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Genuine question because I think Dave King could get blamed for something he is not totally responsible for. I honestly believe, after speaking to hundreds of other fans, that they have had enough of the complete and utter dross being served up on the park. Nothing to do with boardroom stuff.

Alasdair Lamont ‏@BBCAlLamont 1m Rangers transfer Laxey £1m loan to fan and shareholder George Letham at a reduced interest rate.

Taken from FF. MEETING SANDY EASDALE AND THE DATA PROTECTION ISSUE Many have asked why I approached Sandy Easdale after the match on Wednesday and due to even further threats of court action, I believe its time to share with the Rangers family exactly what drove me to do this. Weeks ago when we first received correspondence from layers on the instruction or Mr Easdale, it was via email and arrived one Monday afternoon. The letter was in regard to posts by third parties on this page and we done as requested by the lawyers. Two days later my mother phoned to say a letter had arrived at her home for me. Like lots of other season ticket holders with multiple family season tickets, all our tickets go to one address and in our case it’s my parents home as its easier to manage the renewals and continuous card requests etc. The letter that had been sent to my parents address was surprisingly a copy of the letter I had received via email two days earlier. Mr Easdales (not Rangers) lawyer had somehow sent a letter to an address that to the best of my knowledge only Rangers have for me. How bizarre. I asked the lawyers on several occasions to explain how they came by my address and was instructed that due to “client confidentiality” they could not disclose how they came by it. If they unable to give me this information as to protect their client, then it’s fair to assume this information must have been passed to them by their client. If their client gave them my parents address, where did he obtain it from? There is only one possible source I can think of. Jack Irvine called me in the middle of all this and I advised him of my issue, he refused me the opportunity to speak directly to Mr Easdale regarding this and informed me Graham Wallace would be my best point of contact. I emailed Mr Wallace with my concerns and he set up a meeting. I met Mr Wallace two weeks ago and he advised me that an investigation had taken place and he found no evidence that the address was leaked from Ibrox. When I informed him that the address was in fact not mine but my parents and I was aware of no other organisation that had it as my address, his body language changed somewhat. So Rangers have my contact address as my parents, Sandy Easdales lawyer receives my parents address from their client thinking its mine and no one can explain how this happened. The fact that they knew that I sat in a specific seat in a stadium of 30,000+ season ticket holder is not lost on me either. Fast forward to Wednesday night. As I was getting set for the match I received another email on my phone from Mr Easdales lawyer asking for my current address. I replied saying they had no need for it as they can correspond via email and as far as I was concerned had no outstanding issues. During the half time break I checked my emails and found another claiming they would send sherriff officers to obtain my current address. Sheriffs officers could only obtain my current address by visiting my parents address as it the only one they have. You can maybe imagine how I felt at half time knowing a Rangers directors lawyers where sending sheriffs officers to my parents house who are both in their 70’s. Hence the reason I visited the directors box at full time. When I confronted Mr Easdale with this newly found information and explained that this had crossed a line his response was that I to had also crossed a line and got personal. When I asked him to elaborate he stated that “I took the piss” and even slagged his hair on our facebook page. He confirmed that any libellous comments had indeed been made by others but his problem with me was that even my public apologies “took the piss out of him”. I will leave it to the reader to decide if further future court proceedings are based on him being upset about what others write or indeed the sarcastic manner of my writings. I asked him to consider getting his lawyer to confirm in writing that no such visit to my parent’s house would take place and he said he would see what he could do. What he did do was to instruct his lawyers to issue further proceedings which I received yesterday and these are the basis of today’s Daily Record article. To the fellow fans who asked me yesterday to comment on why I approached the directors box, I hope you understand why I didn’t make it public knowledge then, I was giving Mr Easdale the opportunity to do the right thing. The right thing in his eyes was to instruct his lawyers to send even more threatening letters which included arrangements for court proceedings at the court of session. I have no desire to take Rangers to court or indeed involve innocent employees who may have been forced in to giving out protected data. If I did wish this I could have made this information public weeks ago. I feel I need to state my point now to defend my actions on and since Wednesday’s game. Aye Ready Craig

Meanwhile, Arab Trust board member Mike Barile says that, if Rangers do make the last four, the game should not be played on the Glasgow side's ground. The former chairman of the fans' group said: "I was active in the supporters movement when United and Dundee met in the Scottish Cup semi-final in 1987. "Both clubs were prepared to play the game at Tannadice or Dens Park on the toss of a coin, but the SFA insisted that the game had to be played at a neutral stadium. "Now there is the possibility of playing Rangers and it is okay for the game to be played at Ibrox. "Can you imagine the outcry if the SFA were to say the game was to be played at Tannadice? It is a ridiculous decision. "If it is to be Rangers we are to play then the game should be played at a neutral ground." When Celtic Park was chosen as the venue for the final in October, it was announced that both semi-finals would be played at Ibrox. Hampden Park is unavailable because of redevelopment work taking place to lay track for the Commonwealth Games.

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/318-take-the-power-back? By Ewan McQueen If you asked anyone who knows me well to tell you something I’m passionate about, it’s almost certain they would reply with the answer ‘Rangers Football Club’. It has been a huge part of my life since I started following the club in 1995. Like thousands of others, I live and breathe Rangers every single day and constantly check social media sites and forums to find out the latest developments inside Ibrox. And now it feels like a revolution is brewing amongst the fans. And for my mind it has been a long time coming. The horrors of administration just over two years ago are still raw and can never be understated. However, it should have been a watershed moment for us fans despite the shock we were in. It should never be forgotten that David Murray got us into a real mess before he sold us down the river to Craig Whyte. That has all been well documented and there’s no need to go over it again here. But Whyte’s reign at the club should have proven once and for all that there should be no more days of one man running the club. Like every Rangers fan, I was stunned on Valentine’s Day two years ago. But we missed an opportunity. To its credit, the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund was a superb scheme and raised a wonderful amount of money when there were huge fears Rangers would die. But the RFFF didn’t go far enough. It seemed as though fans were waiting for a saviour, whether it was the Blue Knights, Brian Kennedy, Jim McColl and Walter Smith or, as it transpired, Charles Green and his cronies. Administration should have provided the perfect opportunity for fans to mobilise to ensure it never happened again. After the simply astonishing squandering of money and obscene bonuses to board members under Green’s regime, Rangers can’t rule out admin mark two which is simply disgraceful. And that’s why it’s time to take the power back and create a situation where fans have proper representation in the club and control a significant amount of shares. Ask yourself this: would you rather see the club you love ran by fans that feel the same way as you or by men like the Easdale brothers, hedge fund managers and the continuously mysterious Blue Pitch and Margarita Holdings? For me it is a no brainer. This board aren’t fit for purpose and none of them have any idea what it is like to live and breathe Rangers. They are in it for themselves. And the fact they are now going to be using season ticket money to pay back a loan at a ludicrously high rate of interest just takes the biscuit. For many fans the loans have been the straw that has finally broken the camel’s back. Schemes like Buy Rangers and Rangers First are to be hugely welcomed. For far too long there have been divisions amongst the Rangers support that have held us back. Of course it is only natural that there are debates amongst any club’s support. I regularly have fierce debates about the manager, players and tactics with friends I go to games with. That’s natural. What isn’t natural is that until now Rangers fans haven’t grabbed the chance to gain real power at Ibrox. Look at what the Foundation of Hearts has done after the Gorgie club was run by shysters. They’ve just announced their 8,000th member while the Rangers Supporters Trust currently has 2,500 members. I am one of them and find that stat very depressing. Rangers First seems to have captured the imagination though. First up, the name is simple and extremely effective. For too long we have been run by men who have never put Rangers first. As fans, by selling 72,000 season tickets over the last two seasons to watch football which has been very poor at times, by raising £5.5m in a share issue before Christmas and by simply continuing to follow the team the length and breadth of Scotland, we have always put Rangers First. Modern football offers far too many opportunities for businessmen and ‘spivs’ to make a quick buck at the expense of the people that truly matter at a football club – the fans. You only need to look at the way Vincent Tan is running Cardiff if you want an example. The next few years need to see a massive increase in clubs becoming fan owned or run as a community interest company. As Richard Atkinson of Supporters Direct says, fan ownership isn’t just about owning shares. It is about getting what you want from the club. There is simply no chance of getting that under this board. In simple maths terms, Rangers fans can easily out do what Hearts supporters have achieved. Say only 20,000 of our fanbase paid £15 a month in direct debits. That would equate to income of £3.6m per year and, at current market levels, 5% of shares could be purchased in three months. Both the Rangers First and Buy Rangers options are very reasonably priced as well. The Rangers First option gives you the option of signing up for as little as £5 per month. The price of a fish supper per month to try and reclaim the club I love? Count me in. And I’ve also signed up to the Buy Rangers scheme of purchasing shares in the club from as little as £11.25 per month. Both schemes are simple and I would urge every fan to do something. It is time to show you REALLY care about your favourite club. The Rangers support can be found in corners all over the world. Quite simply, if we don’t do it this time through these projects, then it can be argued we deserve what we get as a support. It feels like the right time. The financial crisis has reached breaking point again. Whilst there might be criticism of performances on the park, we have strolled to the League One title. We have now completed the first two stages of our journey back to the top but we simply can’t afford to be cut adrift when we return there. Hanging over these schemes is of course Dave King. Now, King’s tax issues in South Africa have been gone over more times than I have had hot dinners but what can’t be denied is that he is a Rangers man. It seems baffling that the board call him disruptive when he is a lifelong fan willing to put money into a club he loves. His idea of a season ticket trust is to be welcomed. Let’s get one thing straight, it isn’t a boycott. It is about, as King says himself, getting transparency from the board over the state of the club. At the time of writing, over 5,600 supporters have signed up to the call from the Union of Fans to back King. Again, that is real and decisive action from a significant section of the support. Key to all this is engaging those fans who aren’t online or those who are perhaps switched off from the turmoil. Indeed, I have friends and relatives in this position. Fan ownership remains a long term dream, but it can be driven forward quickly with the right marketing and information that is delivered to the fanbase. Legendary US rock band Rage Against the Machine once sang a ferocious song which shares the title of this article. When the revolution is led by the people (or in this case, fans), the men at the top can find it nigh on impossible to fight back against it. This particular Rangers revolution has only just started but I’m excited what I see on Twitter, Facebook and various forums. We have woken up big time as a support and credit to everyone who has got involved already. It will take a while and it will require patience but we simply must get rid of this board once and for all. We have a voice and it’s the most powerful inside Ibrox- more powerful than Graham Wallace or Sandy Easdale or even Ally McCoist. It’s time to take the power back.

http://www.rangersfirst.org/

http://www.unionoffans.org/statements/2014/2/27/union-of-fans-statement-270214'>http://www.unionoffans.org/statements/2014/2/27/union-of-fans-statement-270214

http://www.therangersstandard.co.uk/index.php/articles/current-affairs/314-laxey-loan-alternatives-ignored

Your comments are an insult to fans who have nothing other than the club's interest at heart Mar 01, 2014 16:42 THE Ibrox investor has taken aim at the Rangers chief executive who said that threats to withhold season ticket cash have destabilised the club. DAVE KING has criticised Graham Wallace for claiming the Rangers support have destabilised the club with their threat to withhold season ticket cash - insisting the chief executive's comments are an insult to the Ibrox faithful. In a statement released to Press Association Sport, former director King has taken swipe at Wallace for questioning fans' loyalties to their club. The Union of Fans issued a vote of no confidence in the Ibrox board on Thursday and backed King's bid to lead a fan-based group to secure a major shareholding in the club. They also backed the South African-based businessman's call for trust to be set up that would collect season ticket fees and drip feed the money to the regime controlling the Light Blues week by week. Wallace responded by saying that threat was "damaging" Rangers but King rejected his claim. In his statement, King - who now plans to fly to Scotland to step up his bid for change - said: "Unfortunately, I can only express bemusement at the board's response to myself and the fans. "In what is really a non-response the board states that our statements are an attempt to undermine the club. That is an insult to fans who have nothing other than the club's interest at heart." The latest squabble in the long-running saga surrounding the club's ownership and finances was sparked on Monday when Rangers announced to the stock exchange that it had taken out a £1.5million loan from investors Laxey Partners and Sandy Easdale. The terms of the loan handed both Laxey and Easdale security on the Albion car park and Edminston House facilities near Ibrox, while Laxey stands to make a £150,000 profit. That angered supporters who claim a better deal was available from other shareholders. Wallace, though, pleaded for the fans to trust the board's management but King - who lost a £20million investment when oldco Rangers were liquidated in the summer of 2012 - said: "They ask for trust but don't recognise that trust is a mutual relationship and requires transparency. "What the board is really asking of fans is to have blind faith - not trust. This board has not earned that right and has, in fact, repeatedly demonstrated the opposite." And King raised doubts about who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes. "{The board states] that the current problems can be attributed to previous management (presumably Charles Green etc). That does not explain the ongoing lack of transparency on shareholding and finances by the existing board. "It is quite possible that Charles Green is still de facto controlling the club. Certainly the existing directors have a minuscule equity stake and yet won't disclose the true 'power behind the throne'." Rangers made a £14.4million loss last year and had to take out the Laxey/Easdale loan just to keep the Ibrox lights on until the end of the season. King's statement concludes: "The board continues to treat the fans with disdain by offering mere platitudes. "A more considered and constructive response was appropriate. It is insightful of the board's mindset that it is willing to borrow money from a preferred shareholder at a rate of interest that reflects a high risk to the investor. "In doing so the board has finally confirmed its true view on the parlous state of the club's finances. "What is incomprehensible however is that it then eliminated the risk to this investor (and separately to Sandy Easdale) by providing club assets as security while still paying the high-risk rate. "That highlights that this transaction makes no commercial sense and was not conducted on an arms-length basis. "Paradoxically, the board wants long suffering fans to lend money at no interest and with no security. Rangers fans are loyal but not stupid." http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/dave-king-blasts-rangers-chief-3196614

.........than Celtic getting Ten In A Row. THE IBROX boss knows that Celtic reaching that much sought after target would hurt, but there's a lot more going on in Govan to occupy his thoughts. ALLY McCOIST insists Rangers have more to worry about than stopping Celtic winning 10 in a row. The Ibrox manager has refused to get caught up in the storm created by Dave King’s decision to go to war with the board. The South Africa-based businessman claimed if the current regime weren’t ousted, Celtic would break through the famous nine-title record held jointly by both clubs. However, while that would pain McCoist, he insists the beleaguered club have bigger issues to address. The Rangers boss is one of only three Gers with a full set of nine medals from their run between 1989 and 1997, alongside Richard Gough and Ian Ferguson. And he said: “Of course it would hurt – but for the next 24 months there’s nothing I can do about it. “In the grand scheme of things our concerns are very much the last 24 months and the next 24 months. That’s the most important thing. “We can’t forget what happened, we can’t let it happen again, and we have to keep rebuilding. “Do we have more to worry about than a statistic? Yes but I don’t want to use it flippantly, as if I’m not doing my job. “Of course I don’t want Celtic to go to 10, it would be crazy to say that. But at the same time I think our club has far more important issues coming up. “We’ll have to improve incredibly to get back because it’s safe to say unless there’s a dramatic change in Scottish football, Celtic are everyone’s favourites for the foreseeable future. “We’re miles away if you’re talking about winning the top flight.” McCoist insists he won’t be involving himself in the politics of the club, despite having done so on several occasions over the past two years. He said: “The last few times of getting involved, we haven’t had a board, we haven’t had a chief executive, we’ve had no real stability or structure. “We have that know so they can deal with the business side of it and I’ll deal with the football. “I know my responsibilities and I know the fans look for leadership. But there are now members of the board who will also have to lead. I think the fans will appreciate that.” But supporters groups issued a vote of no confidence in the board on Thursday and backed King. They also supported his call for a trust to be set up that would collect season-ticket fees and drip feed the money to the regime week by week. Chief executive Graham Wallace responded by saying that threat was “damaging” Rangers but King rejected his claim yesterday. In a statement, King said: “I can only express bemusement at the board’s response to myself and the fans. “The board states that our statements are an attempt to undermine the club. That is an insult to fans who have nothing other than the club’s interest at heart. “They (the board) ask for trust but don’t recognise that trust is a mutual relationship and requires transparency. What the board is really asking of fans is to have blind faith – not trust. “This board has not earned that right and in fact has repeatedly demonstrated the opposite.” King also raised doubts about who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes and claimed former Ibrox chief Charles Green could still be a major player. He said: “It is quite possible that Green is still de facto controlling the club. Certainly the existing directors have a minuscule equity stake and yet won’t disclose the true power behind the throne.” Rangers needed a last-gasp Lee McCulloch penalty to see off East Fife 1-0 yesterday and move a step closer to the League One title. They can now wrap up the championship in their next league game against Airdrie on March 12 if Dunfermline fail to win against Stenhousemuir next weekend. But next up for Gers is a Scottish Cup clash with Albion Rovers and McCoist would take a repeat of yesterday’s poor display so long as Gers go through. He said: “If you offered me the same result next week against Albion I’d take it. There’s less emphasis put on performance in cup games because you only get one bite at it.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ally-mccoist-rangers-far-more-3198056

MESSAGE To Rangers Supporters From Graham Wallace Rangers Chief Executive Graham Wallace has issued the following statement. “In recent days there has been considerable comment and speculation about the financial position of the Club and the motives of individuals managing it following the announcement of short term financing being put in place. “Much of the comment and opinion is unfortunately ill informed and directed at undermining the Club and the considerable efforts that are taking place to rebuild it following several years of mismanagement. “Therefore, I feel it is important, for the good of the Club, to set the record straight on a number of issues that are concerning Rangers supporters worldwide. “Many of the problems that the Board, Executive Team and staff are addressing on a daily basis date back some considerable time and as I said at the AGM in December 2013, there is no overnight fix. “Building trust in those managing the Club takes time. I understand that fans have a degree of scepticism, but we will demonstrate in due course the improvements being made to all areas of the Club. “Rangers supporters are naturally seeking assurances that their Club is being run and managed for the long term. We know there are short term financial challenges inherited from previous management, but we are well on track to putting these behind us and building a Club that is both sustainable and capable of delivering the on field success that Rangers is famous for. “It is therefore extremely concerning that public statements are being made that are factually incorrect. If left unchallenged, they would damage the reputation of the Club and individuals who are committed and working every day to rebuild it. “It has now been some 70 days since the AGM and our review of the entire business is progressing well. We are identifying the changes needed to reposition the Club on all fronts. No one is hiding behind a timeline to complete the review, but to develop and implement change in the correct manner requires time to get it right. “Of particular concern are media comments that the Club has been offered significant interest free loans which have been declined. This is wholly untrue and supporters need to know this. “Further comment about withholding future ticket revenues is also damaging to the operation of the Club which, in common with many others, operates on a cyclical basis. “We are putting in place a business structure and operational model that will protect and develop Rangers Football Club for future generations. “We know the Club will require investment in the future but until we have addressed the problems and deficiencies of the past, it would be foolhardy to seek additional investment without a clear plan of how to use it. We are also making good progress on the development of our medium term plans. “You, the fans have been tremendous in your support for the team over the past couple of seasons. As I outlined at the AGM, a process of improving fan engagement has commenced with the launch of the Club’s Ready To Listen campaign. This initiative has been welcomed by a great number of supporters and the results will be analysed and actions implemented in the near future. “The Board and Executive Team fully understand how important the fans are to the Club and we will never take this for granted. I made a personal commitment at the AGM to improve fan engagement and we have started on this process. “The values Rangers Football Club is famous for, and proud to honour, include professionalism, integrity and honesty. Everyone involved with the Club shares these values and is working hard every day to ensure that the Club will continue to progress back to the top of Scottish and European football. “We need to do this together. Divisive campaigns, fuelled by inaccurate statements played out in the media benefit no one, particularly Rangers Football Club.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6421-graham-wallace-statement

GORDON backs Hearts' incoming chairwoman to revive the club while lamenting the damage done by the would-be saviours at Ibrox. THE definition of altruism: When the answer to the question “What’s in it for you?” is “Nothing”. That’s Ann Budge for you. Sixty-five years old, self-made multi-millionaire, family woman, treasures her privacy and relative anonymity, sees her Saturday afternoons as sacred time with her daughter and grand-daughter in Section D of the Wheatfield. What could possibly be in it for her to commit herself to four or five years inside the washing machine of Scottish football? Nothing. Not a single thing. Which is why Hearts fans should be eternally grateful that she has. And, as I wrote back in September, Rangers fans should be peering east, mournfully lamenting what they could have had. The deal to take Hearts out of administration and forward is the result of months of good leadership, good governance, good PR, good organisation and, most of all, good intentions. And what they’ve emerged with is the perfect template for the handover from tyranny to the terraces. Make no mistake, Budge’s role will not be passive. She’s no figurehead. She’s real. Incongruously, for fan ownership to succeed in the long run, they’re going to need her to be a strong individual, making hard-headed decisions that would be impossible to arrive at if the club were being run by committee. Her job is to hand Hearts over in the best financial health she can create in as short a time as possible. And the only way that won’t happen is if Jambos fail to live up to their end of the bargain. That’s why they’re lucky to have her. She’s the anti-Craig Whyte, the anti-Charles Green. As executive chair, she’ll be working five days a week pro bono. She’ll be arriving at conclusions plenty may disagree with but the one thing no one can dispute is that she’s doing it for anyone’s benefit other than Hearts. There’s a legal agreement that she has to hand the club over to the Foundation as and when they hit their pre-agreed targets. She can’t change her mind, can’t flog them to a predator who fancies the place for himself when they’re back on an even keel. What that means is the fans have to create the bank of last resort for the club with their membership scheme, the financial cushion for the months where there’s a shortfall, where the season ticket money has run dry and the commercial income is a struggle. All they have to be able to do is prove that in the absence of support from an actual bank, they will never get back to the day when the wages won’t be in the bank. And there’s no reason they can’t. At the moment the Foundation of Hearts bring in £130,000 a month in direct debits. That’s £1.5million a year as your slush fund. The season tickets, corporate and commercial income, sponsorship, catering and anything else they can raise funds from provides their working capital. If they do all that? If they create a model that washes its face? There’s no reason why a club of their stature, with their support, can’t be golden in four years’ time. And in the meantime? What a Championship it’s going to be next year. A tale of two clubs from two cities whose stories over the past two years may as well have come from two different planets. The team who’ve done everything right to get out of administration against the team who’ve had every wrong imaginable done to them. Rangers will be looking at Hearts and thinking, “If only...” To be fair, their Supporters’ Trust still have faith they can make it happen. But when they needed the kind of altruism Budge offered Hearts, they got shafted. Twice. When they needed a Jim McColl, he ran shy. And when they needed unity of purpose, they fragmented. Even now, their intentions may be there. But neither the Easdales nor Dave King as a potential investor seems prepared to engage in the idea that the club need a move towards fan membership and ownership for the long-term good. They’re still saddled by the “What’s in it for me?” brigade and as long as the answer is “plenty”, they’re fighting a losing battle. But you know what? Despite the fact that Hearts’ total budget next year will probably be around the £1million mark, less than 20 per cent of Rangers’, if it’s spent well, they could challenge the assumption the Ibrox club will stroll through that league the way they’ve strolled through the last two. If they can get 16,000 inside Tynecastle every week, create a cause the way Hibs did when they went down in 1998, the way Rangers’ fans did when they went into the bottom tier? Keep the best of their kids, get a few course and distance guys in to help them when the embargo goes? Get a little momentum going? It’s going to be a hell of a race. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell-altruistic-ann-budge-3151057

Barcelona have been charged by a Spanish court with committing tax fraud in the signing of Brazil forward Neymar last year, a court spokesman has confirmed. "Judge Pablo Ruz has charged FC Barcelona with an infringement against the tax authority relating to the purchase of the Brazilian player," the spokesman said. Barca denied wrongdoing after local media reported on Wednesday that Spain's public prosecutor had asked Judge Ruz to lay fraud charges against the club. "The club's actions have, at all times, regarding that operation (to sign Neymar) and in line with the available information, been fully compliant with existing law," Barca said in a statement. The Spanish champions added they would be sending legal representatives to court "in the coming days" to defend their rights and interests. "At the same time (Barca) states its complete availability to collaborate with the justice authorities in this process, as it has been doing from the first moment, or in any other that might require its intervention." Neymar's high-profile move from Santos in the close season is also being investigated for possible misappropriation of funds following a complaint from a Barca member. Sandro Rosell, who was named in the lawsuit but denies wrongdoing, stepped down as president last month. He said he wanted to protect the club's image and alleged he and his family had been threatened. Rosell was replaced by his deputy Josep Bartomeu who said Neymar cost Barca 86.2 million euros (£68m), including payments to the player and his family, and not 57.1 million euros as they originally said. Barca initially refused to reveal all the details of the deal, citing a confidentiality agreement with Neymar's family, but Bartomeu announced that Neymar's father had given them permission to go public. http://asia.eurosport.com/football/la-liga/2011-2012/barcelona-deny-wrongdoing-after-tax-fraud-reports_sto4144793/story.shtml

https://twitter.com/TheLoudenTavern

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

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

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2559261/Johnston-spells-Rangers-investment-plans-bid-make-Ibrox-return.html Former Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston has urged Dave King to secure fan backing for an Ibrox return by revealing his investment plans in detail. Johnston served on the board alongside King during the latter part of Sir David Murray's tenure and has no doubt the South African-based businessman would be good for Rangers. He feels, however, that King could bring vital public pressure to bear if he states precisely what he is willing to do to help the cash-strapped club. King reiterated this week that the current Ibrox hierarchy had refused to engage with him despite his persistent offers of potential investment. Johnston backs his idea that the money should be used to buy new shares, therefore diluting the existing powerbase, but also believes greater clarity would help win over doubters in a fanbase left wearied by two years of turmoil following administration. 'I know Dave very well and he plays his cards very close to his chest,' Johnston told Sportsmail. 'The problem right now is that people don't really know what he is willing to do or has the ability to do. 'Dave needs to be more transparent by saying: "Look, if this, this and this happens, I'll do this, this and this." 'More Rangers fans will gravitate towards it if Dave is more specific about what he is willing to do if specific conditions are met. 'Dave will have figured out that his agenda is in the best interests of Rangers. I say: ?That's fine Dave, but what is it?? 'He certainly has the right mindset. I have absolutely no doubt that what he wants to do will be in the best interests of Rangers Football Club. 'But for him to garner the support that he needs to make this all happen, he has to be a bit more transparent.' King, who lost a £20million investment in the club during Murray's reign, has no interest in buying out existing shareholders. The December 2012 Initial Public Offering launched shares at 70p, but the price has steadily dropped to around 26p. 'Dave has quite clearly taken a position that I agree with,' added Johnston. 'You don't want to be buying shares where the money is just going to line the pocket of previous shareholders. 'If you are going to buy into the club, you want 100 per cent of that money to go to operating capital and for business development. Simple as that. 'The concern I'm sure Dave has is that there are still major shareholders at Rangers who are financial institutions looking for a return on their investment. The most important thing for them is to get out having made money from it. 'The way the share price is just now, that will be challenging. But whoever these investors may be, and there is scepticism about some of their identities, they are in it for a return on their money.'

DAVID Robertson witnessed Ally McCoist overcome adversity on more than one occasion in his playing days to become a Rangers legend. And he has backed his old team-mate to tough out the trials and tribulations of being manager at the Ibrox club and make a success of the latest chapter of his career. Robertson, who is now a coach at USL Pro League club Phoenix in the United States, still takes a keen interest in the fortunes of the Glasgow giants. The former left-back has been impressed with how McCoist has fared since succeeding Walter Smith as boss nearly three years ago. And the 45-year-old believes he has the mental strength needed to withstand the intense scrutiny and lead Rangers back to the forefront of the Scottish game. He said: "I still follow how Rangers are doing back home pretty closely online over here and it amazes me when I see the criticism Ally gets sometimes. "His team is unbeaten in the league this season and is still involved in two cup competitions. "It would be a tremendous feat for Rangers to reach the Scottish Cup final this season. It would be a huge achievement for the club. But Ally still gets criticised for performances and results! I don't know what more he can do. "Everybody expects them to win League One this season. I am sure the same will be true next season when they go up to the Championship. "So when they do these things Ally doesn't get any praise because it is simply what is expected of them. But it has always been that way. "When I was at Rangers if we won a league and cup double it was considered a disaster. Even if you won a treble people said: 'Well, you should be doing it anyway!' "Yes, Ally has a full-time squad in what is largely a part-time league and a large wage bill, but I still think that he has a tough job. "The club is still getting 40,000 to 50,000 people coming to their games every week. There is a lot of pressure on him for the team to perform. "I have managed at lower league clubs, at Elgin City and Montrose, without that number of fans and you still feel the pressure." Robertson added: "If you are second at Rangers it is not good enough. At some big clubs you might get away with third or fourth. Not at Rangers though. "I don't think there is any club out there where the pressure is so intense. But Ally has dealt with that pressure for all of his life. "When Graeme Souness was in charge at Rangers he tried to force him out. But Ally loved the club so much he stayed where he was and fought his way back in. "Then Ally broke his leg and everybody said he was finished. But he came back from that as well and was as good as he ever was. "It says a lot about his character that he can remain so upbeat with everything he has to deal with. "There is nobody I would rather have in charge of Rangers at the moment." Scotland international Robertson won six Scottish titles, three League Cups and three Scottish Cups in the seven years that he spent as a player at Rangers. During that time, the cultured defender also played alongside Light Blue legend Ian Durrant. And he reckons there is no better man to help McCoist get Rangers back to the top flight than the former midfielder. Robertson said: "Ian is a real character and real Rangers man as well. "I am sure it will hurt him to see the club in the situation they are currently in and he will be keen to get them out of it along with Ally. "Ally and Ian will be doing everything they can to take Rangers back to the Premiership. "Ally was full of records as a player. So who knows? Maybe he will be a record breaker as manager as well. "Maybe he will be the first Rangers manager to win every league in Scotland." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/robertson-ally-has-been-tried-and-tested-151917n.23419367

Neil Lennon was spat at, had coins thrown at him and was the subject of verbal abuse at Tynecastle, according to the Celtic manager's agent. Lennon was watching Aberdeen's League Cup semi-final victory over St Johnstone and had to leave the game early, Martin Reilly told BBC Scotland. He said: "I'm absolutely raging about the treatment of Neil, about the stewarding and the fans' behaviour. "It's scandalous that Neil is treated like this." Reilly said that Lennon and Celtic coach Gary Parker had to leave their seats in the main stand after 70 minutes of the game. During the match, which Aberdeen won 4-0, play was held up briefly as two young supporters ran on to the park and got to the technical area, where Lennon was infamously attacked by a Hearts fan in 2011, before being apprehended by police and stewards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26002727

.....they're not even in my top five THE former Wigan boss reckons Rangers lack of strength in comparison with other teams makes them an unlikely candidate to win the Scottish Cup in May. OWEN COYLE reckons Rangers shouldn’t even be among the top FIVE teams fancied to lift the Scottish Cup in May. Ally McCoist’s side are joint second with Dundee United in the betting to win the cup with tournament sponsors William Hill. Rangers have the second biggest budget in the country but Coyle insists that doesn’t automatically mean the League One side are likely to win major silverware. Gers face Dunfermline at home on Friday night with a quarter-final place at stake and Coyle said: “I don’t think they’d be one of the first five favourites for the Scottish Cup. Of course they can win it with a bit of luck but in terms of the strength of their team against the others I would have to say it is unlikely. “Coisty is a pal of mine, as is Durranty, we did our pro licences together. But I don’t see their team as one of the cup favourites. “I did the Airdrie v Rangers game for TV a few weeks ago. “Rangers started well but never got the second goal and then made heavy weather of winning it. “If I was judging it on that then I’d say they have some very good young players coming through but I don’t think they’d be one of the first four or five favourites for the Scottish Cup.” The former Wigan, Bolton and St Johnstone boss reckons the Scottish Cup has taken on extra importance this season for the Old Firm as they romp their respective leagues. But Coyle believes that if both Glasgow sides get through this weekend then McCoist will want to avoid drawing Neil Lennon’s team in the last eight. He said: “I can’t put myself in the position of being Rangers manager just now and facing Celtic although on any given day anybody could win it. “But the odds, with Celtic being so strong, are that they would win the game. “There’s no getting away from how dominant Celtic are at the moment. They are on their own just now. “Both Celtic and Rangers have the league effectively tied up and the Cup is now a focus. “I’m sure the Celtic players will be desperate to finish the season with the double again. “But it’s also there for everyone else to go and have that big day out at the Final and win the Scottish Cup. Celtic have already lost to Morton in the League Cup so it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/owen-coyle-rangers-shouldnt-second-3112770

It's the Sun so hopefully as untrue as many of their stories, but, it does chime with Keith Jackson's recent statement that we'd have no money in weeks, not months and if you remember the original estimate of "last million by April" and deduct unseen pay offs since that prediction then this is scary enough, despite the source. The emboldening at the end is by me, not the paper, to perhaps give a more hopeful reading experience for you - though again it is a dodgy source. "RANGERS are at the centre of a financial cover-up investigation over claims the club will be broke within two weeks. The stock exchange inquiry was launched after an Ibrox official is alleged to have forecast they would run out of cash by mid-February. New chief executive Graham Wallace has assured fans there is no danger of a second plunge into administration — two years after ex-owner Craig Whyte steered the club to its doom. But in a complaint to the AIM exchange, a disgruntled investor writes: “It’s the worst-kept secret in Scotland that the club is running out of money in the next few weeks, yet the board has made no announcement.” The shareholder says Rangers should have disclosed any projected shortfall under stock market rules. AIM chiefs have vowed to investigate the claims. An Ibrox spokesman said they could not comment on regulatory matters. But a source said last night: “It’s untrue — there are people trying to undermine the board." (By Cameron Hay)

......as cash boost could help save the club HUGH wants Tynecastle side to see off Inverness in semi-final as Jambos are not chasing silverware but a crucial payday that may secure their very survival. I DON'T expect big John Hughes to take this well but I wouldn’t mind seeing Hearts beat Inverness Caley Thistle today to reach the League Cup Final. Mind you, I don’t expect big Yogi to give a monkey’s what this old hack, or any other journalist, thinks about any subject you care to mention. The manager has a carefully cultivated disregard for the press. So he can hardly object when one of us takes an equally independent stance and states a personal opinion. It doesn’t matter to me who wins the Cup. But if Hearts get to the final it could have a significant bearing on the club’s survival fight. And that does interest me from a traditionalist’s point of view. The game in general will be much worse off if Gary Locke’s side are relegated. But Scottish football would be delivered an even more crushing, and lasting, blow if Hearts were to go out of business altogether. That’s why Tynecastle administrator Bryan Jackson will be at Easter Road today with eyes closed and fingers and toes crossed while praying for victory. After he’s counted the size of the crowd and Hearts’ share of the gate. Getting to the final can buy them time. It would ensure revenue, enough to take the club through a calendar month, and that could get them over the line to the end of the season. The club’s future is still so uncertain that Jackson will visit the Lithuanian ambassador in London next week to see if he can speed up the process of Hearts exiting administration. Whether a deal can be done at all, given two Lithuanian banks have Hearts’ fate in their hands and show no interest in looking snappy about it, is still a matter for conjecture. So today’s semi-final has added, possibly historic, significance. It could conceivably be the last big game Hearts play for years, or maybe for ever. Or else it could fund the struggle to fight another day. The old romantic in me wants to see a fairytale finish to the season – Hearts still battling to stay in the major league while preparing for a cup final. And being led on to the field at Celtic Park on March 16 by Billy Brown because he’s agreed to come back and work that day for nothing. Our game’s struggling when Celtic will play Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup next weekend in a stadium where the top tier’s shut due to lack of interest. But Hearts represent the tens of thousands who’d be at Celtic Park to support their side if they made the final. I’m not wishing ill on Caley Thistle because they only took 101 fans to Kilmarnock last weekend. And if they make it to their first final I’ll be the first to congratulate Yogi. But their time could come again as they don’t have any fear of closure. Hearts are on life-support. Consigning Rangers to the bottom tier, instead of looking for a compromise that punished them while protecting football as a business, was a bad idea. If Hearts can’t find their way out of the mess left by Vladimir Romanov the game will have suffered a fresh blow to its image. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hugh-keevins-hope-hearts-make-3104525

By Chris Graham Let me state from the outset that it is the right, and to some extent the duty, of fans to question the team and the manager. Rangers fans pay good money to support the team and like fans of any other team they have every right to debate team selection, tactics, signings and everything else that effects the team they love. So in some ways the recent debate around Ally McCoist and the focus on the performance of the team is a welcome relief from the constant boardroom shenanigans we've had to put up with over the past two years. Having said that, the debate over the board was peppered with misinformation and the recent discussion and debate over Super Ally has been the same. There is a unique hypocrisy to claiming you are a loyal fan and then performing an attempted character assassination on someone who, no matter how skilled a manager they turn out to be, is a club legend who held the club together through one of the most turbulent periods in its history. If you find that you are prepared to publicly describe a man, who was widely acknowledged as having carried the club on his shoulders during the past two years, as having "sold out" then you better make sure you have something to back up your claim beyond internet rumour and an inability to comprehend publicly available information. There have been three main examples of where recent discussion around McCoist has moved from normal fan and press examination to something considerably more sinister. Michael Stewart's ill considered rant on BBC Scotland Sportsound was one. The barely concealed vitriol of Glenn Gibbons' recent Scotsman article was another, and last but not least, and the most disappointing of all since it appears to have been written on behalf of a group of Rangers fans, was an article on the Vanguard Bears front page. Let us first consider Michael Stewart and friends on BBC Scotland last Saturday night. Stewart's opening gambit is to tell us that he's had a run in with Ally McCoist earlier that week over something he had written in the Sun, and what follows certainly indicates that he hasn't taken terribly well to being put in his place by the manager. He's ably assisted by Graham Spiers who decides to break the BBC rule of not commenting on internet leaks by discussing the general content of leaked emails which he wants us to think should be "difficult" for McCoist. Apparently McCoist is "feigning" not having detailed knowledge of Rangers finances. The entire BBC panel are happy with their original assumption that McCoist must know more about the finances than he's letting on. Nobody wants to challenge it. At no point does this panel, with literally no knowledge of management or coaching at a big club, club finances, or the internal conditions at Rangers for the past two years, consider that McCoist might simply have been working to the, with hindsight, wildly inaccurate financial projections of former Finance Director, Brian Stockbridge. Quite how a discussion which starts with talk of Stockbridge's removal turns into a critique of McCoist is a mystery which will have to remain with the panel. McCoist, we are told, "knows how to work it". He knows how to "manipulate public opinion". The first caller is inexplicably a Celtic fan who continues the character assassination and is allowed several minutes to object to any, even timid, defence of McCoist. I could go on. The entire thing is a disgrace. The programme is well into its swing before Stewart is teed up, in a move clearly discussed before the show, to indicate his disdain for McCoist's coaching talent. This is Michael Stewart who hasn't coached a team in his life. Spiers is allowed to state, without challenge, that McCoist's salary is £850k a year - the latest falsehood from a man to whom accuracy is a form of kryptonite. Stewart has spoken to former Rangers players (unnamed) who have told him "the training is very standard" and "nothing exceptional is being worked on". Standard training! How shocking. Spiers, who has previous on unsubstantiated claims from unnamed sources, tells us that an SPL manager has told him that Rangers "don't play like a very well coached team". We are then treated to some faux outrage about McCoist and his backroom staff celebrating too much over a goal against Dunfermline. Yes, really, they think he shouldn't be celebrating goals too much. I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail about Gibbons' article. If you haven't seen it then don't bother. It's exactly what you would expect from a man who cannot hide his hatred anytime he writes about our club. What was most remarkable about his article was not the content, or the malice in it towards McCoist, but the fact that certain Rangers fans were happy to promote the article on social media despite having full knowledge of what Gibbons was all about. All of which brings us to VB and the article on their front page. I should perhaps declare that I have previous with some members of VB but I largely ignore their more vitriolic output, even when it is directed at me and others I know. However, this article was so full of drivel, and frankly so disrespectful to a man who has given so much to the club, that it is worthy of comment. I'll pick up on a few points made by the anonymous VB scribe before moving on to try to lay out some facts about the past couple of years relating to Ally. The article states as fact that "at no point was McCoist working for nothing". This is nonsense. It tells us that Ally's salary was £825,858 per annum. This is wrong. It tells us that Ally's recent offer to take a huge wage cut is in fact a "deferral". Again not true. In addition to the above inaccuracy we have some pretty shameful language used to describe McCoist. He is a "so called Rangers man". He is "as much a drain on our resources as the people on the board who were branded spivs". Finally, in a show of both ignorance and arrogance the unnamed author tells us that "it appears we have been sold out by our manager". So let's examine McCoist the "sell out" shall we? Ally McCoist did work for free for 3 months during administration. He received no salary at all for March, April and May 2012. He has never received a penny of that money back. His gross annual salary is £750,000 a year. There were no bonuses. If you properly examine the accounts and the prospectus then this is quite clear. Following the takeover of the club, McCoist agreed to work for a lower wage of £600k for a period of five months. When £22m was raised from the IPO, his representative requested that his wage payments be returned to the contracted value and that those payments were brought up to date for the 5 month reduced period. At no point was McCoist's contract amended or was any suggestion made by the board that the wage reduction be permanent. McCoist did not at any point request an increase in his contracted salary. During Administration, when he should have been coaching the team, McCoist was constantly meeting with Administrators, the legal representatives of the SFA, SPL and SFL as well as the various office bearers and executives of those three organisations. Following that, he continued to take part in the process of negotiating the infamous five way agreement and the smart money is on the outcome of that being considerably worse had it just been left to Green. All of this was taking place when Michael Stewart would have us believe that McCoist should have been completely restructuring the playing side of the club. Even as late as November 2012, whilst still on reduced wages, McCoist was being asked, in addition to his football duties, to present to potential investors in London during a two week period ahead of the IPO. All of this was in addition to having to cobble together a squad which had been decimated by administration, to which the vast majority of additions were free transfers and where several of the additions were not of his choosing. Is his wage too high? With hindsight, yes, but he offered to reduce it in October 2013 and, for reasons known only to the Executives at the time, the agreed cut was not actioned until around a week ago. They seemed more intent on attempting to deflect attention away from their own disgraceful plundering of the club than they were on accepting a genuine offer from someone who cares as deeply as you or I about Rangers. The idea that McCoist should have offered to reduce his contractual wage when the original financial projections showed only a loss of around £1m for the financial year is ridiculous. It is even more ridiculous when you see the wages and bonuses being paid to others at the club at the time. Why would McCoist have thought the club couldn't afford it? Even when that predicted loss was amended to £7m it is quite apparent that those around McCoist, with a much clearer view of the club finances, were reassuring him that all was well. As recently as October 2013, Stockbridge was still telling everyone that player wages were "sustainable". As soon as it became apparent that Stockbridge, Green and Ahmad had got things woefully wrong and that the club was haemorrhaging money at an alarming rate, McCoist offered to reduce his wage in the region of 45%. Apparently, to some, this makes him a "sell out". The worst thing about this is that there is a coordinated feel to some of the recent attacks on McCoist and I sincerely hope that those Rangers fans taking part in it are doing so through ignorance rather than complicity. Criticise the manager to your heart's content for things you don't like on the pitch. Debate the team selection. Debate the signings. Moan about under par performances but remember the burden which has been borne by McCoist over the past two years. Ask yourself if anyone else at our club could have done it. Ask yourself if he genuinely should have had such in depth sight of our finances that he was able to contradict our own financial director's forecasts. Ask yourself if you really want the final, high profile employee at the club who has genuine feeling for Rangers, removed for failing to do a job that was never his to do in the first place. It's an odd situation to see a group of Rangers fans, who normally, often quite correctly, scream from the rooftops about BBC output, suddenly promote Michael Stewart's rant on Twitter and forums. It's odder still to see some of them promote the work of Glenn Gibbons whose previous they are more than aware of. When challenged on this approach we've seen the group in question's official Twitter account inform another Rangers fan to "take McCoist's c##k out your mouth". Frankly it's the sort of thing you'd expect from the most demented amongst the Celtic support. We've seen PR men, supposedly working for the club, not only look to undermine a potential investor in Dave King but now also attempt to turn fans against our own manager. Clearly some are more eager to believe this nonsense than others. You really have to wonder why. The time to judge Ally McCoist will be when he's had an opportunity to do his job unhindered. It will be when he's had the opportunity to build a team out of something other than free transfers and young lads. Despite that fact that none of these norms have been afforded to him during his time as manager, he's continued to do his best in trying circumstances and has comfortably achieved the required promotion from two divisions. I fully expect him to achieve the same next season. Perhaps Graham Wallace will show himself to finally be the CEO who will provide Super Ally with the basic tools to do his job and be judged in fairer circumstances. For all our sakes let's hope so. In the meantime, debate away but how about we show our manager, a club legend, some respect and don't lap up the vitriol from elements of the press and dark corners of the internet?

I spotted this and thought it was a bit odd to say the least. THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED on the companycheck website here - http://companycheck.co.uk/company/SC425159 (scroll down to the Event History list) ... it states that the most recent event is: "22/01/2014 - New Board Member Mr A. Easdale appointed" Why would a Mr A. Easdale have been appointed on Wednesday when a Mr A. Easdale had already been appointed back in September?