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Mike Ashley has many business interests (including Sports Direct) and they have made him a very wealthy man. When he bought Newcastle United in June 2007 and said “Newcastle attracted me because everyone in England knows that it has the best fans in football… don’t get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football.”….it must have sounded like manna from heaven to the Newcastle support as they may have thought more along the lines of ‘Champions League’ rather than ‘Championship’. http://www.therst.co.uk/coming-soon-ashley-and-the-vanishing-revenue/
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Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon has been named as the manager of Championship bottom side Bolton Wanderers. Lennon, 43, out of work since leaving Celtic in May after four years in charge, succeeds Dougie Freedman, who left the Trotters earlier this month. Bolton have won only one league game in 11 so far this season. Neil Lennon's managerial career at Celtic The Northern Irishman officially takes over at Bolton on Monday, with his first match in charge being Saturday's trip to Birmingham City. Lennon led Celtic to three league titles and two Scottish Cups and took them to the Champions League last 16. Victory over Barcelona in the group stage of Europe's elite club competition in November 2012 was Lennon's highest-profile achievement at the Glasgow club. Johan Mjallby, Lennon's number two in Glasgow, also joins the Trotters as assistant manager with Garry Parker, another who served at Celtic Park, arriving as first-team coach. Lennon had last month expressed interest in vacant posts at Bolton's Championship rivals Cardiff City and Fulham http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29589068 -
Rangers Youth @RFC_Youth · 10 mins 10 minutes ago 51' - GOAL! Captain Andy Murdoch doubles the lead with a stunning shot from 25 yards which soars into the net beyond Stewart. 2-0 #Rangers! 0 replies . Rangers Youth @RFC_Youth · 13 mins 13 minutes ago 48' - The striker did well to get the right side of his man before placing low under the keeper from a tight angle on the left. 1-0 Gers! 0 replies . Rangers Youth @RFC_Youth · 14 mins 14 minutes ago 48' - GOAL! It's an ideal start to the second period for #Rangers as Ryan Hardie breaks the deadlock to make it 1-0 against Motherwell! https://twitter.com/RFC_Youth?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gersnetonline.co.uk%2Fvb%2Fforum.php&profile_id=351838853&tw_i=522087898234232832&tw_p=embeddedtimeline&tw_w=382261353282412544
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...the Ibrox throne is big enough for Mike Ashley and Dave King. AS King and Ashley continue to vie for control at Rangers, KEITH insists it may be in both men's interests to discover a common ground that incorporates the interests of the club and its fans. THEIR tanks have rumbled into Edmiston Drive, ready for the climactic Rangers shootout. But before Mike Ashley and Dave King begin blowing each other to bits outside the Big Hoose, perhaps it might make more sense for them to find a better way. Maybe, before the guns start blazing, there is a chance for them to discover common ground. Of course, that would require a bit of common sense and where this club is concerned there is seldom any place for sound logic. But let’s indulge ourselves for a moment in any case and pretend that the two men, who seem so willing to go to war over Rangers, may still be capable of some eleventh-hour reason. Ask yourself this. If you were Ashley why on earth wouldn’t you want King to take control? Those closest to the Sports Direct boss – and even those Newcastle fans who can’t stand the sight of him – all agree that his primary focus is on protecting and expanding his bargain-basement retail business. Which makes perfect sense. Okay, so Slazenger polo shirts and laceless Lonsdale trainers might not be everyone’s giant novelty mug of tea but Ashley’s firm has always been more Buroo-lander than Zoolander. It’s a high street jumble sale and it’s made the man a fortune. This real-life Derek Trotter is a genuine billionaire. Not like the last one who, for all anyone knows – including Glasgow’s finest for that matter – may be currently strolling around some town centre in Panama dressed in Lee Cooper and Le Coq Sportif. He always did have a bulging eye for a bargain. But be that as it may, Ashley deserves to be taken a great deal more seriously. Which is precisely why now might be the ideal time for King to sit him down for a chat, assuming of course that he really is serious about handing over so much of his children’s inheritance. King has not always convinced and not just because of the 41 criminal convictions for stiffing the tax man which have stained his name in South Africa. His PR has been poorly thought out and his strategy over the last 12 months impossible to fathom as he has tip-toed around the edges of this farrago without ever looking prepared to get his feet wet or his hands dirty. But finally he has waded back in, promising an initial £16million bailout and more millions to follow. For that reason alone he deserves to be taken seriously, even by those who continue to doubt him. If Ashley counts himself among those cynics, what would be the harm in asking to see the colour of his money? Because if it really is the case Ashley is interested only in what is best for his own business, there is no reason for this pair to remain hostile over the running of Rangers. Yes, in an ideal world, King may wish to walk into Ibrox on day one and rip up the retail contract Ashley is apparently so determined to protect. This seven-year kit deal, of course, was gifted to him by Charles Green and has been described by those who have seen it as a ludicrously generous and one-sided agreement. Green later wasted a small fortune of Rangers money on legal fees in a failed attempt to have it annulled but the consensus is that this contract is watertight. In other words, Rangers have already sold the jerseys to Ashley and there is nothing King or anyone else can do about it, even if it means the loss of millions of pounds. And this is where logic ought to kick in because if Ashley wants to keep coining it in from shirts and merchandise then surely King’s arrival as a potential saviour stands to make him even richer? King, after all, is perhaps the one man capable not only of uniting a fractured Rangers support but also prepared to throw good money after bad in the reconstruction of a club which continues to hang by the thinnest of threads. If indeed there is enough cash left in the bank to cover this month’s payday then November’s could be a killer. But only in this omnishambles could a business that is wheezing and gasping for breath continue to keep a £30m life-saving injection so stubbornly at arm’s length. King wants to save them. But he can’t get his money bags across the front step. And, yes, logic dictates that Ashley must see the sheer lunacy in this. Over the past few months around 15,000 Rangers fans have gone missing from Ibrox. The numbers are so large that they have blown a hole in Graham Wallace’s attempts to keep the business afloat. And there is a danger many more thousands will follow if Ashley guns King down in the battle for control, while also boycotting his stores. However, if King was to walk back in, flanked by fellow lifelong supporters such as Paul Murray and George Letham, then it is almost certain business will begin to boom again at the turnstiles and in the club stores which Ashley also now has firmly in his grasp. King plans to plough £8m into the coffers with Murray, Letham and a group of wealthy fans cobbling enough together to match him pound for pound. Straight off the bat, that’s £16m that Ashley doesn’t need to bother looking for down the back of his office sofa. There will be more to come as King intends to invest his whole £30m in returning his club to a fit and competitive state and to restore a stadium which, much like the team, is in a state of decay. This is King’s manifesto and so long as he can convince Ashley he is for real and that the money is there and good to go, then both Rangers and Sports Direct stand to benefit from it hugely. So tell me, what possible logic is there in Ashley blowing this man away? The answer is, there isn’t any. Or at least, none that is obvious from the outside of this wretched mess. Which means there must be something hidden from view, perhaps even something deeply suspicious behind the naked act of aggression earlier this week which saw Ashley set his sights on Wallace and Philip Nash, the men trying to facilitate King and his consortium. What else is there to hide here? Surely nothing that stretches back to when Ashley climbed into bed with Green in the first instance and began this merciless pumping of Ibrox? Come to think of it, who on earth did bring these two together? He already owns the strips and the shops which sell them. He bought the stadium’s naming rights for a quid. And had Wallace not grown a pair last month then he would have owned the club’s badges by now as well. But it’s hard to see the value in any of it if Ashley’s power grab does indeed drive more and more of the customer base away. In fact, it will cost him millions of pounds in emergency loans just to continue to light up an increasingly empty stadium. If he’s not careful he could end up sitting alone in the directors’ box with only his drinking buddies, Sandy and James Easdale for company and if that thought doesn’t terrify him then it should. This club is broken and it needs fixed, not by a bunch of Trotters Independent Traders but by those who genuinely care for it. If Ashley cannot, or will not, see the logic in that then it will indeed be time to clamber back into the tanks. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-another-rangers-war-4411056
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Rangers fans group Sons of Struth threaten boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct shops Ashley has been targeted after purchasing the naming rights to Ibrox for £1. The threat of a boycott of Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct retail group along with the business interests of other Rangers directors has been made by dissident fans’ group, the Sons of Struth, following a ballot of supporters. The group, named after Rangers’ longest serving manager, Bill Struth, staged a demonstration behind the directors’ box at Ibrox during the team’s recent meeting with Inverness in the Scottish Communities League Cup, but have now raised the possibility of direct action against McGills Buses, a transport group owned by the Rangers football board chairman, Sandy Easdale, and his brother James, who serves on the plc board. Ashley has been targeted because Sandy Easdale recently revealed that the naming rights to Ibrox had been sold to the Newcastle United owner for £1. Easdale himself has been the subject of condemnation from the Rangers support - whose boycott of season tickets has reduced the club’s income from that source by half - because he has been seen in the company of Rafat Rizvi, who was sentenced to 15 years in absentia when convicted of fraud in an Indonesian court. Rizvi, a UK citizen, is the subject of an Interpol international arrest warrant but cannot be extradited because the UK has no treaty with Indonesia. He was pictured recently in Glasgow along with Easdale and Malyasian businessman, Datuk Faizoull Bin Ahmad, who was named as a potential investor in the troubled club, although he subsequently denied any intent to take a stake or any knowledge of Rizvi. The Sons of Struth issued a statement detailing the results of their poll, which did not specify how many fans’ opinions had been sampled, although it is thought that they have around 3000 members. The statement read: "Due to recent events, such as Sandy Easdale's meeting with convicted fraudster Rafat Rizvi, his broken promises of having investors lined up and the selling of our stadium’s naming rights to Mike Ashley for £1.00, Sons of Struth have received an increased level of calls for tougher action against the board, Sports Direct and, Easdale-owned McGills Buses. “Recent polling of our members resulted in 99.35% calling for the removal of Sandy Easdale as a Rangers director and 97.19% wishing Mike Ashley to cancel his 7 year contract for the naming rights to Ibrox, 92.87% want to boycott McGills buses and 87.47% want to boycott Sports Direct in attempt to achieve the removal of Sandy Easdale and cancellation of Mike Ashley's naming rights agreement. “89.64% of those polled want to see some sort of boycott at matches with an aim of removing Sandy Easdale. The general feeling amongst our members is that he lies to fans and shows no respect to his position through his close association with Jack Irvine and his meeting with a man on Interpol's most wanted list. His words and actions are disrespectful to the position he holds as a director of Rangers Football Club. “Our firm belief is that Sandy Easdale is an obstacle to future outside investment and, despite his recent outlandish claims that the fans' actions may put the club's future in danger, we firmly believe that after 100,000 season ticket sales in three seasons the blame for the clubs perilous financial position lies squarely in the boardroom. “The club operate a "football board" which is viewed in the eyes of the fans as nothing more than a vehicle to allow Sandy Easdale a directorship as he may not be eligible for a seat on the PLC board. Does this "football board" have any other purpose? “We shall release our intentions for further protests and boycott action in the very near future and in the meantime would encourage the board to immediately remove Sandy Easdale if they wish to avoid this. “Sandy Easdale has been heard in the past to claim that if the Rangers support do not want him at Ibrox he would leave. We would ask him to take the hint and go before his association with our club causes more damage. “Sons of Struth also call on Mike Ashley to cancel his naming rights contract before the 11th of October. If he still retains the naming rights after this point we will instigate an immediate series of actions aimed at his Sports Direct stores. “We would ask all Rangers supporters in the meantime to use discretion when deciding to give either Sports Direct or McGills Buses their custom. We will hold a public meeting of Rangers fans in October at at a venue to be announced." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11131196/Rangers-fans-group-Sons-of-Struth-threaten-boycott-of-Mike-Ashleys-Sports-Direct-shops.html
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ALLY MCCOIST admits the month of September was a frustrating period for his side as disappointing league displays against Alloa and Hibs overshadowed positive performances and results against Raith Rovers, Inverness Caley Thistle and Falkirk. Monday night’s 3-1 defeat to the Hibees was a sore one for the manager and his players who gave themselves a mountain to climb by conceding three poor first-half goals in the space of 15 minutes. Nicky Law gave the Ibrox faithful a glimmer of hope when his superb half-volley flew past the visitor’s number one Mark Oxley before the hour mark but it proved too little too late for the Light Blues who now sit six points behind Championship leaders Hearts after seven games. There is, of course, a lot of football still to be played but McCoist hopes his squad can now push on in October and go on a winning run, starting this weekend against John McGlynn's Livingston. Speaking at Murray Park to RangersTV he said: “We’ve found the consistency in very short periods, sadly not long enough consistency. “We’ve had some good performances and good results, I think we’ve played the best part of 12 games, lost two and our cup form would indicate we’re still in the cups as well. “As I said our league campaign has barely started, there is a long, long way to go so we’ll continue to do our jobs, work hard on the training ground and continue to progress. The consistency and getting a good run of games is obviously the ideal scenario and that’s what we’ll strive to do.” McCoist knows his side will need to play better than they did against Hibs if they are to take three points from Saturday’s trip to Livi’s Energy Assets Arena. He said: “It was really disappointing and frustrating (on Monday) because we haven’t been defending as we did at the start of the season in these previous games. “That said we’ve had a couple of reasonable performances with clean sheets, with performances against Raith Rovers and Inverness, so I couldn’t see that coming. All three goals, particularly the first one, it was inexcusable defending. “I said at half time when you come in losing by three goals you do need a minor miracle to get back into the game. “We couldn’t find the second goal that would have given us that impotence to go on and attempt to get an equaliser so it was a poor night at the office in terms of the result. “We’ll do our jobs and look at it, look to improve from it and learn from it but it’s a league defeat and not a death in the family.” McCoist and his players have come in for fierce criticism following Monday night’s defeat but the manager knows from experience that this reaction comes with the territory. He added: “I’ve been here long enough to know what to expect, it’s alright me saying it’s an overreaction but I’m used to it. I’ve been here long enough as a player, as a coach and as a manager so it goes with the territory. “I don’t see that changing anytime in the future, it is part and parcel of a club of this size that a defeat is taken with far more seriousness than it is at the vast majority of other clubs. "But as I said I don’t see that changing, it will continue to happen so we just have to accept it and move on.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7772-we-must-find-consistency?
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....we won title by 21 points one season and lost it by 15 the next. BARRY says the next meeting between Rangers and Celtic can't come quickly enough and reckons, should they meet in a cup this season, his beloved Gers will prove they are closer to matching their rivals than people think. THEY might have been kept apart in the League Cup quarter-final draw but there is definitely a feeling an Old Firm collision is getting closer. A clash of the Glasgow giants could yet come in that tournament this season or even in the Scottish Cup with Rangers now getting deeper into knockout competitions. If it doesn’t then few would bet against Rangers winning promotion from the Championship which means we’ll have to wait only until next season for one. Personally, it can’t come quickly enough because it’s been badly missed and that has been the feeling of many Celtic fans in the past two years. But I’m not so sure they’re as eager for a crack at Rangers now. I’ve heard so much talk in the past couple of years about how Celtic are 10 years ahead of my old club. It’s a phrase that seems to have been trotted out whenever Celtic were at their highest or Rangers at their lowest. But there is no doubt the gap is closing. In fact I believe the squads are pretty evenly matched in terms of quality. But regardless of that I don’t think you can ever say one is 10 years ahead of the other. The thing about the Old Firm is that superiority goes in cycles. That’s always been the case and it probably always will be. They simply don’t get so far ahead that the other one can’t quickly catch up. And one of the best examples of that comes from a period when I was playing at Ibrox. Under Dick Advocaat we won the league title by a massive 21 points in his second season charge. It came on the back of a treble in Advocaat’s first season and, having won the final Old Firm game of that season 4-0, many believed the gulf had never been so great. Celtic were seen as being in disarray with Kenny Dalglish in temporary charge after John Barnes had left the club but Martin O’Neill was brought in that summer and things quickly changed. And what happened the following season? Celtic won the league by 15 points. So that was a 36-point swing in the space of just 12 months. If that doesn’t prove how much and how quickly things can change, nothing will. Nothing much at Rangers had changed and Celtic made only two signings, Chris Sutton and Joos Valgaeren, before the opening league game of that campaign (Alan Thompson and Didier Agathe followed in September, Rab Douglas in October and Neil Lennon in December). People have their opinions on the state of Rangers and Celtic just now but for me talk of being 10 years between them is exaggerated. It’s nothing like that. And it would be great to see them going at it for the first time since Celtic won 3-0 at Parkhead in April 2012. For a lot of people the Old Firm fixture is the only thing they associate with Scottish football and it’s been a difficult couple of years for our game without them. That’s a bit disrespectful to the other clubs but it’s the truth. I know Celtic fans would have loved a crack at Rangers at their lowest ebb in the last couple of seasons but it’s changed now. I don’t think Celtic have gone backwards because they still have a very strong squad. The personnel is pretty much the same but they have lost a manager in Neil Lennon who knew the Old Firm derby inside out while Ronny Deila is still learning aspects of our game. But I just feel Ally McCoist, right, has improved his Rangers squad greatly. He’s had a lot of younger boys in the past couple of seasons but now he has guys with Premiership and Old Firm experience. Plus it’s the old cliche of form going out of the window in an Old Firm game. Even those who do feel Celtic are 10 years ahead of Rangers would probably agree that in a one-off game anything can happen in that fixture. Again I can go back to that 2000-01 season for proof of that. Celtic beat us 6-2 at Parkhead in the first Old Firm derby of the season and we went out and beat them 5-1 in the next. Another big swing – this time all in the space of just three months. I feel Kenny Miller, although he’s been injured, and Kris Boyd are two huge signings and their experience is vital. I’m sure any Premiership manager would snap your hand off for those two. I know Boydie has yet to score in the league but it will come. It might just take one to go in off his backside and he’ll be on fire again. A lot of my friends are asking me if there’s anything different or wrong given the fact he hasn’t scored as many as some might have expected. But nothing has changed, apart from the fact he’s a much better all-round player than in his first spell at Ibrox. I don’t have any concerns about him. He’s a confident guy who believes in his own ability. That’s the kind of player you want in there and he’ll soon stick one in the top corner. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/barry-ferguson-you-cant-say-4326012?
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THE financials to the end of June were expected to be published by the end of this month with an agm to follow within 28 days but with no date yet fixed there are concerns a delay could have a knock-on effect on fundraising plans. The auditors signed off on the half-year results in March with the caveat the business remained a going concern as long as season- ticket sales remained at the levels of previous years. FEARS are rising of a delay in announcing the annual results of Rangers and of possible financial consequences for the club. It had been reported the club’s financials to the end of June 2014 would be published before the end of this month, with an agm to follow within 28 days. However, Record Sport can reveal a date has yet to be fixed for the release of the annual results, with sources suggesting it has been delayed by the board. It had been anticipated Rangers would use their agm to put forward a motion seeking support for a new, significant share issue to guarantee the long-term financial future of the club. Any delay would have a knock-on effect on the timetable for fundraising, with the £3.13m brought in from the recent share issue only expected to see the club through until Christmas. Insiders suggest the board are either confident of raising funds from other sources or struggling to have their financial results okayed by auditors Deloitte. But a boycott by fans over the summer has seen season- ticket sales slump and left a black hole in the finances. Rangers would not need to go to the market for fresh finance in the short term if they secured loans from investors such as Mike Ashley or the Malaysian group who recently visited Ibrox. Their involvement would almost guarantee, at a stroke, that potential saviour Dave King would be destined to remain on the outside looking in. Rangers yesterday confirmed director Sandy Easdale had increased his stake in the club Asked to confirm a date for the release of their financial results a Rangers spokesman said: “No date has been fixed. We have a regulatory requirement to hold the agm by December 31 and will do so.”
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ANGRY Rangers fans are on the brink of staging full-scale boycotts of the club’s matches – amid new calls for Sandy Easdale to be axed as football board chairman. And brassed-off fans could also stop giving money to companies linked to the Glasgow giants – including McGill’s Buses and Sports Direct. The Sons of Struth protest group believes there is growing support among its members and other supporters for this drastic action. Sons of Struth founder Craig Houston confirmed his organisation is to poll its 1500 members over whether to boycott games and businesses. He said: “The feedback we have received from members and other fans is overwhelmingly in favour of boycotting games and businesses. “A very low percentage of fans have faith in the board. Every time a new revelation emerges we ask what we can do other than holding red and blue card demonstrations to highlight our unhappiness that is legal and this is one route we can go down.” “But there has to be a silver bullet moment where you say enough is enough. If that results in boycotts of your team, certain sports shops, certain transport or insurance companies, so be it.” The move comes after it emerged that shareholder Sandy Easdale had met with Malaysian businessman Datuk Faizoull Bin Ahmad and convicted fraudster Rafat Rivzi this week. Easdale was pictured with Rizvi, who is wanted by Interpol for corruption, money laundering and banking crime, in Glasgow. Last night the Union of Fans called on the Rangers board to remove Easdale over the visit. A statement said: “Mr Easdale has dragged our club’s name through the gutter once too often. Perhaps he feels his association with a man wanted by Interpol is acceptable. It is not. “Graham Wallace, Norman Crighton, David Somers and Philip Nash must dissociate the PLC board from this further attempt to involve Rizvi in Rangers’ affairs.” However, Rangers last night denied the meeting was connected with investment in the club. An Ibrox spokesman said: “The visit was organised as part of ongoing discussions between Rangers and Malaysian club Felda United with regard to a youth development partnership. “Mr Rizvi arrived without our prior knowledge. He is an advisor to Mr Bin Ahmad. Media reports suggesting Mr Bin Ahmad is in discussions with Rangers regarding anything other than youth development are untrue.” Meanwhile, other reports in England last night claimed Mike Ashley is prepared to sell Newcastle United for £230million so he can boost his stake in Rangers. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/ranger...048n.25297080?
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THE displays of the Rangers team on the park last week were cause for optimism down Ibrox way. Ally McCoist's side netted 12 goals in their two competitive outings and put their shaky early-season form well and truly behind them. The size of the crowds in the home games against both Clyde and Dumbarton, however, were reasons to look towards the future with trepidation. And the attendance at the SPFL Championship fixture with Dumbarton on Saturday afternoon was particularly alarming. For the league meeting with the Sons was perhaps the best chance so far to gauge what the turnout will be like at Rangers home games in the 2014/15 campaign. The Petrofac Training Cup matches with Hibs and then Clyde were always going to attract smaller crowds due to the stature of the competition and the size of the opposition. Much was made of the fact that only 11,190 supporters filed through the turnstiles in the 8-1 victory in the latter game last Monday. It was the lowest Ibrox attendance at a competitive fixture for 29 years. Yet that encounter with part-time opponents from the bottom tier of Scottish football was - despite Gers great Barry Ferguson being in charge of the opposition - expected to draw that sort of response. There were 43,683 in the Championship opener against Hearts a fortnight ago. But there were special circumstances surrounding that fixture. The League One flag was unfurled and the Govan Stand was renamed in honour of Sandy Jardine before kick-off. Plus, the first game against age-old adversaries Hearts after two long seasons of often uninspiring outings against our national game's lesser lights was guaranteed to put a fair few bums on seats. No, the Dumbarton game at the weekend was a far better barometer of what size the attendances - and, in turn, the gate receipts -will be for Rangers in the weeks and months which lie ahead. And the fact that only 31,175 turned up on a perfect afternoon for football must be worrying for both those who follow the fortunes and those who control the purse-strings at the troubled Glasgow institution. It was the lowest turnout at a league game at Ibrox since 24,177 fans watched Rangers defeat Falkirk 4-0 thanks to a Robert Fleck double and goals from Davie Cooper and Terry Butcher on December 13, 1986. A home game against Methil minnows East Fife around this time last year drew 42,870. No company can have nearly a quarter of their customers disappear in the space of 12 months without drastic consequences. Even if all of the 34,000 fans who bought season tickets to see Rangers in League One last season had renewed this summer, the club would still not have had enough money to see them to the end of this term. So for just how long will the Light Blues be able to limp along with just over 20,000 season book holders and fewer than 10,000 turning up and paying at the gate on match days? There are ambitious plans for Rangers to hold another share offering in the very near future and the hope is to raise in the region of £4million of much-needed capital from that. But with shareholder Sandy Easdale and wealthy fan George Letham due to have loans totalling £1.5m repaid, financial experts have predicted that will only sustain the club until the end of the year. The ongoing lack of clarity over Rangers future off the field is overshadowing the fact that on it they appear to be getting their act together after some poor performances. They brushed aside Dumbarton with ease at the weekend thanks to strikes from Lee McCulloch, Darren McGregor and Nicky Clark. An own goal from Chris Turner aided their cause considerably. Bilel Mohsni, who was highly fortunate not to be red carded by referee Brian Colvin for his trip on Scott Agnew, also turned the ball into his net late on to give the sizeable travelling support a reason to cheer. That lapse of judgment by the Tunisian, though, could not wipe the smile from McCoist's face after a highly satisfactory performance by his charges from front to back. He said: "The skipper played in central midfield and chipped in with a goal, Nicky got a good goal and our right-back played well and scored a great goal. "To be scoring goals is always good. But to be scoring goals from different areas is an added bonus for us. "I was annoyed we didn't keep a clean sheet, but I thought the football was of a high standard. We created a lot of chances, scored four good goals, hit the post and had a goal disallowed. "It is consistency that is going to win us the league this year. That is what we have to work hard to get. "There are going to be a lot of difficult games for us in the months ahead and we have to be at our best every week." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/deserted-seats-show-reality-of-angry-rangers-fans-voting-with-their-177533n.25139848
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When we went into administration I almost instantly (within the first month) had some major concerns because I quickly came to thinking that I didn't trust the administrators, didn't think they would get us out of it via a CVA and didn't think they seemed to be doing their jobs properly because if they had been, then they would have tried to rescue the company as a going concern. To do that, they would have needed to quickly address the cost base and stop the monthly loss-making, but they just went for a short-term fix/bandage to see out the season instead of properly cutting costs to address the going concern like administrators do in most football club administrations. After the shambles of their bidding process and finally bringing in Green & co (like they seem to have planned well in advance!), when D&P did their first presser with Green a feeling of dread & despair came over me because I could tell immediately that he was a bullshitting patter merchant and didn't trust him right from that point. It was a case of 'who the f**k is this clown?' and a distinct feeling of disappointment. Then we had to endure the failed CVA, being wrongfully stripped of our SPL share and kicked out of our league, left with no league at all for a period and questions hanging over our SFA license as well. When we finally got it sorted out and started the season in the 4th tier there was a sort of positive buzz that I never really understood, because I never felt as if it was right that we should be down there in the 3rd Division. I could obviously understand the positive buzz in the sense that we were still here with our history and titles despite the best efforts of our enemies and those who wanted (and tried) to kill us off, but didn't understand the positivity from numerous other perspectives, like the unprecedented treatment of our Club and the worries from footballing and financial/business perspectives. Not only did many of our fans think that it was just a simple case of 3 seasons of a journey back up through the lower leagues to the top flight, but many actually believed that it was an 'opportunity' to rebuild not only the business, but some kind of fabled & mystical footballing 'philosophy'. There was talk amongst fans of not only winning every single game in the 4th & 3rd tiers, but battering the opposition 8-0, 9-0 or 10-0 every week. I didn't buy into any of that because I thought it was always going to be more difficult than many of our fans thought it would be. Yes, we would dish out some hammerings along the way, but it was always going to be a battle too, both on and off the park no matter how many SPL-standard players we signed and no matter how many crazy moonbeams Green & co served us up. What we need to do now though, is completely forget about any mythical 'opportunities' or lost chances to create new 'footballing philosophies' and face the stark reality of where we currently are. I'm not saying forgive or forget (far from it!), but we urgently need to get up to speed and deal in the here & now. Depending on how things go off the park this month, we might be heading for another insolvency/administration event, but we don't know for sure either way because nothing is certain on that front, just as nothing is certain on the pitch either. We might drop points or lose a match, but no matter what happens, I think we all know that the 'journey' is getting tougher and tougher and that's something which was always on the cards both on & off the pitch, so it certainly shouldn't come as a surprise. The idea of an easy journey back up over 3 or 4 years while creating golden seeds for the future amidst new philosophies for the Club was a total and utter pipe dream. Even if we had been taken over by good guys instead of chancers and liars like Green & co, we were still realistically facing trouble along the way and potentially a period of 5 years or more before getting properly back on our feet and challenging in the top flight again. We might not be in a good position right now, but essentially, nothing has changed and we're still on the same path albeit a slightly more windy & rocky one than many of our fans seemed to think it would be. Our progress back to where we belong might still be set back even further by current and/or future financial issues, but we don't know for sure yet. What we do know for sure is that the people running the show need to collectively get their acts together, steer the Club in the right direction and ease the worries of the supporters, not through more moonbeams and lies like were served up in the past, but by addressing the immediate future as openly and honestly as they can without damaging the value of their precious shares.
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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/keith-jackson-six-men-six-4181483
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Mike Ashley to up his stake in Rangers to 9.9% through the current share issue. Source SSN” Sources close to Mike Ashley say there are no immediate plans to invoke the naming rights at Ibrox stadium #Rangers @charlesp_sky: It's understood Ashley views his interests in Rangers as purely strong commercial ones which he intends to protect
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Sometimes you feel like a wee greet. http://willievass.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/100814-Rangers-v-Hearts/G0000hlKyrxgNifI/I0000Ko1_cYXoR6o/C0000DwY1ciUOXqU Will somebody put the pic. on here please.
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I said this elsewhere about entire teams being brought back to defend corner kicks: I can see the time coming when the football authorities will feel inclined to amend the laws of the game regarding every player back at a corner kick. This tactic is designed to clog up the area, limit runs, deny space and minimise goalscoring opportunities, and the outcome is often a series of fouls which may or may not be punished. Officials usually favour the defending team and too often a promising moment in the game fizzles out when a free-kick is awarded. It'll take an extensive trial and error period before the cure is found, but if the football authorities want to make the game better, they really need to guard against coaches and managers who are too often negative and safety-first. The general well-being of the sport comes first and eleven players in the box defending corner kicks is not something that should be tolerated indefinitely. In addition, now that we have a fourth official, I see no reason why the game should be stopped to make substitutions. Players on winning teams who are about to be hooked are often told to go to the either side of the pitch before their number is called, and then they make the long, slow walk to the dugout. Let the fourth official take care of this and let the game flow. Managers know that this is an effective time wasting tactic. That's why they do it. On the same subject, let's draw the line at the 75th or 80th minute regarding substitutions. After this point, no matter what happens, no more substitutions should be allowed. If a player has to go off injured, so be it. We really need to end this business of time-wasting substitutions being made deep into injury time purely to upset the game's rhythm and waste more time.
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A burger and large coke? £7.50!!!! Outrageous.
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It's the question all Rangers fans want the answer to: "What exactly were the so-called movers and shakers of Scottish football up to, behind closed doors, during that long dark summer of 2012?" Are Rangers supporters correct to be suspicious of their meetings, their motives and their thinly-disguised malevolence? You bet we are - detailed and dogged investigation has proven our own suspicions of two years ago to be correct. Over the next few weeks, Vanguard Bears will vindicate all of those Rangers supporters who harboured suspicions. What went on was scandalous. We have the proof, we've seen the agreements with our own eyes, we have heard first-hand accounts of the double-dealing in all its devious, dastardly detail. We will start by showing you an excerpt of an early draft of the now infamous "5-Way Agreement" and later we will detail the machinations behind it. Please note in particular clause (I) on page 2 - "guilty until proven innocent" springs to mind - also note the subsequent EBT Sanctions on page 3 where the stripping of trophies is mentioned. This should get the ball rolling. Coming soon – Who runs Scottish Football? Low Level Paper Gatherers? Surely not! Read more - http://www.vanguardbears.co.uk/the-five-way-agreement.html
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Am I alone in wondering where our keeper is? When did you last see Cammy Bell come out and make clean catch? What does our £180k p.a goalkeeping coach think ? I think teams now realise this and deliberately try to put the ball into our six yard box knowing he won't get it
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I've seen it at Ibrox for a couple of seasons now. I don't think it's appropriate. Please desist.
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The poll resulted in a narrow win for 27/09/2014 v Hibernian, with the obvious caveat of moving to Sunday if required. As was proven last time, even if an early kick-off is unpalatable to some from a football point of view it gave us a nice comfortable afternoon/ early evening to eat and drink; so in some ways I'd be hopeful of an early kick off again. In the first instance I'm only going to put up two options: going back to Malaga Tapas http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186534-d1087980-Reviews-Malaga_Tapas-Glasgow_Scotland.html or "somewhere else". In order not to appear biased, I will say only that I have confirmed that Cristobal would be happy to have us back; but it is entirely up to you guys if you want to go back or somewhere else. If you wish to go somewhere else then please post a suggestion and I will do a second poll. Unless there is a landslide one way or the other, I'll keep the poll open till the end of the month, so that everyone who is on holiday gets a chance to vote. -
RANGERS will compete in their first game of this year’s Dale Farm Milk Cup when they take on County Armagh at the Riverside Stadium in Drumahoe tonight, kick-off 7pm. The young Light Blues, who are in the under-15 Junior section, will then face a mouthwatering test against Liverpool on Tuesday at Ballymena Showgrounds (ko 8pm) before their third game against O’Higgins from Chile on Wednesday at the Riada Stadium in Ballymoney (ko 3.30pm). It is 21 years since Rangers participated at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland and Jim Sinclair, Rangers Academy Director, believes it's an exciting opportunity for the up and coming talent in Craig Mulholland and Andy Kirk's squad. He said: "We are delighted to be renewing Rangers' long association with the Milk Cup having won the event during the 80's and 90's and we're hopeful that our group will enjoy the experience again this year. "The Milk Cup has over many years developed a fantastic reputation for providing a strong tournament with competitive clubs from all over the world and the quality of opposition will prove a great test for our young team. "We always look forward to taking teams to Northern Ireland where the club has a large supporter base and we know we will participate in an event which has a reputation for first class organisation." This year’s tournament kicked off yesterday with an Opening Ceremony and Nicky Byrne was the special guest. The former Westlife singer, who played at the Milk Cup on three occasions, also led a parade of competing teams through Coleraine. In total 56 teams from the world's leading professional clubs, famous football academies and National Associations from all five Continents have descended on the five local authorities of Coleraine, Ballymena, Limavady, Ballymoney and Derry City to battle it out over five days hoping to end the week as Dale Farm Milk Cup champions in the Elite (under 19), Premier (under 17) and Junior (under 15) sections. The Rangers squad in Northern Ireland is as follows: Kieran Wright, Aidan Wilson, Scott Gray, Kyle Bradley, Jason Krones, Kieran Balfour, Grant Nelson, Jamie Barjonas, Sam Jamieson, Liam Burt, Andrew Dallas, Jack Thomson, Lewis Mayo, Jordan Houston, Stephen Kelly, Zak Rudden, Matifadza Zata, Lewis Muir. For more information on the Dale Farm Milk Cup click here. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/item/7327-young-gers-face-county-armagh
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http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7334-rangers-launch-club-membership MANAGER Ally McCoist and Captain Lee McCulloch joined a group of fans at Murray Park today (Tuesday 29, July 2014) to launch Rangers Club Membership – an initiative designed to bring supporters closer than ever to their Club. As this is the inaugural season for Club Membership all supporters who join will become Founder Members including all season ticket holders, who will automatically receive complimentary Founder Membership. Club Members will enjoy a series of exclusive benefits bringing them closer to the Club and the team as well as access to Member only events and promotions. Membership will bring enhanced participation with the Club including the ability for Members to apply for a position on the Fans Board and to vote in the Fans Board elections; exclusive members only email in advance of every home game; Members only prize draws; behind the scenes experiences including Q&A sessions with the Manager/CEO/Players and a Members only training day at Ibrox. Members will also have the chance to enjoy discounts across the Club including Matchday Hospitality, Ibrox Stadium Tours and non-matchday dining at the Argyle House Restaurant. As a Rangers Junior Founder Member supporters will have the opportunity to be mascots at home games, have access to exclusive online content and competitions and will receive a Junior Founder Member only pack including a scarf, wristband, bag and stickers in addition to their Founder Member badge, certificate and card. Season ticket holders can take up their benefits from today and their pack, which includes the Founder Member badge, certificate and card will be issued in the next 4-6 weeks. Non season ticket holders can purchase Club Membership online at rangers.co.uk/membership priced £24.99 plus P&P* for adults and £14.99 plus P&P* for juniors. Members can benefit from the many benefits right away and Founder Member welcome packs will be posted within 4-6 weeks from purchase. Ally McCoist commented: “This initiative is a fantastic way for our fans to get closer than ever to their Club. As Rangers Founder Members supporters can apply to join the Fans Board or vote in the upcoming Fans Board elections, have the opportunity to take part in exclusive Q&A sessions with the CEO and myself, attend a members only training session at Ibrox or have the chance of a behind the scenes tour of Murray Park. “I am also delighted that all Rangers season ticket holders are being given Founder Member status automatically and will receive all the benefits associated with that. Our supporters have shown unbelievable passion, loyalty and commitment to Rangers, especially in the last few seasons, and I can’t thank them enough for their continued backing. “I encourage all fans to become Founder Members of the Club, get even closer and take advantage of the exclusive range of benefits on offer. We are on our way back to the top of Scottish football and together the journey will be much easier.” Lee McCulloch added: “The Rangers fans are the lifeblood of this great institution and initiatives like Club Membership are a key way to reward that incredible loyalty. Our supporters have backed the team in huge numbers at Ibrox and in away games in the past few seasons and I am sure they will get right behind us once again when the campaign begins. “The players and management staff are all looking forward to the opening league game against Hearts where we will unfurl the League One flag and honour the late Sandy Jardine and I ask all Rangers fans to sign up for Club Membership and be part of this exciting initiative.”
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SO that was North America, a place which brought the touring Rangers squad mixed results and mixed fortunes during its stay in the United States and Canada over the last two weeks. Was the trip perfect? With over 14,000 miles flown, a few injuries picked up on the way and goals conceded in three games out of four – one of those a defeat – it’s hard to argue it was. But did it serve a purpose? Absolutely. Scorelines from across the Atlantic might not have been convincing but being there has allowed Gers to keep building well ahead of 2014/15. Despite what the world might think at present following the unrelenting happiness of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, Scottish people are naturally quite pessimistic. The old phrase which claims some are only happy if there’s something to complain about springs to mind and that’s certainly the case with certain Light Blues fans I know. While there are undoubtedly things Ally McCoist will wish had gone differently, he has more positives to reflect on than you might think. Following the intense schedule in Brora at the start of the month, further double sessions abroad – particularly in California – have helped increase fitness levels again. As the pool settles into a more regular training programme after the weekend, any lingering weariness will go and the players will get sharper as they freshen up. Although the team itself still has to click into gear, individuals within it gave enough food for thought during our fortnight away. Kenny Miller’s finishing might not be as consistent as he’s hoping it will become yet but his running and intelligence will help Rangers a lot this season. Nicky Law produced a fine finish to win the game in the final match against Ottawa Fury – Gers’ best display of their four – and he looks alert and hungry too. Ian Black falls into that category as well while Stevie Smith has continued his good form from the end of last term and looks as fast and direct as ever. Lee Wallace has made a strong recovery from the hip problem which ended his campaign early in April as he limped out of the Challenge Cup final defeat to Raith Rovers. But the biggest plus of all isn’t just Lewis Macleod’s return to action but the way he has come in and stamped his mark on the team already off the back of nearly six months out. Few were left in any doubt of how seriously under threat the 20-year-old’s career was when he took unwell at the start of the year. A bad reaction to a virus left him in real danger of having to think of hanging up his boots and there was a genuine chance he’d never have the chance to fulfil his very clear potential. Thankfully Macleod has made a full recovery and so far it looks like he has never been out of the side. Against Sacramento Republic, he grew in stature the more the game went on and I was impressed by his temperament as he kept his cool despite one heavy challenge after another. Four days later at Ottawa, his footwork at times was sublime and you’ll already be hard pushed to find a better piece of skill this season than his turn to set up Law’s goal. The way he stood on the ball then turned away from two men was so elegant and it was the type of move you simply don’t tire of watching. Already there’s a clamour once again in some quarters for McCoist to move Macleod inside and give him a more central role in his midfield. Over time, I fully expect him to take a place there and he’ll both flourish and relish the responsibility such a position entails. But for now, I don’t think it’s a bad thing for him to continue on the left side for the simple reason it’s an area he and the team profits from. Sitting narrower than a natural winger would, he allows Wallace to get forward with good effect and the two combine very well down that side. It’s worth remembering that when Rangers played their best football of last season in the early part of the campaign, those two players got a lot of joy together on the left. I’m not sure having someone else in Macleod’s present position would bear the same fruit and if he was central in a 4-4-2 shape, Wallace certainly wouldn’t get upfield as much. I look forward to seeing Macleod take command and dictate from the middle over time but for now he’s doing a lot for Gers where he is. And as McCoist’s team gets stronger in the weeks ahead, I’ve every faith the club’s most outstanding emerging talent can influence games just as much from slightly wider out. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/opinion/item/7321-best-left-where-he-is An unusually critical piece from Andrew Dickson and he makes a very good point about McLeod playing LMF allowing Wallace more freedom to attack. He may well have been prompted to write this but it is true nonetheless.
