2103 " In the short-to-medium term there is sufficient cash within the club in order for it to continue trading on a normal basis." Now he was the Chief Financial Office at Manchester City so I'm assuming he has some kind of accountancy/financial qualification. That being the case when he made that statement only 8 weeks ago was he fully aware of the financial position at the club? Did he check himself? Was he assured by the board that we were ok in the mid term? Was he told the truth by the incumbents on the board and if not when did he realise we did not have sufficient cash for the short term never mind the mid term? In the same Q&A article he speaks about gaining investment for the club, can we also assume he has failed in this respect?

"Alan Hutton 'unlikely' to play for Aston Villa again Defender Alan Hutton is unlikely to play again for Aston Villa because of the financial constraints at the club, admits manager Paul Lambert. The 29-year-old, who earns a reported £40,000 a week, has not played for Villa since May 2012 and is training with the club's development squad. Asked if Hutton would play for Villa again, Lambert replied: "It would be unlikely. He knows that. "We need to get the [wage] structure down. There's never been any fall-out." Hutton, whose contract expires in the summer of 2015, went on a one-month loan to Nottingham Forest in December 2012 before being loaned to Spanish side Real Mallorca the following month until the end of that campaign. He has also continued to represent Scotland and won his 38th cap in last October's final World Cup qualifier, a 2-0 victory over Croatia. "I wouldn't have thought it could carry on for another 12 months, into next season," Lambert added. "I wouldn't want that for him. We need someone to come in for him. "I've been to a couple of Scotland games and seen him do well. You'd think somebody would come in for him. The lad has to play."" The wages are remarkable, I wonder how much he has made since moving South and pretty much not playing. The bit I have italicised seems a little contradictory to the overall story!

RST to leaflet Ibrox on Saturday The Rangers Supporters Trusts runs the highly successful BuyRangers scheme. Our members have trusted us with over £300,000 of their money and the we now own over half a million shares in the club. We are looking for members and supporters to help us publicise BuyRangers and our new direct debit facility by leafleting Ibrox on Saturday. If you can help leaflet around the ground from 1pm up to kick-off, even for a short while, or to take some leaflets home to friends or distribute on your supporters bus - please email RangersRST@gmail.com http://www.therst.co.uk/buyrangers/ Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Our mailing address is: The Rangers Supporters Trust RST / BuyRangers Administration Clydebank Glasgow, Scotland g80 United Kingdom

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

'Fisking' is an online term for deconstructing an article and showing the flaws in the argument in 'real time'. Graham Spiers' recent article for The Herald “Celtic, a Roll of Honour, and point-scoring galore” is a perfect candidate. Graham Spiers' words are in italics, while my commentary is in normal font. A pretty remarkable thing has happened in Scottish football in recent days - the Celtic fans have in effect just stormed the national charts with 'Roll of Honour', the Irish rebel song.The song, recorded by The Irish Brigade, laments the fate of the IRA hunger strikers who died in the Maze Prison in 1981, and cites all 10 of them as the verses unfold. It is a song which a more politically-active section of the Celtic support has chanted and, in this current scenario of national chart success, is aimed at cocking a snook at the confused - some say plainly botched - Offensive Behaviour At Football Act in Scotland. Graham immediately gets his facts wrong. Seven were affiliated to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA or PIRA) and three with the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). It is beyond doubt that both groups collectively murdered thousands and are illegal in the UK and Ireland. Many of their victims were targeted solely for their nationality or religion. During 1981 alone – never mind before or since - the Provisional IRA and INLA murdered many people. Those the song 'laments' were part of these groups and must have approved of the killings and violence. The ten themselves had been found guilty of crimes including possession of firearms, grenades and explosives, manslaughter, punishment shootings, hijackings, attempted murder and murder. Keep these hard facts in mind. By John Gow Read more...http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/rfc-politics/311-fisking-graham-spiers

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

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

bearing in mind that my football credentials come from sitting on my arse in the Govan stand and standing on what is now the Broomloan stand for 40 years, could I have fucked up Celtic's season any more successfuly than the whinging bigot? Given that the league has been awarded to Celtic before a ball is kicked; Could I have manged to lose the League Cup to a team from a division lower than mine on 100/th of the resources? mmm, yep, I'm inept enough to have done that. Could I have got my team twatted out of the Scottish Cup at home to a side with 1/10 of my resources? To be honest, I probably could have. Could I have gone through a Champions League campaign, winning 1 and losing 5? Probably not, to be honest. I'd have lost all 6. So there we have it, a bluenose of 40+ years standing could have been only marginally more inept and done only margianlly more damage to Celtic than Yellow Tooth. Of a possible 9 trophies he could have won, in the absence of the only real competition, he has had 3 handed to him before the season started and won only 1 of the remaining 6 possibles. And this whilst managing a club whose resources are greater han the rest of the league combined. Yeah, they're queuing up to take Neily south of the border, that's for sure.

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

In October 2013 the SFA decided to hold both Scottish Cup Semi Finals at Ibrox as an alternative to Hampden Park, which is being used for the Commonwealth Games. If Rangers reach the Semi Finals they would be handed a home tie. In the interests of the other quarter finalists, the SFA should use Parkhead for one of the Semi Finals if required. http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-scottish-football-association-ensure-neutral-venues-for-the-2014-scottish-cup-semi-finals?recruiter=11614349

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http://www.tvl.nl/nl/tvl-sportarena/sportarena/ricksen-in-glasgow/#.UwI8amJ_uSr

Can someone please explain to me why we don't sing this greatest anthem anymore The "authorities" (define them) have said we cant so we follow like sheep. It is legally proofable (is that a word) that this isn't a bigoted or sectarism song....so say lets start a campagn to bring back our anthem. If it means missing a word then so be it....but they cant ban 1 and not for another Hullo Hullo

It is widely known that Dave King has settled his issues with the SA tax people. There are also many, many reports that he plead guilty to approx 41 charges which resulted in a massive fine. My question is.....did these charges result in a criminal prosecution & resulting in a criminal record, or was it simply King effectively agreeing to paying the outstanding monies on 41 separate counts with the remaining charges/claims being dropped???? King has been referred to in many reports as a criminal....how accurate is this description???

Ayr UTD v Rangers - Att: 8,449 HIVS v Ross County - Att: 8,411 St Midden v SHEEP - Att: 4,073 Dundee Hibs v Killie - Att: 6,038 ICT v Hertz - Att: 3,392 Motherwell v Partick - Att: 5,048