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There is seldom an isolated event at Rangers. Brian Stockbridge's departure as finance director is being interpreted as the first example of Graham Wallace, the chief executive, asserting his authority. Yet it also changes the dynamic in the boardroom, reducing the club to four directors and potentially altering how certain decisions are made in the coming months. There is, still, a sense of uncertainty about what the future holds for the club. Rangers' route back to the top flight is still being determined. Essentially, the club either cut back their spending in line with revenue from season ticket sales and, while in the lower leagues, limited commercial revenue. Alternatively, some investment in the coming 18 months would allow the team to be strong enough to compete on its return to the top division, and so quicken the recovery of Rangers' old status. An element of restructuring is required in either case, which is why Wallace has embarked on a root and branch review of the club's business. Philip Nash, the former Arsenal and Liverpool finance director who was recently brought in as a consultant, is expected to take the finance director role in the short-term. How it impacts on the boardroom will also be interesting, though. Dave King wants to lead the fundraising in a fresh share issue. His vision is to generate money from himself and other high net-worth Rangers fans that can be used to strengthen the squad and the football resources so that the team are immediately competitive, in return for influence on how the club is run. The alternative is a longer period spent trying to regain ground. There are complications, though, since a new share issue requires existing shareholders to reinvest to maintain the size of their stake, at a time when the vast majority of them have suffered considerable losses. The shares were launched in December 2012 at 70p, but closed last Friday with a value of 27.25p. This is the ideological struggle at the club, and the decision on the way forward lies with the Rangers International Football Club plc board members - Wallace, Norman Crighton, James Easdale and the chairman, David Somers - and the shareholders. Before either short-term funding, to tide over until season ticket sales kick in, or fresh funding is sought, though, Wallace has to restore the business to an even keel. It is thought to be losing between £500,000 and £1m a month, and costs will need to be cut. The first-team wages are around 30% of turnover, but with one week of the transfer window remaining, Rangers may yet find themselves having to react to offers for some of their players, or seek to incentivise some to leave, although payments would further reduce the cash flow. This is at a time when the team have lost only once in 22 league games. Some fans grumble at occasionally muted performances, but Ally McCoist deserves credit for managing through a series of crises, and for maintaining the standards the club was built on. "There have been times when I've said, 'What am I doing here?'," McCoist said. "But how could you regret becoming the manager of Rangers? I've got my dream job. It's not the dream situation [but] as long as I can look myself in the mirror, I'll be happy. I've made mistakes and I'll make more mistakes. As long as they're done in an attempt to do the right thing then I can live with that." A recent lunch with Graeme Souness and Walter Smith, his friends and former Rangers managers, will have brought plenty of reminders of different, more accommodating times. McCoist is resilient, though. While the club's future direction is being debated, his assessment is that his team needs reinforcements if it is to eventually challenge Celtic again. "If we're talking about winning the top league then we're miles away," he said. "I would hate that to be taken as a criticism of the team because it's not. But it would be very unfair for people to expect these free transfers who have come together to win [the] top flight. Some, if we got help with players coming in, could probably do it. But we would need investment." Herald

by EWING GRAHAME Rangers would be deducted 25 points should they be forced into administration this season – even though Hearts were given just a 15-point penalty last year. Under new rules introduced last summer when the SPL took over the Scottish Football League to form the SPFL, clubs which suffer more than one insolvency event in the space of five years will be hit with a 25-point penalty. The SPFL board believes that, since Lord Nimmo Smith ruled, at a hearing last February, that the current club was a continuation of the same entity which went into liquidation in October 2012 when finding them guilty of not disclosing payments to their players, Rangers should face the heavier sanction. Rangers are currently 23 points clear of second-placed Dunfermline at the top of League One. The Ibrox club first entered administration in February 2012 and former director Dave King has warned that it could happen again. SPFL sources also confirmed that Hearts will start 2014-15 on minus 15 points if they have not emerged from administration before the beginning of the season. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-administration-25-point-penalty-threat-1-3281694

Rangers manager Ally McCoist believes the long-term future of the club is secure, despite uncertainty over the financial situation at Ibrox. The Scottish League One side have reported running costs of up to £1m a month and last December chief executive Graham Wallace warned the money 'could run out by April'. Last week Wallace asked Rangers players to take a 15 per cent wage cut and has since sought other avenues of cost-cutting after the request was rejected out of hand. But McCoist, who met with Wallace on Thursday, said: "I think Graham has obviously gone on record as saying the problems that we seem to have, the problems that we are facing, are short-term. "Graham's went public and has told meetings that I've had that the mid to long-term future of the club he is very, very confident and fairly happy with. "So I think the financial problems we face would certainly seem to be more short term than anything. What they are and how we handle them is certainly I don't think for me to say. I think that is for other people to say." Former oldco director Dave King, who is reportedly keen to invest in the Ramsden Cup finalists, has claimed the club needs to bolster the squad at the moment rather than think about trimming numbers. But McCoist refused to be drawn on the South Africa-based businessman's remarks, claiming: "I have to be 100 per cent honest and say I haven't read Dave's article' "People who have been involved in the past obviously still care about the club, People like Dave, Paul Murray and Sir David Murray, and I am quite happy they still want to comment on the club. "They are well entitled to have their views but I can't comment on them. The chief executive is the man I am supporting at the current time, I think I have to do that. He has asked for 120 days and we have to get behind him." http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...medium=twitter ---- I could have done without bloody SDM being mentioned in that light, but thought I should share.... Not sure what to make of it to be honest

I posted this on RM, I'd be interested in any thoughts about it on here too:- There has been a lot of debate about the job Ally is doing, most of it understandably (this being a discussion forum) based on subjective opinions about the 'type' of football we are playing. Most of these debates seem to be argued by using extreme absolutes with helpful terms like 'shite', 'clueless', 'going nowhere', 'useless', etc, etc. Using subjective terms like those certainly makes for fiery and occasionally interesting discussion but I feel that the three major points that get lost in all this is the fact that we have clearly improved from the dross served up last year, that we are currently meeting objective expectations on the pitch and whether our manager will be the answer long term. The last point remains to be seen and can only really be argued in the subjective, so I thought it would be interesting to look at the objective side to the first two points. We are currently averaging 3 goals a game and have only conceded 8 whilst winning 20 games out of 21 in the league. We've played some good stuff in spells this season whilst scoring hatfuls of goals, we've also played poorly at times and struggled to break teams down whilst still winning the vast majority of them - I think it's safe to say that at the moment he and his squad of journeymen and free transfers are meeting any objective expectations you would wish to ask of them in the League. As far as the cups go we have had one major disappointment in the League Cup after crashing out at the first hurdle. There are more encouraging signs in the other two cups however - we are in the final of the Ramsdens Cup and have a very winnable tie in the 5th Round of the Scottish Cup. There has been a lot of debate about the players brought in. I think they way transfers are viewed are pretty archaic, people seem to look at them in terms buying players to bolster a squad. They should, in my opinion, be looked at in terms of buying wins. Especially when you consider the importance of 3 straight promotions whilst operating under a transfer embargo (I used to term 'buying' wins for conversational ease). We can all have opinions on how we look as a team in obtaining those but, again, these are just opinions. I don't think anyone can dispute that Bell, Mohsni, Law and Daly are the spine of our team. All of whom were recruited in the summer and the stats for the games they have appeared in are pretty impressive. There has been a lot of claims (baseless) that players have 'regressed' under the current Manager and coaching team this season but, again, the stats don't really reflect this. Bell has kept numerous clean sheets in 15 appearances for the club this season, our impressive defensive record bears that out. Mohsni, as part of that defensive line up, has also played a major role in that record whilst scoring 8 goals and making 5 assists from Central defence - very impressive. Nicky Law has had numerous man of the match awards whilst weighing in with 9 goals and 5 assists from the centre of midfield. Jon Daly has contributed 18 goals and 8 assists whilst continuing to be the focal point of our attack. Two signings which receive the most ire on this board are those of Foster and Smith. Both have been derided as 'needless' and a 'waste of a wage'. The stats for those two are a lot less impressive but suggest that both have played their part this season. Foster has played 12 games and weighed in with 2 assists - of those 12 games we have won all 12. Smith has made 6 appearances and, once again, we have won all 6 games. Both were signed as back up and a combined total of 18 games by Janurary isn't too bad. For what it's worth, I don't think the performances are good enough, especially for what I'm paying for a season ticket and getting to games. That said, I find the facts impossible to argue against and until someone can show me a measurable and objective target which this team is failing to achieve this season then I will stick with the view that we are currently meeting expectations. McCoist has shown little so far to suggest he is a world beating manager, but he hasn't shown that he is a totally clueless fool either.

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6049-playing-crucial-for-kyle KYLE McAUSLAND doesn’t know where he’ll spend the rest of the season yet but admits he needs to be playing games regularly wherever it is. The 21-year-old had a Rangers shirt back on yesterday as he turned out for Gordon Durie’s under-20 side in its 1-0 league win over Ross County at Dumbarton. It was McAusland’s first game for the club since his loan spell at League One rivals Ayr United came to an end at the weekend. There is a possibility the defender could go back out on loan but if he was to do that he’d have to return to Somerset Park for what would be his third time there. FIFA rules dictate a player isn’t allowed to play competitively for any more than two clubs in the one campaign. And because McAusland has turned out for Gers as well as the Honest Men, his only other option is to remain at Ibrox and fight for a place in Ally McCoist’s squad. With Richard Foster and Sebastien Faure both ahead of him in the pecking order for the right-back slot, he knows his chances there might be limited. McAusland is eager to keep playing though and wants to at least become a regular in Durie’s side if he stays with the Light Blues. He said: “It’s my first week back at Rangers this week so I asked to play in the under-20 game to get myself back into the swing of things. “To be honest, I’ve not spoken to the manager here or the manager at Ayr yet about where things sit. “I’ll just keep training and hopefully I’ll speak to everyone either this week or next and we’ll see what happens from there. “If I do end up going back out on loan, it’ll be good to go back to Ayr because they’re doing well and they’re in a play-off place at the moment. “There’s competition for places at Rangers and you’re going to get that at any club, especially here. “It’s going to be hard for me to push the other boys out of the way because they have done well since they came in. “Whatever happens, it’s about getting more experience for me. I need to play games wherever I am, preferably first-team ones. I’m at that age where that’s really important.” Once again demonstrating the utter folly of sending a player out on a half season loan because when he comes back both he and the Club are snookered; as with Gallagher and Mitchell.

Excellent article by D'Artagnan - Scapegoats & Scaremongering (Walter Smith) It is particularly difficult writing an article which disagrees with one of your all time heroes but difficult times call for difficult decisions. Whilst Walter's synopsis is a popular ideology it lacks in financial reality. We may well still be Rangers but we are a Rangers operating with with vastly reduced revenue streams in terms of income from season ticket sales, sponsorship and commercial hospitality as a consequence of the league we have been forced to operate in. It's easy to say this is still Rangers if you don't have to, or are not responsible for picking up the bill for operating as in days of yore. The financial state of our club is once again the subject of much speculation, which has been exacerbated considerably with the news that a 15% reduction in player's wages was muted a cost cutting measure. The subsequent anxiety which this caused amongst our support, and the treatment (perhaps scaremongering) of this story in the media, resulted in the search for the inevitable scapegoat. I'm not convinced that two of the eventual "suspects" put in the frame - Ally & Brian Stockbridge - were placed on the list of potential suspects with reasonable suspicion - or consideration of all the relevant facts. Let us start with Ally - I'm sure most of us agree that his wage was excessive for our current league position in fact the whole expenditure with regard to the costs of our coaching staff would be worthwhile of critical review. Furthermore as is now common knowledge Ally has agreed to take a considerable pay cut. Perhaps even more unfair is the suggestion that the current squad along with the wages and contracts of some of our players are too high – and it's Ally's fault. This would only be a valid criticism if Ally had negotiated the contracts in question, and the overwhelming evidence appears to suggests this was in fact done by others. The suggestion that Ally should be a scapegoat for our financial woes is further usurped when you consider our playing staff bill as a percentage of our club's overall operating costs. That is not too say either our squad is too big for the current demands upon us , nor that there are not players on wages which are as unrealistic as our manager's wages were, simply that it is unrealistic to lay the blame with Ally Brian Stockbridge presents considerably more of a challenge in terms of offering a defence - he is after all financial director of our club. Furthermore he is on record as saying our wage bill was sustainable when quite clearly it is not, not if a 15% wage reduction is being considered as an option. In fact, had it not been for Ian Hart's recent interview, I doubt very much I would be offering any kind of defence. Whether Hart's defence of Stockbridge is merited is open to debate – it would perhaps have been more cut and dried if Hart's interviewer had asked more probing questions regarding the remit and expectation of our Financial director. Whatever your view of Brian Stockbridge, perhaps the question we need to ask ourselves is would the immediate sacking or removal of Mr Stockbridge bring an end to the culture of excess which has befallen our club for far too many a year ? I think we all know the answer to that question. Some will have already made up their minds about the competency or incompetency of Brian Stockbridge as a financial director, or Ally as manager, and perhaps with good cause. But to lay the blame for our financial woes at the feet of either of these gentlemen is merely skirting over the more serious issues affecting our club. We need to eradicate the culture of excess at our club from top to bottom, from directors to tea lady if required. Let us not allow the settling of old and tired arguments, or other agendas distract us from the challenging and possibly painful task which lies ahead. We don't need scapegoats – particularly when some of our financial failings are clearly cultural and process driven – we need honest assessment and a willingness to be prepared to accept the necessary changes. It wont be easy nor do I suspect it will be painless. Our new CEO claims he is up to the task – I hope to God he is right. Link to article - Scapegoats & Scaremongering

Looking at some recent performances here is the team I would like to see the manager starting for a few games to see if they can grow together and build some relationships (hopefully allow a couple to build some form: :sf::jig: :lm: :jd: I'm sure some would like to see Jig dropped but realistically that won't happen. The same applies for Daly being rested - we lack realistic alternatives. Templeton's goal the other night was different class and he is capable of that against the very best. I'd like to see him start 3 or 4 games and see if he can build some form. Aird had probably his worst recent performance last time out but adds much needed creativity and positive play. Sadly one bad performance means Peralta will be back to play crap indefinitely with no threat to his place. It's a prime opportunity to play McLeod in his favoured CM with strong options out wide. Shiels was quiet compared to the previous game, is inconsistent and often will play crap all game but pop up with a goal or assist. Clark is injured so it's an opportunity for Shiels to prove his worth. He has a lot of guile and creativity too. I don't like Faure at RB but most options are crap and realistically he will play. How would you like to see us lining up for the next few games?

....yet they'll prepare for Forfar match at four star Hotel. KEITH hits out at Rangers' lavish pre-match routine ahead of tonight's League 1 clash with Forfar claiming they are living a champagne lifestyle on an Irn-Bru budget. HERE’S a thing. You know those Rangers players involved in conceptual discussions about theoretical wage cuts last week? And who metaphorically booted the hypothetical idea into touch? Well, here’s today’s reality. Did you know they’re all being bussed to the Four-Star Carnoustie Hotel this morning? Where they’ll enjoy some fine dining for lunch, possibly at the hotel’s own AA Rosette-winning restaurant? Rooms will then be provided in order that they can enjoy an afternoon nap, for those not getting treatments in the spa. All for an away trip to Forfar? To take on Gavin Swankie and Darren Dods? Is it any wonder these players don’t know if they are coming or going? Or that, as he unwraps the chocolate on his fluffy cotton pillow this afternoon, manager Ally McCoist might pause to reflect on where it has all gone wrong. Talk about mixed messages? Talk about champagne lifestyles and Irn-Bru budgets? Talk about hubris, arrogance and over-indulgence? Talk about sledgehammers and walnuts. The constant noise and confusion around Rangers is truly head-melting stuff. No wonder the club’s new chief executive looked slightly ruffled last week when news emerged from Murray Park of his polite suggestion that the first team might consider 15 per cent pay cuts. For a man of his experience Graham Wallace, below right, ought to have known such a proposal would be unlikely to remain within the walls of the dressing room for longer than it takes a player to hit the speed dial button to his agent. It was bound to result in an outbreak of panic among a support that has seen this movie before and which was so badly traumatised by the way it ended. But Wallace can be excused because, not only is he new here but also there must be a million and one different, more pressing thoughts, pinballing around inside his head as he attempts to tackle this latest financial crisis. Commendably, he has promised to deliver a business model that will finally allow Rangers to live within its means. Sustainability, transparency and a bit of common sense would go a long way to sorting out the internal mayhem over which he presides. Today’s unnecessarily lavish road trip, though, is just more proof that, when he agreed to take on this position at the top of a dysfunctional board, he was in fact stepping into life through the looking glass. Wallace in Wonderland. Or not. It’s his job now to make some sense of the numbers, to crunch them down and to crush this club’s recent culture of big bonuses and eye-popping extravagance before what little cash is left in the bank has evaporated completely. There is a rich irony about the fact that, in Philip Nash, he has hired yet another big-earning accountant to assist him in this urgent cost-cutting review. But then this job is so big Wallace might need all the help he can get. And from people in whom he can trust. Wallace’s planning is all that stands now between Rangers and another financial catastrophe. At the present rate of spending, the club’s last reserves will be gone before the end of the campaign. In fact, the prediction of financial director Brian Stockbridge that Rangers will be down to their last million in April now looks hugely optimistic. It is quite incredible this man remains in charge of the books given his standing in the eyes of the fans. It was not long ago he was talking confidently of growing turnover to in excess of £100m. Only then to predict a £7m year-end loss. Which, in fact, turned out to be a £14m black hole. And if, as is being strongly suggested by people on the inside of this basketcase, Stockbridge has got it wrong again then the situation at Ibrox could soon become dire. Perhaps as soon as next month. At a time when every penny counts, thank goodness then that Stockbridge has handed back that £200k bonus he pocketed for watching Rangers win last season’s Third Division title. Right? And has the financial director and the rest of the board actually signed off on the halving of McCoist’s eye-watering £825k annual salary? After talking about it for months, why on earth would it not have been rubber-stamped by now? If all this financial remedial work really has been completed then Wallace should announce it to the Stock Exchange and also reveal the current state of the accounts. It should be done in the name of sustainability and transparency – and in the hope of forcing common sense to prevail. Wallace must be astonished at some of the numbers that have flown across his desk. It is not his fault this club has blown its chance to stockpile cash on its journey up the leagues and there is nothing he can do now to address this grotesque overspend. That ship has sailed. Had Rangers plotted a more sensible course they would be arriving in the top flight in 18 months in a fit and healthy state, with millions squirrelled away. But, in their vulgar rush to cuddle up to McCoist, former chief execs Charles Green and Craig Mather put their own popularity ahead of proper prudence. By doing this, they kept the fans onside and the tills ringing. All Wallace can do now is address the crisis this pair and Stockbridge created. He’s not helped by the fact that, simply by agreeing to join a broken board and glue it back together, he himself is now viewed with varying degrees of suspicion. But, unlike Green and Mather, he must not allow his own popularity to get in the way of protecting the club’s interests. Which is why it was encouraging to see the first steps towards a more austere future being taken last week. But, crucially, if Wallace is serious about grabbing the bull by the horns then he must do so in the boardroom because this is where the biggest excesses have recently been committed. It is hard to think of another club that spends millions less on its players than on the rest of its employees but that’s precisely what the accounts showed to be the case at Rangers last year. No wonder the players refuse to take the first hit when there are other far more bloated and obvious targets at the top of the marble staircase. These players may well feel treated like disposable window dressing when they are supposed to be the very heart of the club. And here’s another thing. They were asked to ponder a 15 per cent cut over a period of 18 months, while also being told the club hopes to sign even more players in the summer. Which means some of them might be volunteering to help finance their own replacements. And you thought lunch at Carnoustie was mad?

LAST summer, when Ally McCoist’s request for nine new players was granted by his then chief executive, Craig Mather, who was at fault? This was a club that had financial problems, that didn’t have the luxury of adding players to an already gob-smacking wage bill and yet added them anyway. Who was to blame? It wasn’t McCoist. Managers everywhere will push their luck from now until kingdom come. It’s part of their gig. They go to their boss with a sob story and a cap in hand and hope for the best. Sometimes they get a result and sometimes they don’t. And McCoist got a result. You cannot blame the Rangers manager for recruiting but you can most certainly blame Mather and his financial director, Brian Stockbridge, for allowing him to recruit. McCoist looks after matters on the field, the others were supposedly monitoring things off the field. They flunked it. They looked at the state of the finances and either mis-read them or ignored them and added to a wage bill that was drastically in need of a cut. This, of course, has been the way of things at Rangers for far too long. Mistake follows mistake. Irresponsibility follows irresponsibility follows irresponsibility. The names change but the hubristic decision-making remains the same. Mather and Stockbridge are guilty in this instance, but only one of them remains. Quite how Stockbridge is still in his position is a wonder to behold. That’s not to absolve McCoist, whose public comments over the past would indicate that he hasn’t fully grasped the situation he is in at Ibrox. Or maybe he has and is railing against it, like a man raging against the dying of the light. A week ago, McCoist said this about the Rangers way of doing things: “It makes sense to me that we continue to have a higher wage bill than the opposition that we’re playing against.” Higher, yes. But how many times higher? Ten times? One hundred times? A thousand times? It brings us back to the old question: why spend money that you don’t need to spend? That’s a question that too many at Ibrox – Graham Wallace, the chief executive, excluded – continue to struggle with. McCoist, pictured left, continued: “I didn’t give the contracts out and it would be unfair of me to comment on previous people within the club who made those decisions. I would certainly not be critical of them.” Wouldn’t be critical of them? Well, he should be. He should be very critical of them. McCoist was given permission to bring in players on wages that Rangers could not afford by executives who should have known better, executives whose decisions have landed Rangers in another desperate mess. He’s almost duty-bound to criticise them. Mather was a disastrous chief executive for Rangers but his was just another ill-advised appointment in a long series of ill-advised appointments. The Rangers manager said on Friday that he now understands the “severity of the situation”. That’s progress at least. The first step towards fixing a problem is to accept that you have a problem in the first place. Mather never could. Others, too, some of whom are still at Ibrox. McCoist was right in supporting his players over the pay-cut proposal but only in so far as that the cuts should have been made higher up the tree first. The executives should have taken a pay cut and should have announced it publicly. That would have been good leadership, but good leadership is not something this Rangers board – or many that went before it – would recognise. The bottom line is that costs must be cut – and players and suits alike need to take their share of the pain. McCoist has too many players offering too little and being paid too much. He needs to accept that. It seems he’s still struggling with the concept at the moment. And he’s not alone at Ibrox. Wallace has much work to do. In many ways he is fighting against the mindset of the club’s past in an effort to secure its future.

It is beginning to frustrate me that many journalists are continuing to spread the "Rangers cannot afford to spend this much on players in the 3rd tier" line. How many clubs have a player wage bill of 30% of their turnover? The question is not the wages - what we really need to know is where the rest of the money going?

Andy Mitchell contract terminated "by mutual consent" http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6024-mitchell-leaves-club

http://www.sportinglife.com/football//news/article/26854/9012286/violence-mars-hoops-clash Violence mars Hoops clash Last Updated: November 6 2013, 23:34 GMT Celtic's Champions League trip to Ajax has been marred by a clash between supporters and police in the centre of Amsterdam before kick-off, following which 15 fans have been arrested. Amsterdam Police told Press Association Sport that fans armed with bottles and sticks attacked plain-clothed police in an incident described as "coming out of nowhere". Eight police officers were injured with one knocked unconscious following the fighting in Dam Square, in the city centre. Police said the majority of those arrested were Celtic fans, although it is believed that supporters from other clubs were also involved. "At the end of the afternoon a large group of Celtic supporters attacked police officers in plain clothes," a spokesman told Press Association Sport. "Eight were injured and one was knocked unconscious. "A few of them had broken noses and needed stitches above their eyebrows and on their lips. "Bottles and sticks were used in the attack which came out of nowhere. "There were 15 arrests, mostly Celtic supporters." Celtic lost the match 1-0 and face an uphill battle to reach the knockout stages of the competition. Amsterdam Police said it expected the number of 15 arrests to rise during the night and that a final figures would be "high". It is thought that fans from other European clubs were involved, although police said they "had kept themselves covered". Celtic supporters had been urged by the club to be careful after an attack on Hoops supporters in a city-centre bar on Tuesday night. Thousands of Celtic supporters flooded into Holland for the Group H game at the Amsterdam ArenA. A statement on the Celtic website said: "Celtic Football Club is urging all supporters in Amsterdam for tonight's UEFA Champions League tie with Ajax to be extra vigilant following an unprovoked attack on Celtic fans last night "The attack in the city centre by an element of the Ajax support resulted in a number of arrests. "Celtic are urging all supporters to be extra vigilant in the city centre and at the Amsterdam ArenA, and to only stick to the advised areas for safety reasons." At the pre-match media conference on Tuesday afternoon, Ajax coach Frank De Boer expressed hope that the tiny percentage of fans he describes as "crazy" would not disrupt the game. UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the Dutch club after some of their supporters clashed with police and stewards at Parkhead last month during a match which the home side won 2-1. The case will be dealt with by UEFA's control and disciplinary panel on November 21. De Boer admitted that some Ajax fans remain a concern when asked if he was confident of the game passing off trouble-free. "I am confident in that but you never know," said the former Rangers player. "There is always some crazy people (who) try to disturb something but hopefully it will not happen."

Being reported by BBC & STV that the players have refused to take a 15% pay cut.

An interview in the Herald. Since it was done by the discredited journo, I spare their site the hits. Obviously, Spiers has his little snyde remarks, but it is rather useful to read Hart's quotes. No doubt, people will come and give all sorts of views on that, but for me such "insider knowledge" puts it all a more into perspective. Not least with the high octane hysteria levels these days ...

Rangers: Manager Ally McCoist instructed to cut wage bill By Alasdair Lamont Senior football reporter, BBC Scotland Rangers manager Ally McCoist has been told he will have to make cuts to his playing budget. McCoist has been in discussions with Graham Wallace recently as the chief executive undertakes a comprehensive review of the Ibrox finances. Wallace told shareholders at the annual general meeting in December savings would need to be made. And the players' wage bill at the League One side currently stands between £6m and £7m per annum. A spokesman for the Rangers board told BBC Scotland: "The CEO Graham Wallace outlined his strategy at the AGM and nothing is going to deflect him from getting Rangers back on an even keel. "Graham and Ally are reviewing the football budget, as part of the overall business review and it would be inappropriate at this time to discuss any figures." The news comes on the day that three million shares worth around £750,000 were traded in Rangers International Football Club plc. The share price dropped as low as 24p early in the day before rallying slightly to close at 28.5p. That is a fall from the 90p price at the launch of the share issue just over a year ago. Earlier this week, McCoist signed off on a pay cut of around 50%, which he agreed to in October. And consultant Philip Nash has been brought to Ibrox to help oversee the financial overhaul.

Charles Green may have *exited Ibrox but the club still reverberates to the sound of his old cronies feeding at the trough. Yesterday we learned the identity of the person who sold 2.2 million shares in Rangers International Football Club plc – Richard Hughes of Zeus Capital, one of Green’s chums right from the start and a former commercial director of the club. You know that old stock exchange warning about how a share price rises and falls? Well, that doesn’t really apply to the likes of Hughes or anybody else who bought into the club at 1p a share. When you’re in the door at 1p then there’s really no way you can lose. The Rangers share price has tanked with a devastating speed leaving those who bought at the top end in a hole to the tune of God knows how much, but the only relevance of a share price collapse to Hughes is that his profit is not as large as he thought it might be. He sold up and walked away with a return of more than half a million pounds. Another one who has done very nicely out of Rangers, thanks to Green and chums. The steaming mess that is Rangers’ financial plight has now been dumped on to the desk of Graham Wallace, the Rangers chief executive. As an outsider, Wallace must be incredulous at the freewheeling ways of his predecessors, not just the way they sanctioned a first-team wage bill of £7.8m while in the Third Division (contributing to a financial picture so bleak that it made the eyes water) but also the apparent inability of some to accept that things needed to change profoundly. One of these characters was Walter Smith, a man who brought huge glory to Ibrox when he was manager but whose attitude to the finances, during and after his stint as chairman, belonged to the distant past when Rangers thought they had money, when in actual fact all they had was credit and mountains of debt, most of which they torched. At the risk of dredging up events of the past (the recent past, albeit), it’s worth recalling what Smith said in the wake of the Rangers accounts being published last autumn. Commenting on an operating loss of £14.3m including payments to Green of more than £930,000 with £825,000 going to Ally McCoist and more than £400,000 going to finance director Brian Stockbridge on top of that first team wage bill of £7.8m, Smith almost shrugged. He said: “People come out and say ‘Ah, it’s not necessary for them to have those players in that division’. But it’s not just the division that matters at Rangers, it’s the fact that you have 45,000 people coming to watch something on a football pitch…they are still losing money. But when you make a decision to be involved at Rangers, there is no common sense to it. The financial bit of Rangers Football Club and common sense don’t often go *together.” Why not? What makes Rangers so different that financial common sense has no place at Ibrox? Smith’s analysis was plucked from the David Murray era; freakonomics born of hubris. No common sense? He’s right, there hasn’t been. That’s not to say there shouldn’t be or that there can’t be. There must be. It’s just as well that Wallace has arrived and seems determined to cut costs. Somebody had to shake the club out of its economic time warp and bring certain people to their senses. It is estimated that Rangers are losing about £1m a month and that come April they will have just £1m in the bank. Around that point they will be going to the supporters looking for season ticket money for 2014-15, a support that they are continuing to refuse to engage with despite their lofty talk at the agm last month of some new spirit of openness. There hasn’t been any contact, unless you count a letter from a lawyer acting on behalf of some board members to a fans’ group. The upshot of the communiqué was that the Sons of Struth supporters’ lobby felt they had no option but to shut down their Facebook page. Somebody should be talking to the fans. Wallace, you can forgive, because he has so many other things to be doing, most notably speaking with McCoist about cost-cutting. The questions are obvious but the solutions are less straightforward. According to their website, Rangers have 56 full professionals or professional youth players on their books. According to Celtic’s website, they have now got 50, including their newest recruit Stefan Johansen. Wallace will, no doubt, be asking about this. “Why are there so many players here? How many are worth what we’re paying them? How many can we lose?” Why are there so many? That’s one for McCoist. In the summer he signed Steve Simonsen as his reserve goalkeeper. Simonsen is a fine goalie and proved as much at Dundee last season, but Rangers didn’t need him then and they don’t need him now. They have Cammy Bell and they also have Scott Gallacher, a 24-year-old who has been at the club since 2006 and who has played only a handful of games. For the less than arduous task of *sitting on the Rangers bench and, very, very *occasionally, covering for Bell in matches, why not go with Gallacher and save yourself the expense of *Simonsen? We don’t know how much Simonsen is being paid – more than Gallacher for sure – but whatever it is, it’s money for old rope given that his sum total of minutes played since joining Rangers stands at zero. It’s easy to envisage Wallace going through the Rangers squad and continually asking a simple question. Steve Simonsen – why? Emilson Cribari – why? Dean Shiels – why? David Templeton – why? Richard Foster – why? Steven Smith – why? Ian Black, on those wages, why? All of these, and others, are on more money than they could expect to get elsewhere and won’t be in any great hurry to leave. So, for now, Rangers are stuck with them because they can’t afford to make them redundant. This is the legacy of the club’s scattergun accumulation of players they didn’t particularly need to meet the challenge they were faced with. Namely, the Third Division last season and League 1 this season. Wallace is having to deal with the consequences of such financial waste. He is surrounded by “money men” at the club – Stockbridge, Ken Olverman, Andrew Dickson and the accountancy firm Active Corporate – but he has gone outside Ibrox for a financial advisor in the shape of Philip Nash. On one level that looks like more waste. On another, given the state of the club, you can understand why he’s looking for fresh thinking on the fiscal front. The incumbents have not exactly *covered themselves in glory. For years, Rangers celebrated men – Murray et al – who spent vast amounts of money and improved the team. The guy they should be celebrating now is the one who calls a halt to the financial waste and makes the club face its reality, even if his actions run the risk of putting him in conflict with his manager. There will be bleating, but only by those who are mired in the past. Those who truly conform to that much-abused description of “having the best interests of the club at heart” would say bring on the cost-cutting to stave off disaster. In trying to move on from the damage of the past, Wallace knows what the club needs to do. But it promises to be a tough and lonely journey for him.

I think some people have completely lost all perspective. We've played some lovely stuff at times this season scoring barrow loads of goals in the process, we've also struggled in games yet still won the vast majority of them. I don't think anyone is happy with the latter, other than the results, but recognise that he's in a no-win situation until we're back at the top. We've all been puzzled by some of the selections and tactical decisions. But equally, the football is better than last season and some of the changes made etc.. have made a difference. McCoist has shown little so far to suggest he is a world beating manager, but he hasn't shown that he is a totally clueless fool either. I think two points which invariably get lost in these debates is that there has been a clear improvement from the dross last season and that McCoist may not be the answer long term, but that remains to be seen. At the moment he is meeting expectations and that should be good enough for the majority of the support.

It’s coming up for three years since Madjid Bougherra left Rangers, but despite leading Algeria to their second ever World Cup this summer and embarking on a new life in Qatar, the defender still has his mind on the Ibrox club. With his current contract at Lekhwiya nearing its end he’s targeting a return. Rangers might not have seen the last of “Boughie”. “My ambition is to go back to my favourite club, Rangers,” he explains. “If there’s no money, I don’t care. I want to go back at some point. It doesn’t matter to me what division they’re playing in. I’ll play for nothing! That’s how much I want to play for Rangers again. It would be the best way to finish my career.” The Algerian was an integral part of the team that won three successive league titles between 2009 and 2011, also getting his hands on the 2009 Scottish Cup and 2011 League Cup. They were the good times before the bad. “It feels like ages ago since I was at the club,” says Bougherra. “That’s just because so much has happened at Rangers in that time. It’s sad to see them where they are just now. “Over those three years we managed to keep the same team, apart from maybe one or two changes,” says the defender who made 81 appearances for Rangers. “It was the best atmosphere and best group of players I’ve ever been involved with. We had very good players and plenty of experience, so it was a shame that it had to come to an end.” The former Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday player still keeps in touch with a few of his former teammates, namely Maurice Edu, Salim Kerkar and Steven Davis. However, things ended a little sourly for the defender, or so was reported at the time. The offer of a new contract with Rangers was below Bougherra’s expectations, raging that the terms made him “feel sick.” “It wasn’t just that the contract wasn’t good enough,” he reflects. “There wasn’t the security in the offer that I needed, and you can see why that was the case. “I was happy that Rangers got some money for me before my contract ended. At first I wanted to stay as long as possible but the situation at the club changed. We were talking about a four-year contract but the club couldn’t commit to that because of the finances. It was sad for me when I had to leave because I loved the team and the city but it wasn’t possible for me to stay.” Interest from the English Premier League never resulted in a solid offer, and although the chance to move to Paris Saint-Germain or Russia presented itself Bougherra instead opted for a switch to the Middle East. “I can’t lie, I wanted to go to the Premier League. That was my aim after Rangers but there was never a genuinely good opportunity to do that,” he elaborates, despite managers like Arsene Wenger expressing their admiration for the defender. “I could have gone to a team near the bottom of the Premier League but I had no real motivation to go to a club like that. “After being at a club like Rangers you want to play for a team that can win trophies. It’s difficult to play for a successful team one day and then play for a team fighting relegation the next. It didn’t appeal to me so I started to think about different options.” While still at Rangers, Bougherra visited Doha on something of a personal scouting mission, checking out Lekhwiya’s set-up and the city. He was impressed. “It’s a great place to live,” he affirms. “There’s good weather, it’s quiet when you want to relax but there’s also plenty to do. For my family it’s perfect.” Of course, Qatar has found itself at the centre of much scrutiny since the 2022 World Cup was awarded to the tiny Gulf state. The ruling Emir has committed vast levels of resources to making Qatar a major player in the soccer world. So did Bougherra go for the money? “Obviously there is money out here but I don’t know what the fuss is about,” he responds. While the domestic division in Qatar might not boast the same quality as the top European leagues yet (Bougherra says the style is “very French”) the Asian Champions League is where Gulf clubs can gauge their true success, and it’s a competition in which Bougherra has made his mark, reaching the group stages for the first time in 2012. “There’s a project here,” Bougherra continues. “They want to win the Champions League here, which is what it’s all about over here.” But after two and a half years in Qatar Bougherra is now free to sign a pre-contract with another team as he enters the final year of his deal with Lekhwiya. The defender seems unsure of what his career will hold for him next as he steps deeper into his thirties, but for now his focus is firmly on the summer. Algeria’s place at the World Cup was secured thanks to Bougherra’s winning goal in the qualification play-off with Burkina Faso, which he describes as a highlight of his career. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be unbelievable, with it being hosted in Brazil,” he enthuses. But it could be Bougherra’s last bow on the international stage, as he plans to retire as Algeria captain after the World Cup. “In my head I want to finish at the World Cup, although I might make it as far as the African Cup of Nations in 2015.” Who knows? By then he might be a Rangers player again. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/madjid-bougherra-i-d-play-at-rangers-for-free-1-3265774

The most frustrating thing McCoist said today.... This is not the first time he has said this; what message does this send the young players?

Squad in "natural positions" and peripheral players - aligned 4-4-2 in early January 2014 24 players, plus 4 "peripherals" (three of whom are injured) Goalkeepers: Cammy Bell (27) Steve Simonsen (xx) Scott Gallacher (24) Defenders: Ricky Foster (28) - Bilel Mohsni (26) - Lee McCulloch (35) - Lee Wallace (26) Andrew Mitchell (21) - Sebastien Faure (23) - Kyle McAusland (21) - Steven Smith (28) x x x x x - Luca Gasparotto (18) – x x x x – x x x x Midfielders: Arnold Peralta (24)* - Ian Black (28) - Nicky Law (25) - David Templeton (25) Robbie Crawford (20)* - Lewis Macleod (19) - Dean Shiels (28) - Fraser Aird (18) x x x x – x x x x - Barrie McKay (19)** – x x x x Strikers: Andrew Little ( 25) - Jon Daly ( 31) Nicky Clark (22) *used out of position, as both are actually a central midfield and an attacking midfield player respectively. ** McKay is actually a striker, attacking midfielder by trade, not a left-winger (like we used him) IMHO Templeton should be asigned a free role behind the striker/-s, much like Shiels. utterly peripheral folk: Emílson Cribari (33) Chris Hegarty (21) Ross Perry (23) Kyle Hutton (23) If you throw out the utility player stuff, you'd probably see why McCoist looks at right-sided players (if he finds none in the "professional youth"). Of course, Little could always be utilized as an inside right, should we revert to a 3-5-3 at home. The only places where we are covered with "natural" players is that of the goalie, CH and central midfield.

SHIELS has played just 15 minutes of first team action in two months but agent Sam Morrow insists the player is not looking to move on. DEAN Shiels’ agent is seeking talks with Rangers boss Ally McCoist to discover whether his client has a future at Ibrox. The 28-year-old has played just 15 minutes of first-team football in the last two months – despite being fit for all of that time. The Northern Ireland forward suffered medial-ligament damage against Annan in March and came back too early in August, managing only three games before suffering a relapse with his knee. But agent Sam Morrow insists Shiels has been raring to go since November and is baffled as to why McCoist hasn’t picked him more. After last month’s 4-0 win over Dunfermline, the Ibrox boss shot down rumours that Shiels had been told to find another club. Now Morrow wants to speak to McCoist in person after revealing Shiels is desperate to stay with the team he loves. He said: “Dean has been fit for two months now. He has been working hard and doing extra training – he’s champing at the bit to play again. “We’re in the dark as to why he hasn’t featured more often. I left a message for Ally last week but he hasn’t got back to me yet. “I appreciate this has been a hectic schedule for the club and I’m not trying to tell him how to do his job. I’m just looking to have a chat so we can help Dean to stay focused. “You can become disillusioned when you’re not playing. It can be difficult doing all the hard graft during the week and then having nothing to show for it on a Saturday. “In Dean’s case, there is added frustration because he wasn’t left out due to a loss of form but because of injury and it has been a long time since he was playing regularly.” Shiels signed a four-year deal at Ibrox after leaving Kilmarnock in 2012 and has no intention of moving. But Morrow admits his client’s international career will suffer if he continues to be left on the sidelines by McCoist this season. He said: “All Dean wants to do is play for Glasgow Rangers, the club that he loves. “I’m sure Ally will get in touch with me whenever he gets a minute but we’re just looking for a little reassurance from him. “There were rumours the other week that Dean had been told he could leave if he could find another club but that’s absolute rubbish. I saw Ally has confirmed that too. “His position is different from fringe players who haven’t been getting a game for other reasons. I’m sure that it’s just a matter of time before Dean is playing for Rangers again. “He’s a talented boy and it’s just over a year-and-a-half since PFA Scotland shortlisted him as one of the four best players in the top flight. “Dean wants to show the fans what he is capable of and there is also his situation with Northern Ireland to be taken into consideration. “He was a regular starter under Michael O’Neill when he was fit but he needs to be playing for Rangers to be considered.” Meanwhile, Kenny Miller could see his hopes of a third spell with Rangers dashed because of a transfer stand-off with his Vancouver strike partner. The 33-year-old has admitted he would love to return to Ibrox but Miller is unlikely to be allowed to move in this month’s window. The former Scotland star will be needed at his MLS club after Brazilian striker Camilo Sanvezzo was at the centre of a transfer mystery. The 25-year-old – who is believed to be unhappy he earns just a quarter of Miller’s wages – has been pictured undergoing a medical at Mexican side Queretaro FC, despite Vancouver claiming he’s still under contract for another year. Whitecaps are desperately trying to get the ‘transfer’ declared void after president Bob Lenarduzzi said: “It’s unacceptable and inappropriate.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-striker-dean-shiels-determined-2999685

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-to-hold-talks-with-cypriot-athos-solomou-1-3263212 RANGERS will hold transfer talks with Cyprus international Athos Solomou next week, when the player and his agent arrive in Glasgow. The APOEL Nicosia full-back, 28, is due to fly to Scotland to discuss a move to the League 1 leaders and is free to sign a pre-contract agreement, with his APOEL contract expiring in June. Rangers monitored Solomou, who has both Champions League and Europa League experience, throughout last year and most recently watched him in APOEL’s Europa League group match against Eintracht Frankfurt last month. Ibrox officials will now hold face-to-face discussions with the player and his agent next week. They must decide whether to pay a transfer fee and sign Solomou immediately or agree a pre-contract for a summer move. Both parties will also discuss wages and contract terms. Solomou is a versatile right-back who can also play on the right side of midfield and is a regular in the Cyprus international squad. He was involved in APOEL’s run to the Champions League quarter-finals in season 2011/12, where they were eliminated by Real Madrid. He has played all of his career in Cyprus with Apollon Limassol and APOEL, winning both the domestic league and cup. After 11 years in his homeland, he is keen to move abroad and Rangers are favourites to secure his signature. Not sure what to make of this to be honest.

"Like many within Scottish football, including supporters and other observers, we are surprised by the parallel conclusion that no competitive advantage was gained from these arrangements. “ (Celtic FC Statement) You curse you're luck. The dice were kind to you and you landed fair square on Park Lane having rolled the required eight, courtesy of a double 4. However at £350 this property is more than you can afford at present. Your next throw sees you roll an eleven where you safely pass go and collect £200 from the bank. You’re opponent meantime rolls a 7 and also lands on Park Lane. You can see from his finances across the table he is unable at present to afford the much coveted property. But to your abject horror he pulls out a Community Chest Card – Glasgow City Council/Celtic FC – and acquires Park Lane for the knock-down price of £175. Furthermore as he passes Go he collects a favourable £600 as opposed to your £200, courtesy again of his “exclusive deal” with Co-op Bank. “Competitive Advantage” ? “Sporting Integrity” ? “Financial Doping” ? “State Aid” ? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2514682/Co-op-Bank-slammed-cheap-loans-Celtic-Football-Club.html I await the social, and moral outrage that Celtic FC, courtesy of their exclusive and extremely favourable banking arrangements, have robbed small firms of credit facilities and overdraft extensions. I await Graham "Selective Amnesia" Spiers tweeting that he is quite comfortable that such arrangements were a form of “cheating” All it needs is for Donald Findlay to be appointed head of the SPFL Investigation into Celtic FC and their financial and land dealings. Whats that term...”what goes around comes around” http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22037966 Of course, should any type of investigation be directed at Celtic it will cause a considerable conflict of interest for one member of UEFA's Financial Fair Play Board – Brian Quinn, former Celtic Chairman. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/former-celtic-chairman-brian-quinn-s-uefa-financial-role-1-2386596 At least there will be a plethora of advice readily available for Mr Quinn with regard to dealing with potential conflicts of interest. His old friend, and Celtic Board member Eric Riley was a director at the SPL and the SFA for 10 and 13 years respectively. Furthermore Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell currently sits on the SFA's Professional Game Board. Did someone really say “Rangers are the establishment club” ? Conservative MP Mark Garnier is not going to allow this to go away, as he smells blood. So too do a number of Tories. It has been suggested that the revelations surrounding the Co-op Bank will reach right up to the higher echelons of the Labour Party nationally. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/22/ed-balls-links-to-co-op-bank Of course its perhaps purely co-incidence that the former Lennox Castle Hospital , with its 48 acres of prime real estate, was sold for £493,000 to Celtic Football Club, thus allowing the Scottish Minister to delegate responsibility for it's sale to the CEO of Glasgow Greater Health Board, as it fell below the £500,000 benchmark. Which leaves me 2 questions. (1) Was the sale of Lennoxtown Castle offered or advertised in the public domain ? (2) Does Neil Doncaster have Lord Nimmo Smith on Speed Dial ?

http://t.co/PSk0f6x5yf At some stage this week, Graham Wallace and Ally McCoist will sit down together for a meeting that will shape Rangers' immediate future. The chief executive wants to draw up and implement a football player asset strategy, and that begins with a discussion with the manager. They have the same aim, for Rangers to be successful on the field, and they need not have competing interests, since McCoist will have no more wish to spend money that Rangers cannot afford than Wallace himself. None the less, the complexities of the process and the dynamic at play will be significant for the club. By his own admission, Wallace needs to cut the cost base at Ibrox, as well as raising revenue streams. During last month's annual meeting of Rangers International Football Club shareholders, he said that the "cost structure is currently too high for the top division, never mind for the lower leagues", meaning that the business needs streamlined regardless of any commercial uplifts. This is a sensible and prudent strategy, and one that was critically missing from his two predecessors, Craig Mather and Charles Green. They were both courting public approval, but Wallace is a time-served corporate figure, and so brings the financial and business rigour that they did not apply. Indeed, any drastic cuts ought to have been implemented by Green in the summer of 2012, when the consortium he fronted bought the business and assets of Rangers Football Club plc in liquidation; that was the fresh start. Rangers need a coherent plan that addresses both short and medium-term progress, which is why the immediate issues Wallace will tackle cannot be considered in isolation. The extent of the required cost-cutting is unknown, but it is balance that is more important than simply reducing the bottom line. With Rangers potentially returning to the top-flight in 18 months, it would be a false economy to diminish the quality of the playing squad. There are players earning good money who have not contributed this season, either through the form of themselves or others; Emilson Cribari, David Templeton, or injury; Dean Shiels, Ross Perry, Kyle Hutton, but Rangers will also need to strengthen for next season's campaign. Wallace and McCoist, in their assessment of the squad's strengths and weaknesses, need to find where costs can be trimmed without affecting the strength of the playing staff overall. The manager and his coaches have agreed to take a wage cut, but any overall assessment of Rangers' football department needs to take into account the requirement for a chief scout to be appointed and for the youth development set-up and sports science department to be able to operate best practice throughout. The planning for the next two years needs to begin now, and that will be as much a part of the meeting between Wallace and McCoist as any element of initial cost cutting. As Wallace has acknowledged, once he has balanced the incomings and outgoings he will draw up a business plan to enable fresh investment to be sought. If Rangers are to return to the status that the club previously held, and which supporters continue to expect, then the requirement is not just to apply some commonsense to the business as it stands, but generate new funding to invest principally in the team. It is a question of priorities, but every decision made now has an impact in the coming years. That is where Wallace and McCoist need to work together, to ensure a strategy that strengthens the football department in time. Supporters will tolerate cuts at this period in time, but there remains a sense of the fanbase making its own assessments of the current regime. The inevitable rise in season ticket sales for the Championship will be borne without complaint because fans understand the financial necessity, but also because of the excitement that will come from the campaign to try to return Rangers to the top flight. There will be wariness, though, if there is a perception that the squad is not good enough to take that challenge on. These are the demands and obligations that every club faces, of course. From the summer of 2012, when a registration embargo loomed and Rangers were in the bottom tier, to last summer, there has been an element of improvisation to the club's signings. Rangers were restricted as they sought to add to the squad, and not least because the manager was never given a budget to work to. The working relationship between Wallace and McCoist is critical, and in a sense they are both under scrutiny; McCoist for the team's performance, and Wallace for the business's. He has already begun a review of every aspect of Rangers' operations, so it is not just the football budget that is being assessed. Rangers are, effectively, in the middle of the journey back to the top flight. Decisions made in the coming months will determine what kind of force they will be when they do return.

“I wish for you all, each of you, to have your own motive for indignation. This is precious. When something outrages you as I was outraged by Nazism, then people become militant, strong, and involved.” (Stephane Hessel) Much has been made of the comments at the Celtic AGM, particularly the jibes by an SFA board member, who, in his dual role, also officiates over certain matters at Celtic FC. If such comments were seen as an attempt to play to the gallery, Chairman Ian Bankier’s comment that there was “a tremendous romance attached to the club” were perhaps an attempt to detract from a far greater romantic screenplay which is developing over the other side of the city. For this developing screenplay has all the ingredients to be a box office sell out, and in fact, already has sold out time and time again. Furthermore its ability to capture the imagination and attention of those beyond these shores shows no sign of abating. It can neither be stopped nor controlled because it’s driving force, the Rangers support, will forever be beyond the reach and control of even multi-roled individuals with alarming, and questionable influence. Its a loyalty which cannot be bought, is not and will not be offered for sale, no matter the offer on the table. It has the twists of trickery, the depravity of deceit, the unedifying behaviour of the unscrupulous. Unbridled hatred is there for all to see as well Machiavellian plots which would do The Prince justice. Intransigence, incompetence and intent to injure, to destroy an institution are laid bare before all. These factors should set the scene for what would be an overwhelming victory, an annihilation, an extermination. That no such victory was forthcoming is testament to the screenplay’s heroes. Normal men and women whose love for their football club laid to waste the plotters and their schemes. She may have been kicked countless times when she was down, but time and time again the blue legions would pick her up and brace themselves for the next onslaught. Rangers may have been down, battered and bruised, but most certainly not out. And so the march onwards continues. Relentless. When people speak of the romance of Scottish football they think of the institution which would not die – because her fans would not let it be so. They filled stadiums, broke world records, were the cause of games being postponed. You want romance Mr Bankier ? Look no further than Ibrox. Forget “defiance” or even vengeance. The bad news for all the cowards who swung the boot whilst we were down is that it is something much worse than either defiance or vengeance. Righteous Indignation. It will pursue the plotters, the schemers, and the incompetent. The level of hatred and lack of mercy displayed by many, I can assure you, will be duly reciprocated. And then some. Agencies and individuals cannot hide forever behind anonymity, excuses of “whistleblowing” and “sporting integrity”. In the near future a criminal enquiry will reach it’s conclusion and the long arm of the law will finally get to grips with some of the plotters. The time for Government Agencies hiding behind the excuse of “ongoing criminal enquiries” will be over. If some of them think that Police Scotland are the extent of their worries, then they would be well advised to think again. The failings are already within the public domain and no amount of retrospective action will remedy them. All we are really waiting for is to see the extent and the scope of the Police Scotland enquiry. We will be reviewing such an enquiry through eyes filled with righteous indignation – and only the full extent of the application of the law will satisfy. Rangers are indeed coming, on a tidal wind of righteous indignation, perhaps many in Scotland would do well to brace themselves.