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ALEX SMITH believes Scotland’s football authorities are failing both Hearts and their manager, Gary Locke, by denying them a chance to rebuild. Chairman of the Managers and Coaches Association, Smith stressed Locke is in an impossible position at Tynecastle and is suffering by enduring such pressure so early in his managerial career. Hearts’ descent into administration last June triggered an immediate SPFL registration embargo and a 15-point deduction for the new league season. That left Locke effectively with hands tied and mouth gagged. Experienced players had left on freedom of contract and the manager, having only been appointed in March, found himself with a squad full of under-21 players to fight against relegation. Locke will be unable to replenish his squad during the January transfer window as Hearts will still be in administration well into next year. They are currently 14 points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership. Smith feels the punishments meted out to Hearts have gone on too long and are having a detrimental effect on Locke’s early days in management. He blames previous directors and disgraced former owner Vladimir Romanov for the club’s demise. Now 73, Smith admitted that, throughout his time in football, he couldn’t recall a manager in a more harrowing position than Locke. “I’ve never known a manager to be in a more difficult situation,” he told the Evening News. “Here we have a young manager in the first few months of his career, managing a club like Hearts, but not able to bring in players. Then there’s the 15-point deduction. I just think it’s ridiculous. “It’s ridiculous that we’re making a top club like Hearts suffer like this because of the poor management of other people. They did things in a way that was running that club towards a multiple crash. “The authorities are making it worse with the sanctions and denying Hearts the right to try and get out of this trouble. They did it with Rangers, another massive club. They didn’t just take action against them, they almost slit their throat. We need these two clubs and we need them in our top league. We don’t need them in the lower leagues.” Locke has pledged to fight on in the hope that Hearts can reel in teams such as Ross County and Kilmarnock at the bottom of the table and avoid relegation. Time is not on their side. Many feel one positive from slipping into the Championship would be the breathing space accorded the Riccarton youth academy graduates to develop as footballers. Smith points out that life in the second tier is likely to be fraught with just as many problems. “Gary would be entitled to expect the chance to take Hearts back up if they did end up relegated, but football nowadays doesn’t always work like that, does it? Hearts could go down into the Championship. Rangers and Dunfermline could come up [from League One]. “Then you might have three out of the four chasing promotion this season possibly still there. It’s going to be some league. The pressure next year would be exactly the same, only the sympathy vote won’t be there. It will be expectation levels there instead. Either way, it’s going to be difficult.” Smith called Locke to offer a pep talk in the wake of Hearts’ 7-0 Scottish Cup defeat by Celtic earlier this month. He will do the same again before Hearts head to Parkhead on league business this weekend. “I feel for him. If he’s feeling like a chat he just has to phone any of the more experienced managers in the game and he’ll get any amount of their time,” explained Smith. “I’ll give him another call this week sometime. He really just has to keep going. It will only take winning a couple of games and he will see an opportunity to turn things round. He can’t lose sight of the fact Hearts are a massive club with a massive support. If there is any sign of a revival, Gary will have everybody 100 per cent behind him. “That’s not always the case when you have to please 15,000 people at your home games. One or two people will just see the jerseys on the field, regardless of who is in them, and assume that because they’re Hearts, they should automatically be winning games. “The majority of Hearts supporters know the situation. The young kids are good players, all they need is that wee glimmer of a chance. If they come onto a run and start getting points, the fans will be right behind them. A lot of people now go to games, sit down and expect to be entertained. Gary will have the siege support and he’ll realise he has to harness that. “There’s no doubt we’re getting a false impression of what he can do at the moment. He can’t bring in players. He’s just to get on working with the young players he has. They’re all very talented, but if things start going the wrong way, it affects them all as a group. You need a few stabilisers in the team to steady them. “That’s why guys like Ryan Stevenson and Jamie Hamill are so important. They’ve been lumbered with this responsibility, which even for them is massive. They have to take on the responsibility of going out and winning games of football. How do you do that? “There is a great art to winning games. The first thing is you don’t lose bad goals, so you need a strong back line and a good goalkeeper. If you do lose a goal, you keep the ball till you get an opportunity to get back into the game. “The key is not to lose a second, so your defence and goalkeeper need to keep you in the game when you’re under pressure.” http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/hearts/authorities-have-given-hearts-boss-impossible-task-1-3237607

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22037966 Hopefully this will herald a bigger sportlight on the shady goings on in the east of the city by CFC, GCC et all...

From PA Sport http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-king-murray-help-gers-board-151342908--sow.html

GOALKEEPER Neil Alexander is considering taking Rangers to court over a claim for breach of contract. The 35-year-old, who left Ibrox for Crystal Palace during the summer, has sought legal advice on his case, with PFA Scotland also involved. Express Sport understands that Alexander’s case centres around his contract, which had clauses in it that should have seen him handed a wage rise and a higher appearance fee after Allan McGregor left the Ibrox club in the summer of 2012. PFA Scotland lawyer Margaret Gribbon, of Bridge Litigation, confirmed she was representing Alexander. Neil is very keen to try to resolve this matter directly with the club in the first instance Margaret Gribbon Gribbon said: “I can confirm there is a contractual dispute between the two parties. “Neil is very keen to try to resolve this matter directly with the club in the first instance, before he considers any other options.” It could be another damaging blow to Rangers, who are already gripped by infighting ahead of tomorrow night’s AGM. The club are also running short of cash and if Alexander was to win his fight then it could well push them over the edge – as the alleged loss of earnings runs into a significant six-figure sum. The shot-stopper’s case relates to last season when Alexander showed loyalty to Rangers by staying at the club after most of the club’s other top stars – including McGregor, Stevie Naismith and Steven Whittaker – decided to walk out on their contracts after the Light Blues were forced to start life again in the Third Division. Alexander was a key player for manager Ally McCoist as Rangers romped to the Third Division title, but his five-year spell ended on bitter terms over the way his contract renegotiations were handled. The keeper had wanted to remain at Ibrox but was seeking a two-year contract similar to that which had been handed to club captain Lee McCulloch. Alexander had initially been offered a one-year deal by former chief executive Charles Green on roughly £10,000 a week, but that was then taken off the table by the Yorkshireman. Green then added insult to injury by going back to Alexander with another 12-month contract on less than a third of his initial offer. The Scotland cap rejected it point-blank and knew the writing was on the wall when Green sanctioned the pre-contract signing of Cammy Bell from Kilmarnock. McCoist and goalkeeping coach Jim Stewart tried desperately to convince Alexander to sign on again, however the player refused and left Ibrox last summer even though he didn’t have another club lined up. He has since won a contract at Crystal Palace as back-up to first-choice keeper Julian Speroni. Alexander views his dispute with Rangers as more of a matter of principle than a money issue, particularly after the way he was treated by Green. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/449240/EXCLUSIVE-Neil-Alexander-launches-Ibrox-legal-fight

SEVEN members of the Celtic fans’ group the Green Brigade are set to stand trial next year on charges of singing a song associated with the IRA at a number of Premiership and Champions League games. Paul Duke, 37, and Ross Gallagher, 29, from East Kilbride, Christopher Bateman, 28, from Irvine, David Gallacher, 22, from Glasgow, Sean Cowden, 21, from Rutherglen and Kieran Duffy, 18, from Coatbridge, are accused of singing The Roll of Honour at Celtic’s home Champions League qualifier against Elfsborg on 31 July. Mr Gallagher, Mr Bateman and Greg Robertson, 28, from Glasgow, are accused of singing the song on 3 August at a league game against Ross County, while Mr Robertson and Mr Gallagher are also charged with singing at a home game on 24 August against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The men stand accused of behaving in a way “likely to incite public disorder”. A trial date has been set for next June, and the seven men pleaded not guilty to all charges, which they deny. http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotland/top-stories/seven-green-brigade-members-face-ira-song-trial-1-3236895

BBC stating that board have won a no others will be elected.

..........at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act (2012) in 2012-13 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0042/00425855.pdf

What a difference a year makes. About 12-18 months ago, new legislation was introduced in Scotland which sought to finally, once and for all, get Rangers fans in particular to shut up about Ireland and the Pope both at and going to or from football matches. Don't believe any nonsense about other club's fans, it was aimed at Bluenoses because Bluenoses were and are seen as the primary offenders. I had and have no problem with this: I was sick of such songs and chants at Ibrox and, since my fellow fans didn't show much sign of packing it in themselves, I agreed that they needed the threat of the law to encourage them to stagger into the 20th century, let alone the 21st. The law proved very controversial, but until this week I remained behind it, because Rangers could only benefit from it, even if some individual fans suffered. I am pleased to say that such songs are down to the absolute bare minimum and will, with the right approach, wither and die within a generation. So, the law is a success? Alas, things have become rather muddied. The spotlight has shifted from us to Celtic's fans, due to their repeated singing and flag waving about IRA people, disrupting Glasgow city with marches, singing about Orange Bastard managers from Ajax and generally being obnoxious. Curiously, this focus has been greeted not with societal opprobrium and condemnation, and certainly not legislation, but a willingness to engage with the reasoning behind such displays, deep thinking articles and much intelligentsia driven discussion. Legitimate displays of heritage are suddenly to include singing about terrorists, which unless I am mistaken is specifically illegal under the laws brought in after 7/7 and 9/11. You can dress it up as political activism all you like, terrorism is always wrong. But we have people celebrating it. This is frankly disgusting. As a long serving hand wringer and hater of all Orange ties to Rangers, this willingness to engage with Celtic's terrorist celebrating wing dismays me. Not just because newspaper articles which stroke their metaphorical chin and hmm, hmm, about the rights and wrongs of glorifying murder turns any sane person's stomach, but because it whips the ground out from beneath the feet of those Bluenoses who have argued for the club's fans to drop its baggage. How can I argue that Rangers should drop loyalist links when the rest of the country is falling over itself to analyse Celtic's Irish links? Whether I like it or not, and I don't, I cannot deny that such loyalist links existed. How can I argue that UVF songs are disgusting when the rest of the country has re-classified the IRA as merely a misunderstood political movement, who seem to have let off a few firecrackers by mistake? I am not subtle enough to distinguish between one murder gang and another; if one is allowed, it seems all must be. How can I urge Bluenoses to look to the future when the media in this country are hell bent on grovelling before Celtic's past? If fan A's heritage is so bloody important, surely so is fan B's? The case against sectarianism has taken a huge leap backwards in this country in the last few weeks, and all because some attention has been shone on Celtic's bigots. They are not politically active, they are not the cultural heirs of Finn MacCool, they are a parasitic leech on Scottish football which will do nothing for it but plenty to hold it back. But hey, we want some atmosphere at Celtic park, so that's OK. I imagine thousands of fans will be queuing up to enjoy said atmosphere. Mr Graham Spiers, on BBC Radio Scotland last night, calmly discussed the alleged terrorism-informed Irish heritage of Celtic as displayed by the Green Brigade group of fans - what an insult to both Ireland and Celtic, incidentally - then sounded like he was foaming at the mouth when discussing Mr Paul Murray, the wannabe Rangers director. This man's moral compass is not just broken, it is absolutely shattered. What a dispiriting and dismaying vista. An arch critic of Rangers' sectarian links, Mr Spiers has been at the forefront of pushing for engagement with these deeply misunderstood and intelligent, earnest young men and women, the better to understand why pictures of a 14th century Scottish killer, a 20th century Irish killer, and the suggestion that either are appropriate for the future of 21st century Scotland (or even Ireland), have become visible. The fairly obvious answer - that neither will do, and rather than banging on about centuries past both countries would be better served by looking to the future - is discarded, in favour of agonised intellectual examinations of political disengagement. Anyone who thinks we will revive the electorate by adding some more Irish history to football - this is the serious premise being put forward, by the way - ought to be debarred from even commenting on it on grounds of incipient cretinism. The avalanche of people who have attempted to legitimise utterly inappropriate behaviour by football fans as political has been staggering, but that doesn't make them right! As a paid up online intellectual chin stroker myself, it kind of pains me to say that people who actually have to live with this sort of crap are the ones who have given the best response to it. Mr Tom English and Mr Keith Jackson have given these people short shrift: self-obsessed and self-indulgent has been their judgement, and I would agree. Mr English is Irish, and presumably has an educated understanding of Irish history; Mr Jackson, to judge from his accent, grew up in the environment in which the realities of Old Firm sectarianism are well understood - i.e., broadly meaningless insults between people who go to different schools. Mr Spiers, we know from his insistence on providing us with details of his youth, did not. I won't be dragged into sectarianism just because I am a Rangers fanatic - sectarianism is such a waste of time and energy which embarrasses my club. Granted, any time you have a religion you will have people who oppose it; but it's got nothing to do with football. I'll argue against any Bluenose who wants a debate about our baggage, and have done for a decade. But it just got harder to justify that position (which I will not abandon) thanks to the pussy-footing around in the media, and it's mighty hard to persuade your fellow Bluenose that he out of order when his opposite number in green is molly-coddled to this degree. People like Mr Spiers do the game and the country no favours by indulging one side of this coin while castigating the other. Let's get this absolutely clear - terrorism is always wrong; sectarianism is always wrong; bleating about it at the football is always wrong. It really is that simple. Pandering to bigots will not cleanse Scotland of bigotry, and re-branding bigotry as political activism is about as cowardly and gutless as it gets, allowing those who have spent decades berating one class of bigots to avoid confronting another lot on the grounds of freedom of speech. Mr Spiers recently contacted Gersnet to complain about nine inaccuracies in one of our articles. I would be delighted to hear from him if he could point out the inaccuracies in this one...I won't hold my breath.

After the pre-fight hype the contenders for the right to rule Rangers go head-to-head this week IN the middle of August, Sandy Jardine sat in the back garden of his home in Edinburgh talking about the cancer that nearly killed him. The scans, the operations, the radiotherapy and the long, long journey back to health. What strength he showed. What dignity. Towards the end of the conversation he started speaking about the state of Rangers and the bitter in-fighting at Ibrox. He spoke rather plaintively, like a man who could see what his club had become but still couldn’t quite believe it. “What these people have got to remember is that, whoever takes the club, all they are is custodians,” he said. “The life of the place is the fans. Some of the old guys have been supporters for 80 years. Sons, fathers, grandfathers going in there for long before we were born and will be going in long after we’re gone. We’ve had boardroom battles before but it was kept within the four walls. Let them get on with it, but what they’ve got to remember is don’t embarrass our club. I speak on behalf of the fans now. They’re sick of it.” Jardine’s words were heart-felt but they were ignored. A long time ago we started running out of words to describe the scenes at Rangers this year – not to mention the previous year. With the coming and going of so many chief executives, so many chairmen and so many NOMADs it’s been a pantomime, a circus, a freak show. Ibrox has become an Odditorium where all sorts of previously unknown people have fetched up and declared an undying love for the place, one emotional plea after another, usually accompanied by an earnest promise that they have the “best interests of the club at heart”. If that phrase has been used once it has been used a hundred times. Charles Green, Imran Ahmad, Craig Mather, Brian Stockbridge, Malcolm Murray, David Somers, Scott Murdoch, Alex Wilson, Jim McColl, Sandy Easdale, James Easdale – all of them, and others, tell us they have the best interests of Rangers at heart. Quite honestly, you have to wonder what state the club would be in if all these good Samaritans weren’t looking out for it. On Thursday, all of this comes to a head at last. The Rangers agm will see the final act of the battle for Ibrox, if you can call it a battle. In the board versus the requisitioners contest, as it stands, the board have to be considered strong favourites. There’s the 26 per cent of shares represented by the Easdales, the 11.6 per cent from Laxey Partners and the 4.6 per cent from Mike Ashley. The board reckon they have about 46 per cent of the shares in the bag. Not a guaranteed victory, but a pretty good starting point in an increasingly hostile fight, a war of statement and counter-statement, insult and counter-insult. The board see the requisitioners as scaremongers and blowhards, a collection of characters, some of whom had their chance on the board in the past and blew it, and who now want back on the board despite a combined shareholding of less than two per cent. A case of the tail wagging the dog. The requisitioners talk of an impending financial calamity at the club, about the true nature of the peril being concealed, about a club heading for the rocks again under the stewardship of a board that does not want to engage with supporters and that revels in gratuitous mud-slinging, such as calling those seeking change a gang of “fanatics”. The fans, seemingly in large numbers, are on the side of the requisitioners. Does that make them fanatics, too? They want change. Above all, they want the removal of finance director Brian Stockbridge as their main, non-negotiable, item. And, if there is a second, it would be the dismissal of Jack Irvine, the club’s communications man who has riled them more than once. Both sides are now in an endgame. Sandy Easdale is doing interview after interview. On Friday he attempted to shoot down the view that Rangers are running out of money, but then spoke of a “fatal blow” to the club were supporters to boycott season ticket sales. A mixed message and a touch of moral blackmail. There was also a condescending tap on the head of the fans. They’ve been brainwashed, he said. “The supporters won’t hurt the club they love. They’ll see sense in the long run...” Patronising people isn’t a great way of winning them over. The requisitioners have not been impressive either, it has to be said. Since we are nearly at the end of the year, it’s worth recapping some of what has gone on at Ibrox in 2013, for only by looking back over it do you appreciate how tortuous a saga this has become. It might seem like another lifetime but it was only in January when Green banged on about “the quicker we can leave [scottish football] the better”. Green said he was contacting David Cameron. He spoke about using sex discrimination law to sue UEFA for not allowing Rangers to leave Scotland. Where, exactly, he intended taking them was a mystery. Green is but one character in this story with a brass neck. In February, David Murray’s dismissal of Lord Nimmo Smith’s commission as a witch hunt and a futile waste of time, effort and money was the brazen act of a seemingly unembarrassable man. Nimmo Smith’s report was condemnatory of Murray’s Rangers and their breaches of the SPL rulebook on deliberate non-disclosure of payments. The old board, the verdict stated, “bear a heavy responsibility” for the offences. Throughout the Rangers story you have characters who have sought – and still seek – to rewrite history and change the narrative but Murray’s was one of the most shameless attempts. Green was big on shame at times. In the spring he got embroiled in a drama over a racist comment in a newspaper, then attempted to defend the comment about his “Paki friend”, only to later apologise. The club was cast into a nightmare of uncertainty over his possible links with Craig Whyte and the creeping horror that Green and Whyte were in some kind of cahoots after tape recordings emerged. Enter Pinsent Masons legal firm, exit Green. Enter Craig Mather, exit Ahmad, amid a surreal online controversy after it was reported that Ahmad had taken to social media, under an assumed name, in an attempt to dismantle Ally McCoist’s managerial credibility. Whyte, meanwhile, had by then reported Green and Ahmad to the Serious Fraud Office in an attempt to get his hands on Rangers’ assets. At some point, Stockbridge filmed a drunk Malcolm Murray in a restaurant. Alastair Johnston, former chairman, said that the power struggle was becoming a cancer spreading through the club. Enter Walter Smith as chairman. Exit Walter Smith as chairman, citing a dysfunctional board, a board that was spending money like there was no tomorrow, among the cash burned being the £825,000 salary to the manager. Later, there would be an announcement that McCoist’s salary was going to be cut dramatically. Later still, another announcement that, er, it still hadn’t happened. Rangers had spent £7.8 million on their playing budget to win the Third Division. Smith shrugged his shoulders and said that’s just the way things are at Rangers, as if the club was duty bound to flush money down the toilet. Mather made a play for the hearts of an increasingly disgruntled support, a play right out of the Green textbook. In North America, he spoke darkly about the “enemy of Rangers”. He said revenge would be had against the Rangers haters. “We’ve chosen, and we will continually choose, the right moment to strike. Please, never believe that I or any other directors don’t know the names of the people who have tried to damage this club. We know them all. We know what each one’s tried to do and I can assure you we will never, ever forget about that.” His rallying cry was an embarrassment, an obvious attempt to ingratiate himself with the support and galvanise them into buying season tickets. The ones Mather should have had his eye on were not the guys with laptops but the blokes in blazers scurrying out of Ibrox with their pockets bulging. Exit Mather and here we are today with two camps who have being taking potshots at each other for months. The low-point – or one of them at any rate – was a crass comment on Twitter by Irvine, the board’s communications guy, about McColl being a “bullshit billionaire”. There has been no apology. There’s a new cast of characters in recent times, one of them being the new chairman, Somers, who added his own piece of slapstick to this black comedy a week ago when claiming that, up until a month ago, he had never heard of Whyte or Green and wouldn’t recognise either of them in the street. This was part of his “fanatics” statement. What possessed him to release it is anybody’s guess, but it was cringe-making. The requisitioners have steadfastly refused to buy up shares during these past months. It’s been a big weakness. The board have singularly failed to engage with the fans. Another weakness. There is ducking and diving on both sides and, all the while, Sandy Jardine’s words – “Don’t embarrass our club” – have been drowned out. It’s too late. Embarrassment took hold a long time ago. Graham Wallace, the new chief executive, is an important figure at Ibrox in many different ways. He is the one person who seems to be rising above all of this, the one person who has won praise from both sides. Well, there is one other – Dave King. He has been silent of late, but he’ll be watching Thursday’s events with interest and, perhaps, intent. Rangers could do with Wallace’s decorum and King’s cash. The club could also do with a definitive victory, one way or another, and some dignity in the aftermath. If both sides are true to their mantra of having the “best interests” of Rangers at heart, then the board and the requisitioners would find a way of concluding business on Thursday with some kind of compromise, some means of moving forward without taking swipes at each other for months and years to come. Too many bluffers have trotted out too many cheap lines about loving the club. If they really believe it, Thursday might be a good time to illustrate it. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-boardroom-contenders-gear-up-for-agm-fight-1-3233870

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/256830-rangers-supporters-trust-suspend-spokesperson-over-improper-conduct/

Hello Rangers fans! I am a student and Indiana University in the States and am looking for two or three of you to answer some questions for an upcoming ethnographic research project I have. The project examines the sectarianism surrounding the Old Firm and how it influences football culture in Scotland. It would be wonderful if any of you had some time this weekend to answer a few questions anonymously! It's all very informal so it can be done over email or Gersnet or whatever! I just need 2 or 3 more informants representing Rangers FC so if you're interested send me a PM or email me at indianaethnographer@yahoo.com or even post in this thread! Thanks so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

When we had Tugay I knew he was a pretty good player and was capable of something a bit extra but he wasn't in most peoples starting XI at the time as we had Albertz, Van Bronckhurst, Ferguson, Reyna, De Boer and McCann all at their peak. But I usually click onto Skysports video website and watch that Paul Merson program where he has players and ex players on giving their all time I-XI of the players they have played with. Tugay is getting into teams quite regularly and players cant speak highly enough of him saying he was a genius. Dean Saunders was the latest this week and said he should have been playing for 1 of the big 4. Tugay has been mentioned in 3 teams in the last 2 months. Why did we sell him in the end? IIRC he wasn't one of the players who wanted to leave. I recall Reyna and Gio wanting to play at a higher level but not Tugay. Seems we had another World Class player on our books.

Being reported on Twitter(I know) that Keevins stated this on RC tonight. Anyone confirm? If true what will he be saying, back board, buy ST, give us your money?

Institutional Investors are professional investors and they are in the business of making money. Whether it be for themselves, or on behalf of others, others who could be you and me via the hard earned cash we entrust to them to invest in our pension funds. Which brings me to the puzzle which is Colin Kingsnorth and Laxey Partners who have invested in Rangers and who have seen the value of that investment slashed under the current regime. Yet Kingsnorth insists he will continue to back the board. What’s in it for Colin Kingsnorth? Certainly not a profit, if past experience is anything to go by. After all, the share price protected by the Rangers regime has been dropping like a stone to 38p, meaning those who invested at £1-per-share have seen their investment slashed by almost two thirds. While those who charged in at the IPO price of 70p have seen their money almost halved. In fact, just last month Colin Kingsnorth waded in with another £1.3M , only to see the value of his extra investment slashed in a matter of weeks. How much longer will it take for the Rangers share price to plummet even further? How much longer before Kingsnorth takes yet another financial hit? So what is Colin Kingsnorth’s continued fascination with a regime which has banked around £53M of his and other people’s dough – including two lots of season ticket money from supporters – in only 18 months, but who, by their own admission will have a mere million left in April? A regime which has seen the value of Rangers tumble since those heady days of Charles Green and Imran Ahmad’s IPO a year ago. It’s as big a puzzle as the one about exactly who it is who is behind the mysterious and highly secretive Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings, whose proxy, along with the proxy of Charles Green’s shares, the Easdales hold. No wonder the overwhelming majority of Rangers supporters want regime change. In fact, the only wee gang which backs the board and who had a meeting with financial director Brian Stockbridge arranged by fans’ liaison officer, Jim Hannah, is Vanguard Bears and they are now at the centre of a police probe, plus an investigation into their dodgy activites by the very board they back. Both Police Scotland and Rangers have gone on the record to confirm this. No doubt Jim Hannah is privy to the details as to just who the Vanguard Bears are and will be able to help police with their enquiries. So, if Vanguard Bears thought that by backing the regime they were on a promise of privileged access should the unthinkable for Rangers future happen and the board win the AGM, they can think again. The only privileges Vanguard Bears will be getting will be the ones earned for good behaviour inside the Bar-L. And as for access? When Vanguard are banged up, they will also be banned from Ibrox. That’s right, isn’t it? Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holdings, two dangerously mysterious outfits, Vanguard Bears, a gang which now has the boys in blue on their trail and the Ibrox board it backs investigating it , along with Laxey Partners, an investment company which appears to take pleasure in throwing good money after bad. It certainly is a motley crew And the one thing they have in common is that they are backing the Rangers regime. Peculiar, that.

DAVID Templeton today revealed he is in the best physical shape of his Rangers career - and is ready to kick-start his season. Templeton has struggled during the 2013/14 campaign due to the thigh injury he picked up in pre-season. The forward has not been a regular starter for Ally McCoist's team and when he has featured his performances have often proved disappointing. But the former Hearts man has enjoyed a resurgence in recent weeks and believes he is now poised to hit peak form. The 24-year-old came off the bench and scored a late goal in the 2-0 win over SPFL Championship club Falkirk in the Scottish Cup a fortnight ago. And in the League One showdown with Forfar at Ibrox last week his trickery proved too much for rival player Ross Campbell. Templeton was tripped in the box to win a penalty -which captain Lee *McCulloch promptly buried to round off an emphatic 6-1 win. Those outings have given the skilful star, who joined the Glasgow giants in a £450,000 move last year, enormous self-belief. And as he prepared for the league clash with Stenhousemuir at Ochilview on Saturday evening, he predicted better times ahead. "I have had a tough start to the season," he said. "I haven't played as much as I would have liked. But I have no complaints, as when I have played I know I haven't played well. "Hopefully, though, now that I have got that goal I can push on and get back to playing the way I know I can. I feel more confident when I go out onto the pitch now. "I picked up a couple of injuries in pre-season and that definitely set me back. "But I am feeling fit now. To be honest, I am feeling the best I have felt since I came in to Rangers. "I would like to think I can start putting a thought in the manager's head with my performances and start getting back in the team on a regular basis. "When you start games on the bench all you can do is try to impress when you get your chance. That is what I am trying to do in every game I play in." Templeton has enjoyed helping Rangers break their record for consecutive post-war victories in competitive matches this season. The 3-0 win over Ayr United at Ibrox on Saturday, which the winger came on in, was their 20th in succession in all tournaments. The Gers are set to complete Stage Two of "The Journey" in record time and even have a chance of recording a perfect season. But Templeton is confident that McCoist's charges are, despite playing in the third tier, capable of challenging for the Scottish Cup trophy. He was a member of the Hearts team that reached the final of the national cup competition back in 2012. An injury ruled him out of the latter stages of that memorable run - and the emphatic 5-1 win against Hibs at Hampden. But he saw at close quarters what was required to come out on top in the tournament, and reckons that Rangers can replicate that success. Templeton said: "I wasn't involved in the Scottish Cup final with Hearts last year because I had been out injured with a double hernia. "But it was still a great feeling being with the rest of the boys when they lifted the cup after the win over Hibs at Hampden. "I am obviously hoping that I can do something in the cup now I am at Rangers - and I think after the win over Falkirk in the last round there is no reason why we can't. "It is great for the fans for the team to go on a good cup run. It is what they want. And as players it is what we want as well. "Going on a good cup run gives you confidence going into every game. If we can keep that going who knows what can happen this season." HE added: "I think the win over Falkirk has given us confidence. It is a difficult place to go and play. Rangers lost there in a cup two years ago. "When I played with Hearts we lost in the cup to Falkirk away as well. It is definitely a very hard place to go to and win. "We didn't win the game there comfortably. It took us two late goals to make it through. "But we had quite a few scoring chances before Nicky Law and I netted and enjoyed a lot of the possession. "I know that they had a man sent off in the second half, but before that we had played well and could have taken a couple. They are from the league above us so we can take heart from it." Rangers skipper McCulloch, uncharacteristically for him, missed a spot-kick in that cup outing against Falkirk. The 35-year-old felt that the artificial pitch had affected his run-up - and had no hesitation stepping up to take the penalty against Forfar last week. Templeton has no doubts whatsoever the former Motherwell, Wigan and Scotland man will continue to lead by example whenever he plays for his boyhood heroes. He said: "As far as I am concerned, Lee is the best penalty-taker we have at the club. "The spot-kick against Falkirk is the first one I have ever seen him miss since I have been at Rangers. "Maybe he was due one. Everybody misses them now and again. "He has got the bad one out of the way and I am sure he will have no problem taking them from now on. "Lee is a great captain and since I have come to Rangers he has been brilliant. "He talks to us all both on and off the pitch. "He is a great character and big influence on all of the players in the dressing room." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangers-star-templeton-set-to-hit-heights-145244n.22933842

Five people have been arrested in connection with crowd trouble at the Motherwell v Celtic game last week A reported £10,000 of damage was caused to seats in a section housing Celtic fans, a flare was let off in the same area before the game and two green smoke bombs were thrown on to the pitch during the match at Fir Park stadium on Friday. Celtic said they were ''appalled'' by the actions and issued precautionary suspensions to 128 supporters preventing them from attending home and away matches, while 250 season-ticket holders seated in the Green Brigade's corner of Celtic Park are to be moved to other parts of the ground. Police said 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and one flare were set off. There were also disturbances and vandalism in Motherwell both before and after the game. Officers said five people were arrested in connection with the disorder on Monday and inquiries are continuing. The incident was the latest in a spate of trouble at Scottish football matches. A teenage girl was arrested after a flare was thrown from the Rangers support after their win at Falkirk on November 30, damaging the pitch, and a smoke bomb was thrown from the Motherwell support during their defeat by Albion Rovers on the same day. Last Saturday, 10 people were arrested in connection with football-related disorder before the Falkirk v Raith Rovers match. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/five-arrested-after-celtic-fan-trouble-at-motherwell-match.1386845170

.........says Ibrox playmaker Lewis MacLeod 12 Dec 2013 00:01 THE young midfielder is determined to help the Ibrox club secure a return to the big time as he looks to fulfil a lifetime dream. LEWIS MACLEOD imagines the moment he runs down the Ibrox tunnel in 19 months’ time to a cacophony of noise. He can almost feel the atmosphere as the Rangers fans roar their appreciation on returning to the big time as the 2015-16 Premiership season kicks off. It will be the ultimate dream for the diamond of the Rangers youth academy and he can’t wait to live it. Other young Scottish players may be seduced by offers from England or abroad but the 19-year-old has only one ambition – to complete the journey of recovery and play in the top flight with Rangers. Macleod, who hit the milestone of 50 Rangers matches last weekend, said: “There would be nothing better than playing for Rangers that first year we are back in the Premiership. That would be magnificent. “I can’t wait for that and also the possibility of playing in Europe. It would be the ultimate for me. “I know young players left Rangers last year because they believed it was good for their careers but I have no thoughts about doing that.” Macleod rubs shoulders with the country’s top talent when he is on Scotland Under-21 duty and admits to pangs of jealousy they are either playing in the Premiership or England. He has seen the rise of Andy Robertson at Dundee United, the explosion of Ryan Gauld’s precocious talent and marvelled at the scoring exploits of Stevie May. However, the teenager will bide his time and savour the moment when as expected Rangers complete three consecutive promotions to get back to familiar surroundings. He said: “I’m like the odd man out as the rest of the Scotland Under-21 squad are playing at a higher level every week in either the Premiership or England. “Everyone wants to play at a higher level but I want to do it with Rangers. Hopefully that day will come and it will be fantastic when it does. “It’s only 18 or 19 months away, assuming all goes well. Last season flew in for me and I’m sure the next six months will go quickly so we only have a year to go after that. “I know Andy Robertson. I played against him when he was at Celtic as a young boy. “He was always a good player. Last year he did well for Queen’s Park but since going to United he has progressed massively and is relishing it. “Wee Gauldie is something special. He really has something about him and Stevie May is the best finisher I’ve seen. It would be great if the gaffer could maybe bring him to us!” Macleod, who reached the half century in last week’s 3-0 win over Ayr, is one of the major positives for Rangers out of the horror of last year’s financial meltdown although he was always tipped to make the breakthrough. He is flourishing in a much stronger side this season who are aiming for 21 consecutive wins at Stenhousemuir on Saturday as they maraud to the League One title. Macleod said: “I’m delighted with the milestone. I never expected to reach 50 games so quickly. “It’s only the equivalent of a full season if you take into account I was injured for three months last season. “The majority of the games have been starts, which I’m proud of. I was on the bench a couple of times last month but I had been playing a few international games and was a bit tired. “I prefer to play in the middle but Nicky Law and Ian Black are doing so well in there that I don’t have any disagreement. “I’m happy to play anywhere. Nicky should be fine for the weekend so if I have to move back to the left I will have no problem with that. “Nicky and Ian are the best combination for the team and that’s what it’s all about. “I like it a lot better playing in the middle because you can get on the ball more and create. Having said that, when you play with Lee Wallace on the left you can sometimes create more from that area. “It makes it much easier when you play with better players. You can tell there is a big difference in the way the team is playing this season.” Rangers struggled to break down Stenhousemuir in October before Jon Daly’s goal edged the Ramsdens Cup semi-final so Macleod is anticipating another test on Saturday. He said: “The artificial surface is a factor but they were up for it and it took us until late on to get our goal. “That was a tough match and we don’t expect any different. We’re on a great run and want to keep it going. “I don’t see why we can’t go the whole season unbeaten. It would be an amazing achievement but we can do it.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/lewis-macleod-nothing-beat-running-2917383

Totally destroyed.Could and should have been more.

The Reqs the facts. http://www.rangersmedia.co.uk/requisitioners-the-facts/

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a ruling in favour of Rangers FC following an advertising dispute over whether the club should be allowed to advertise using the ‘Scotland’s most successful club’ claim. The ASA delivered its original ruling in June this year but after an appeal by complainants, the Independent Reviewer agreed that the case should be re-opened because a “valid question mark” had been raised over the adequacy of evidence submitted by the advertiser in the original investigation. However, following further examination, the ASA stood by its original ruling not to uphold 82 complaints that Rangers were misleading consumers by using an advertising slogan that said: “Join Scotland’s most successful club at Ibrox… still going strong… 54 titles… Rangers then… Rangers now… Rangers forever”. In a fresh adjudication, the ASA said it was confident that consumers would understand the claim was in reference to the history of Rangers Football Club, but did accept that that the club’s history was “separate to that of Newco”. “We consulted with UEFA, which explained that its rules allowed for the recognition of the ‘sporting integrity’ of a club’s match record, even if that club’s corporate structure had changed,” the ruling stated. “We also consulted with the SFA, which confirmed that its definition of a football ‘club’ varied depending on context, and could sometimes refer to an entity separate from the club’s corporate owner. “The SFA further pointed out that, following RFC’s transfer to a new corporate owner, Newco did not take a new membership of the Scottish FA but rather that previous membership was transferred across to them so they could continue as the same member of the Scottish FA. “We considered that consumer would understand that the claim in question related to the football club rather than to its owner and operator and therefore concluded that it was not misleading for the ad to make reference to RFC’s history, which was separate to that of Newco.” The question of whether Newco Rangers should be permitted to trade on the history of the liquidated company has been a bone of contention in Scottish football since Rangers’ financial collapse in 2012. The Drum understands that the ASA consider the decision final. http://m.thedrum.com/news/2013/12/11/asa-rules-favour-rangers-fc-advertising-dispute-following-appeal

RANGERS Football Club has today issued an indefinite ban to a 16-year-old female who has been charged for her unacceptable behaviour at the recent Scottish Cup tie at Falkirk. She will be banned from attending all home and away games following the flare incident at the match. The Club will continue to assist Police Scotland with their enquiries as they attempt to identify others who may have been involved. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5788-club-statement

ALLY McCOIST insists he hasn’t been told he needs to sell any players next month and is optimistic he can keep Rangers’ best talents at the club for the long term. The manager spoke as speculation slowly rises among fans that the likes of Lee Wallace could be moved on when the transfer window opens in January. Wallace has been outstanding so far this season and has arguably been the standout player in McCoist’s side to this point. Still aged only 26 and back in the Scotland squad again, the former Hearts left-back is one of the most valuable members of the Light Blues squad. But McCoist is of the understanding there’s no requirement to cash in on Gers’ most prized possessions – and he believes Wallace is desperate to stay at Ibrox in any case. He told RangersTV: “I’ve had discussions with board members and the chief executive and there has certainly been no indication at all that we have to sell. “If that’s the case, I’m sure I’ll be informed of that but until that moment comes we obviously want to keep hold of our better and best players. “You’d have to say Lee certainly comes into that category and in moving forward, which the club hopes to do, we’d be delighted to keep our better and best players. “The fans deserve the best team we can afford to put on the park and which can play the best football and entertain 36,000 season ticket holders. “Home crowds of 45,000 would tell me the fans deserve a good product on that park and we’re trying to give them the best side we can. “Lee’s well respected here as a player and a man and the way he conducted himself last year would indicate he’s happy here and he’d want to stay. “I know he’s got a young family too so all things being well, he’ll be here with us for a good number of years yet.” McCoist’s admiration for Wallace has only grown further in the last few months as the defender has turned in a series of highly consistent displays. While the manager isn’t always one for picking out individuals, he happily accepts the ex-Jambo is worthy of exception and added: “Lee has been absolutely outstanding. “He gained a lot of respect from everybody within the club and the supporters for the way he conducted himself through administration. “I think he has enjoyed the responsibility of being one of the older players and helping some of the younger players who have come into the team. “He has also merited getting back into the international squad and he’s running the left-hand side of the park for us. “I can understand the supporters having the opinion he’d be up there among our best performers.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/5783-no-need-to-sell

Barcelona's board of directors will make a decision in January on whether to expand the Camp Nou or submit plans to move to a new stadium. The Spanish champions have commissioned a report over the viability of both projects with the objective to increase the capacity of their home ground to 105,000. Although progress was made at a meeting on Monday, the Barça directors will not announce their preferred option until early in 2014. A board spokesman Toni Freixa explained on the club's official website it had two choices: "The construction of a new stadium on the land on Diagonal, property which belongs to the University of Barcelona, or a profound remodelling project that would constitute a new stadium keeping the current structure of the Camp Nou. "Both would have a capacity of 105,000 spectators, the stadium would be covered, there will be a construction of a new Palau with a capacity of 12,000 spectators, an adjacent court with a capacity of 2,000 spectators, 6,000 new parking spots and access to the Ciutat Esportiva of the Miniestadi. "We've made advances, we have all the information and we're in a position to make a decision." Despite the sizeable financial outlay that would be involved, Freixa insisted any project would not harm the club, adding: "It needs to be viable from a technical perspective, urbanist and economic. We would never submit a project that would endanger the sustainability of the club." The Camp Nou is already the largest ground in Europe with a capacity of 99,354. http://gu.com/p/3y493/tw

A FATHER and son have been banned from attending Rangers matches at UK football grounds. William and Billy Buchan were handed a two-year football banning order after being found guilty of singing offensive songs on a train journey between Glasgow and Aberdeen on February 18, last year. William, 42, and Billy, 21, whose address was given in court as 46 Kincorth place, Aberdeen, were convicted at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month. Sheriff Graham Buchanan ordered William to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and Billy 175 hours. http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/aberdeen-father-and-son-banned-from-rangers-matches-in-uk-1.162765

Dear Mr King, This is a particularly difficult letter to write, despite it being penned from one Bear to another. It is difficult because I don’t necessarily believe the model of ownership you would bring to our club – a sole owner – has been particularly successful for Rangers, and if I’m honest I would much rather see the transparency and clarity which I would hope could be afforded by some measure of fan representation on our board. In short, in writing such a letter I am foregoing many of the dreams and aspirations I hoped would be achieved in my lifetime for our club. I mention the foregoing for one reason – to highlight how desperate and concerned I am and the circumstances which gave rise to this letter. Our support is literally ripping itself asunder in the current boardroom battle, the very heart and soul of this club are trading blows with each other and causing rifts, some of which I fear may prove irreparable. For a club such as ours, which attracts so much hatred from others, and whose strength and very survival has often relied upon our unity as a support, this presents a bleak and ominous outlook. Further more I am not convinced that either side emerging victorious from the AGM on the 19th December, will result in a cessation of hostilities, merely a lull in the fighting, which will be renewed, perhaps with greater vigour and further damage to our already fragmented support in the future. But I do not write to you as Dave King the financial saviour of our club. I write to you as the only man on this planet who can bring the much needed unity to our support, whose commitment to this club is without question, and who can capture, inspire and unite our support behind our club. As one. The English writer William Hazlitt once wrote : “No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.” I, and thousands like me, would implore you now to write your page in the history of our club. Yours in Rangers D’Artagnan