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  1. well a few weeks with no rangers games and old compo is lost and to make things worse the world cup has wetted my appetite for footie I just hope we at ibrox play a passing and free flowing type of game something that will have the fans begging for more , lets hope .
  2. GRAHAM WALLACE says Rangers now has a solid base from which it can move forward with confidence as it looks to grow, prosper and thrive more as time goes on. Wallace has spent the weekend in Toronto at the 2014 NARSA convention, where over 1,000 Light Blues fans have been in attendance. The chief executive took questions in an open forum yesterday afternoon following the association’s annual general meeting. A number of issues were raised with him and Wallace is keen to reassure Gers followers a path to a brighter future lies ahead. He said: “It has been interesting talking to a different cross-section of fans in Toronto as it was an opportunity to hear at a really detailed level about some of the issues they have. “Almost since the day I came to Rangers, we’ve been operating in an environment where there have been consistent questions about the financial stability of the club. “I’ve repeatedly come out and said there’s no threat of administration and we’ve built a very solid base now which we’re moving forward from. “The fans should take reassurance and comfort from that. We are moving in a way that allows us to grow and develop the business. “The long-term financial stability of the business is well in hand and we are in a good place now. Fans should be confident and comfortable with the club’s long-term stability. “The club needs them to survive like any business does and we are absolutely hoping they will stand behind and support the club the way they have in recent seasons. “In the vast majority of areas, I think we are moving in the right direction and it is business as usual at the football club. “The fans are looking for a degree of confidence that their club is stable, it’s being properly run and we are in a good position financially. “We are now in our best position financially in my time at the club so that’s positive and we are placed very well for the start of the forthcoming Championship campaign.” Wallace admits there is still considerable work to be done as Rangers bid to make up for what he feels has been a missed opportunity to rebuild in a better way since administration in 2012. But he is sure a lot key moves have now been made which will allow the League One title winners to make more notable strides from now on. He added: “I’ve been in position now for a little over six months and in that time it has been extremely challenging. “There have been so many legacy issues we have had to deal with and we spent a considerable period of time looking at the condition and the state of the business. “We had to map out what we think the club and the business is capable of doing over the next several years. “We have done a tremendous amount of groundwork and we’ve addressed a significant number of issues. “In April, we published our business review. That gave fans a sense of what we inherited but more importantly, a sense of the vision of where we think we can take the business. “We have made significant strides but it’s not an overnight journey and what we are looking for now is to move forward again. “We want to go through our pre-season routine into the new season and really push on, starting to make a huge difference in the areas we’ve identified.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/7029-a-base-to-grow-from
  3. Never heard of him, when I first saw the headline I thought it was Delia Smith.
  4. Lifted from their page: I am still of the opinion that we will NOT go in to admin and that Laxey will give us another loan but this time against Auchenhowie training centre. I have, since Friday, been hearing the same rumours that others have been no doubt hearing and I will be investigating them this week. Some reliable sources say we will be in admin before season starts in a way to get high earners off wage bill and others claim the training ground will be getting sold outright before this happens. Both of these rumours are a concern due to the quality of sources and I shall seek to prove them right or wrong. Anyone with info regarding these rumours please feel free to contact me confidentially via personal message
  5. It does appear that admin 2 is on everyone's agenda. There are so many known unknowns and unknown unknowns that gambling on admin to provide a clean ownership break with all assets seems risky. Considering the market cap is currently under £20M, why oh why doesn't someone try buying £10M of (admittedly limited) shares to take overall control of the club? Why? Only desperate purchasing of shares by a couple of the board has seen the price rise from about the value of the physical assets. Anyone interested should be buying at these prices now- unless they are recklessly inviting admin to save a few million. This would be the ideal scenario: Ally McCoist, after a long lucrative career in which he has accumulated great wealth and with the help of a few friends and colleagues, purchases a controlling interest in the club. He moves upstairs to become chairman, and appoints Frank and Ronad De Boer to completely overhaul the football department in their image and to deliver a team full of youths ready to challenge for the SPFL in three years, and the last 8 of the CL in 5 years. All the while they must bring in £6M+ in transfers every year to help keep the whole operation viable. Season tickets sell out. The share price trebles to 90p, Rangers have market cap of £60M. A new share issue is made at this point, raising £30M+. Ally can sell a few back now for healthy profit if desired. Ally hangs on though, and proves a master at managing the club as CEO. Rangers move forward as a self financing, cash rich club. Some of it's investors are hedge funds. They see pre ordained profit targets being reached and sell their shares. McCoist makes deals with hedge funds etc to give fans opportunity to buy first. Slowly the ****s take their profits and leave, and the club regains it's stature and soul. Ally ,I'm sure if you looked down the back of the sofa and phoned Walter and Graeme you'd cobble the money together. OK?
  6. The official site says......THE renewal deadline has now passed.. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/club-news/item/6974-season-ticket-waiting-list We should expect a regulatory annoucement if ST numbers are significantly down. Aim rule 11 A company must issue notification without delay of any new developments which are not public knowledge concerning a change in: its financial condition; its sphere of activity; the performance of its business; or its expectation of its performance.
  7. By mutual consent. Oh dear! Striker Kenny Miller moves on May 4, 2014 VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that the club has parted ways with striker Kenny Miller. The club and Miller have mutually agreed to a contract termination. “We are thankful for the contributions Kenny made both on and off the pitch during his time in Vancouver,” said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. "He has been a great role model, a constant professional, and someone who I consider a very good friend. We wish him and his family all the best.” Miller, 34, joined Whitecaps FC in June 2012 and during his time with the club the native of Edinburgh, Scotland, made 45 appearances in all competitions, registering 13 goals and adding three assists. Conference call audio from head coach Carl Robinson and Kenny Miller will be posted on whitecapsfc.com this afternoon.
  8. The Blue Order is confirming that we are reluctantly not renewing our season tickets for the 2014/15 season. It is, however, our intention to buy tickets for home and away games on a match-by-match basis so that we can continue to give our full support to our team. Unfortunately, until further notice, we are unable to accommodate any new requests to join TBO or for seat transfers into our section however we would welcome others to congregate with our group in BF5. As part of the Union of Fans umbrella group, TBO have been at the forefront of recent protests against the board and we strongly urge Rangers FC to engage openly with concerned supporters and potential investors to safeguard the club's future.
  9. This should be interesting, renewals before the 120 days. Rangers will launch their season ticket renewal campaign at Ibrox tomorrow. As reported in the Herald today, prices expected to rise by 18%.
  10. Didn't look good and does not make good reading either ... Sky Sports News ‏@SkySportsNews 32 Min. Hull expect goalkeeper Allan McGregor to miss the rest of the season with a kidney injury #SSN
  11. Five people have been arrested in connection with crowd trouble at the Motherwell v Celtic game last week A reported £10,000 of damage was caused to seats in a section housing Celtic fans, a flare was let off in the same area before the game and two green smoke bombs were thrown on to the pitch during the match at Fir Park stadium on Friday. Celtic said they were ''appalled'' by the actions and issued precautionary suspensions to 128 supporters preventing them from attending home and away matches, while 250 season-ticket holders seated in the Green Brigade's corner of Celtic Park are to be moved to other parts of the ground. Police said 18 smoke bombs, three fireworks and one flare were set off. There were also disturbances and vandalism in Motherwell both before and after the game. Officers said five people were arrested in connection with the disorder on Monday and inquiries are continuing. The incident was the latest in a spate of trouble at Scottish football matches. A teenage girl was arrested after a flare was thrown from the Rangers support after their win at Falkirk on November 30, damaging the pitch, and a smoke bomb was thrown from the Motherwell support during their defeat by Albion Rovers on the same day. Last Saturday, 10 people were arrested in connection with football-related disorder before the Falkirk v Raith Rovers match. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/five-arrested-after-celtic-fan-trouble-at-motherwell-match.1386845170
  12. I watched a wonderful short film this week, on the effect the reintroduction of wolves has had on Yellowstone National Park in America. Wolves were wiped out in the area 70 years ago but several packs were brought back twenty years ago in the hope they would breed and reestablish them. A highly controversial move, the wolves were closely monitored and the effect they had on Yellowstone was studied during this period. As a large carnivore there was much apprehension about the wolves; would they decimate other species, clear large parts of the park of other mammals, indeed would they endanger man? The actual findings were mind blowing. The wolves mainly hunt deer and prior to the wolves return the deer had enjoyed decades with no natural predator except man. As such, they grazed where they wanted for as long as they wanted, they moved slowly through the landscape and their numbers grew and grew. The reemergence of the wolves changed this. The change wasn’t that large numbers of deer were killed (there aren’t that many wolves and there are tens of thousands of deer) it was that the return of the deer’s natural hunter led to a dramatic change in deer behaviour. Previously the deer grazed where they liked but now they were much more cautious and this was particularly noticeable near rivers. The grazing is good there, but it is open, and the deer were easily hunted. As the deer modified their behaviour and avoided grazing on the lower ground the vegetation changed, grass grew longer, bushes and trees reached maturity instead of being stripped back by hungry deer when small. This led to insects returning which in turn brought birds. The longer grass brought rabbits and the eagles who hunt them. Bears returned to eat the berries that now ripened on the bushes, beavers returned and used the mature trees to make dams. Most astonishingly of all the course of the river changed. Previously it meandered, it flooded regularly and the rain ran off the surrounding land quickly eroding the area. Now the increased vegetation soaked up much of the rainfall and its roots held the soil together. So the river ran deeper and faster, it no longer meanders it flows true. The wolves had indirectly been responsible for changing the course and flow of a river. What must be remembered is that wolves weren’t artificially introduced to the area; rather their absence in the first place was artificial. The ecology of Yellowstone evolved over thousands of years and at the top of the food chain was wolves. This large carnivore was meant to be there, nature had decided that a long time ago, the rest of the park actually depended on it. Its removal caused the damage, not its reintroduction. Every aspect of the park relied on the wolf directly or indirectly. Rangers play Stenhousemuir for the fourth time this season on Saturday. We’ve won our two previous league meetings and our meeting in the cup. Our last match at Ibrox saw us triumph by eight goals, our subsequent meetings have been much closer affairs. This match is being played against the backdrop of continued problems in Scottish football. The removal of Rangers from the top flight has upset the trophic cascade, the natural order of things evolved over more than 100 years is seriously out of kilter. Celtic have no serious rival as such and they are now meandering, their club is selling its best players, their manager speaks openly about being unsettled and their support, as well as showing apathy towards attending matches now fill their time by promoting songs about Irish murder gangs, making ill-thought-out political statements or indulging in good old fashioned hooliganism. The game’s governing bodies now no longer even hold the pretence of parity. They award cup finals and semi finals to grounds months in advance rather than wait to see who’ll contest them. Their decisions regarding cup matches and Inverness have bordered on the corrupt, the ticket allocation for the League Cup final being only the latest example. The side who finished second in the country last season, Motherwell, still managed to make a loss of nearly £200,000. The prize money they should have received was drastically cut half way through the season you see, no surprise there. This happened despite them cutting their player budget the previous close season. Still the league has no sponsor, in the top flight the champions and the side relegated was decided before a ball was kicked and the standard of play and player continues to drop. Without its largest animal the competition is reduced, the drive is lost and the revenue that follows it dries up. All of these things are interconnected, remove something from the natural order of things and it takes a long time to recover, if it ever does. Stenhousemuir go into this match with a new manager, former Scottish international and feted wunderkind Scott Booth. Although the current Scotland under 17 coach doesn’t take up his post for a few more weeks we can expect his new players to be eager to prove their worth to him. So motivation shouldn’t be an issue for stand-in coach Brown Ferguson’s side. Stenhousemuir are in a bad run of form with no victories this year, only their early season good results afford them the relative safety of sixth place. Rangers go into the match without Moshni who remains suspended. Cribari did well against Ayr and should retain his place although I expect McCulloch to return to the defence and Foster to drop out. Beyond that the side should pick itself, MacLeod should come into contention if fit again but I expect Bell, Law, Wallace, Black, Daly, Faure, Templeton and Aird to start. I don’t expect a repeat of the early season 8-0 but half that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow particularly if we score early. Stenhousemuir have both suffered and benefited from being in the same league as Rangers. Having the largest carnivore in the country close by drastically reduces the likelihood of promotion for every other club in our division, but it does offer them other tangible benefits. Our presence is artificial though, man made and it is upsetting the natural order of things. The trophic cascade refers to interconnectivity, how removing something from the top of the food chain has consequences all the way down that chain, how these changes can’t all be foreseen or managed and it is vital that chain isn’t allowed to be tampered with artificially. Recent meetings aimed at securing a voice for Rangers supporters in our boardroom should be welcomed, not only by all Rangers fans but also by all football fans. Whatever your feelings towards our club, we are all connected and interdependent, it’s in everyone’s interests that we’re back where we belong believe it or not. The only thing that should prevent that happening is our side not being good enough. Financial stability and accountability are vital, not just for our sake but for every club in the country. Nobody should fear the return of the wolf, its return should be welcomed by all.
  13. IAN Black has vowed to earn a new deal with Rangers - and help the Ibrox club complete every stage of 'The Journey'. The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hearts man is out of contract at the end of next season. But he is keen to pledge his future to Rangers so he can help them compete against their Old Firm rivals. Black said: "I have been consistent this season and the manager has been happy enough to play me every week. I have been doing something right. "I just need to work hard, keep my head down and try to earn myself a new contract. "I have got this year and next season just now. When you have got a year-and-a-half left then you obviously look to get a new deal and a bit of security for my career and for my family as well. "I just want to work hard and hopefully things behind the scenes can work out for me." He added: "My aim is to play in the top flight. Coming here when we were at the bottom my aim was to help the club get back up. "Hopefully I can be rewarded with getting a deal to play in the Premiership with a club this size. It is up to me to keep playing well and trying to get one." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/black-aim-is-a-ticket-to-ride-on-journey-152249n.23438571
  14. Motherwell made a loss of £184,500 last season, despite their best-placed finish in the league for 18 years. The club told shareholders that a mid-season redistribution of wealth among top flight clubs had been one of the major factors in posting the deficit. They say "generous bonuses" were honoured based on pre-season agreements while prize money for second spot was cut by about £900,000 in January. 'Well also exited both cups early and generated just £100,000 in transfers. That fee was for Jamie Murphy's move to Sheffield United last January. Turnover for the year was up more than £650,000 to almost £5.2m, mainly as a result of the club's participation in the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers. The board stressed that the Well Society fan ownership project was "critical" to the club's long-term sustainability. The fans' group, which has two representatives on the board, bought £150,000 worth of shares last season to help Motherwell through a temporary cash-flow shortage and the club are set to borrow more money from the society. The club, who do not have any bank debt, previously borrowed in times of need from former chairman John Boyle, who is still owed money. Motherwell, who made a loss of about £600,000 in the previous season, cut their player budget in the summer but are one point behind second-placed Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership, with a game in hand. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26251662
  15. Thursday, 13 February 2014 15:45 Defensive Options For Boss Written by Andrew Dickson ALLY McCOIST has hinted he’s likely to go for experience over youth at the back when Rangers travel to Ayr in League One this weekend. The manager has admitted teenage defenders Luca Gasparotto and Craig Halkett are in his thoughts after a series of good displays for the under-20s in recent weeks. Playing under Gordon Durie, they’ve helped the team to nine wins in a row and have only just seen a run of 703 minutes without conceding from open play come to an end. McCoist will be without his captain Lee McCulloch and French Tunisian Bilel Mohsni for the trip to Somerset Park as the pair serve suspensions. That leaves gaps to be filled in his rearguard and plenty of supporters would love to see the youngsters given an opportunity. But whoever plays will come up against the most experienced opposition forward in the league, ex-Gers and former English Premiership player Kevin Kyle. McCoist is wary of the 10-time Scotland international who, while in the latter part of his career, is still capable of making an impact. Despite struggling with injuries during his time at Ibrox, Kyle has overcome them to play for the Honest Men 20 times this season and score four goals as a foil for Michael Moffat. Although he has still to finalise his plans for the game, it appears McCoist will opt for a pairing of Sebastien Faure and Emilson Cribari to deal with Kyle on the west coast. Faure has made 22 starts for Gers this season and although Cribari has just three to his name, he was a regular last term as he made the first XI on 33 occasions. McCoist said: “We’ve got some good fixtures in the coming weeks and we’d be very hopeful we can win the league then have a chance to look at one or two boys. “Nothing would give us more pleasure than giving some of the lads an opportunity in the first team. “The boys are doing well very but it’s a different game on Saturday. It’s not an under-20 game and it’s against one of the most experienced strikers in the league. “Kevin, I would suggest, has been over the course and distance and he knows his way about the football park. “The best way I can put it is by saying Gasparotto and Halkett are acquitting themselves very well. “They’re certainly in our thoughts and it’s a compliment to the young lads that we’re thinking about them but we’ve other options too. “Sebastien has been playing at right-back and Emilson has been on the bench as well so that’s something we could think about as Richard Foster could come in at right-back. “A decision has not been made yet but Kenny (McDowall), Ian (Durrant), Jim (Stewart) and myself will sit down and have a talk about it.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6314-defensive-options-for-boss
  16. ........Ex-striker & coach lift lid on Craig Whyte disaster which still haunts Ibrox club 13 Feb 2014 07:20 IT'S the story that rocked Scottish football to the core and is still affecting those who endured it. Two years on from officially sinking into the financial abyss Record Sport has lifted the lid on the turmoil of Rangers entering administration. DAVID HEALY knows there were Rangers players who used the club’s slip into administration to strengthen their own position. However, the Ulsterman failed to get the one thing he wanted more than anything else – an extra year at the club he loves. Of all the demands from the Ibrox stars and their agents during negotiations to pull the club back from the brink Healy’s request was the most sympathetic. Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of the day Rangers plunged into administration under disgraced former owner Craig Whyte and sent shockwaves through Scottish football. Healy had been through it all before with Leeds United but had the luxury of a safety net in England – which doesn’t exist north of the border – where the PFA step in to pay any wages. The Northern Irishman revealed that in the numerous team meetings in the days following administration the one thing the players wanted more than anything else was to see the club and its staff saved. That is why they agreed to a pay cut. Then came the individual negotiations between players and Duff & Phelps and it was then that Healy – now retired after a spell at Bury – realised his short stint at his boyhood heroes was going to end. The 34-year-old said: “The administration, as terrible as it was for everyone, doesn’t take anything away from the experience of playing for Rangers. People might ask questions as to why I left but the truth is I wasn’t actually offered a contract. “We were asked if we’d take a pay cut to keep the club afloat and at the time I’d have played for free so that wasn’t a problem. It was just disappointing because we took the wage cut and I knew people were asking for transfers or clauses in their contract maybe to benefit them. “Listen, that’s fair enough, that’s modern day football. But for someone like myself, I think the administrators probably thought I was mad because I just wanted another year. My deal was up in the summer and I spoke to the administrator myself because I didn’t need an agent and the only thing I said was ‘give me an extra 12 months’. “I think the administrator spat out his tea because others had been looking to get away and asking for clauses and all I’d have liked was another year. “It didn’t happen, Rangers were financially unstable and I understood the situation and I ultimately left and joined Bury. Nobody knew who was under threat.. we heard our cars were being towed, says former coach “I’ve read people saying if Rangers had gone to the Third Division I wouldn’t have wanted to stay but I’d have played on the astroturf opposite Ibrox Stadium to pull on that jersey. “We knew at the time Rangers were going to be penalised, there was talk of the First or Second Division, but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. “I would have stayed and happily played the extra year as Neil Alexander did and the current captain Lee McCulloch, who has a long history of being a fan himself. “You can see in his performances that Lee loves the club, not only when I was there but more recently. I still watch Rangers and my dad still goes to watch them – Stranraer is the local game this season with it being a couple of hours on the boat from Belfast. “I was coming to the wrong end of my career but other lads felt it was an opportunity to go and futher themselves in the Premier League or abroad but for me I wouldn’t have hesitated to play in the Third Division. “But the administrators told me they were in no position to offer me a deal because of the strain on the club and they didn’t know who was going or staying or who would be sold in the summer. “I think he was just taken aback because so many different clauses had been requested. My only clause was that I would love to have stayed. We didn’t even talk figures or anything, I just said I wanted to stay. It never went any further. “I understood the situation and coming to the end of the season I didn’t really play for whatever reason but thankfully I did get a chance post-administration with eight or nine games and I scored a few goals. “It was just disappointing that I knew my future was going to lie elsewhere and it dawns on you that you’ll be leaving such a great club. I was just thankful to have had the opportunity.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-two-years-financial-collapse-3140239
  17. ........it was really difficult to walk away TIME will eventually heal Rangers' wounds … but the pain remains for Maurice Edu. It is two years on Friday the Light Blues were plunged into administration and the wheels put in motion on a series of events that would see a title-winning squad decimated, Ally McCoist's side drop to Scotland's lowest division and supporters put through an emotional wringer as their club was engulfed in crisis. Edu was one of the last players to jump ship at Ibrox, the American not heading for the exit door until late in August, 2012, as he signed for Premiership side Stoke. By then, a host of his team-mates had long since gone, stalwarts like Steven Naismith, Steven Whittaker and Allan McGregor leaving on free transfers. The actions of some players during that turbulent summer left a sour taste in the mouths of many, but the pain on the terraces was shared in the dressing room. "Everyone was in a different situation and everyone's circumstances were different," Edu told SportTimes. "You can't really compare one situation to another and say 'he should have done that or shouldn't have done that'. "From my point of view, I was in a position where, if I left, I wanted to get the club a fee. It may or may not have impacted on the situation, but I wanted to help. "I was in a position where I was able to do that and it was something I wanted to do. I thought it was a good gesture and a way of giving back to the club as much as I could. "But, as I say, everyone was in a different situation, so I can't comment on what the other guys did. "It was hard for all of us to leave. We had sympathy with the fans. It is the club they support and love, and it was going through a hard time. "Nobody wanted to see it happening to Rangers. It was hard for the players. People were saying 'it is just a job for them, they don't really care'. "But when you have been a part of Rangers, especially for as long as most of us had been there, you grow close to it and it is more than just a club. "We were the Rangers family - the players, the staff, the fans. We all felt close to the club, so it was hard for us to have to part ways and leave under those circumstances." Edu's exit brought a premature end to a successful Ibrox career that saw him win several honours following his £2.6million switch from Toronto in August, 2008. A fourth successive SPL title was in Rangers' sights when their financial collapse turned the club upside down. And the American international is confident there will be a bright future at Ibrox once again. He said: "I enjoyed my time there. It was great for me to be winning trophies and playing in the Champions League and I wish Rangers all the best for the future. "Everyone who has played for the club and supports the club is anxious to see them back where they belong as soon as possible. "Rangers should be winning leagues and cups, and I am sure everyone can't wait to see another Old Firm game. I, and I'm sure my former team-mates, want to see them back where they belong. "Hopefully everything can be sorted and the club will be back at the top soon." As part of the squad that, under the guidance of Walter Smith, saw Rangers dominate domestically after the disastrous Paul Le Guen era, Edu is still fondly remembered by the Light Blue legions. And the 27-year-old admits one moment - his dramatic Old Firm winner at Ibrox four years ago this month - stands out as one of the highlights of a successful Ibrox career. Edu said: "Scoring in any Old Firm game is going to be a great moment and a great experience but, with the circumstances of that game in terms of where we were in the table and the fact it happened in the last seconds, made it all the more special. "I couldn't have written the script any better. It was only a tap-in, but everything around that game made it a special moment, not just for myself but for all of us involved." While Rangers have made good progress on their road to recovery, Edu has endured a frustrating spell since his Gers exit. The midfielder only made a handful of appearances for Stoke but, after returning Stateside, will meet an old friend when his Philadelphia Union side face the Vancouver Whitecaps and striker Kenny Miller. Edu said: "My time at Stoke wasn't ideal and I wasn't playing much. It was important for me to get back playing, especially in a World Cup year, so when the opportunity came up, it was an easy decision for me. "It will be good to play against Kenny. I haven't seen him for a while. But I still followed his career and he has done well since coming to the MLS. It will be good to catch up with him." A return across the pond is a timely one for Edu as he looks to kick-start his career and sets his sights on Brazil. And he admits a second stint in Light Blue would be another dream come true. Edu said: "I definitely wouldn't rule it out. You never know what can happen. "I really enjoyed my time at Rangers and it is a club I will always hold dear to my heart and support and follow what is going on. "If I ended up coming back in the future, that would be really great." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/we-were-part-of-the-ibrox-familyit-was-really-difficult-to-walk-away-151744n.23408918
  18. As the draw is to be made after the Dundee Hibs v St Midden game, I just thought I'd start a thread on it. What will be the best draw for us?, I want Albion Rovers @ Ibrox:rfcbouncy:
  19. 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?
  20. There is seldom an isolated event at Rangers. Brian Stockbridge's departure as finance director is being interpreted as the first example of Graham Wallace, the chief executive, asserting his authority. Yet it also changes the dynamic in the boardroom, reducing the club to four directors and potentially altering how certain decisions are made in the coming months. There is, still, a sense of uncertainty about what the future holds for the club. Rangers' route back to the top flight is still being determined. Essentially, the club either cut back their spending in line with revenue from season ticket sales and, while in the lower leagues, limited commercial revenue. Alternatively, some investment in the coming 18 months would allow the team to be strong enough to compete on its return to the top division, and so quicken the recovery of Rangers' old status. An element of restructuring is required in either case, which is why Wallace has embarked on a root and branch review of the club's business. Philip Nash, the former Arsenal and Liverpool finance director who was recently brought in as a consultant, is expected to take the finance director role in the short-term. How it impacts on the boardroom will also be interesting, though. Dave King wants to lead the fundraising in a fresh share issue. His vision is to generate money from himself and other high net-worth Rangers fans that can be used to strengthen the squad and the football resources so that the team are immediately competitive, in return for influence on how the club is run. The alternative is a longer period spent trying to regain ground. There are complications, though, since a new share issue requires existing shareholders to reinvest to maintain the size of their stake, at a time when the vast majority of them have suffered considerable losses. The shares were launched in December 2012 at 70p, but closed last Friday with a value of 27.25p. This is the ideological struggle at the club, and the decision on the way forward lies with the Rangers International Football Club plc board members - Wallace, Norman Crighton, James Easdale and the chairman, David Somers - and the shareholders. Before either short-term funding, to tide over until season ticket sales kick in, or fresh funding is sought, though, Wallace has to restore the business to an even keel. It is thought to be losing between £500,000 and £1m a month, and costs will need to be cut. The first-team wages are around 30% of turnover, but with one week of the transfer window remaining, Rangers may yet find themselves having to react to offers for some of their players, or seek to incentivise some to leave, although payments would further reduce the cash flow. This is at a time when the team have lost only once in 22 league games. Some fans grumble at occasionally muted performances, but Ally McCoist deserves credit for managing through a series of crises, and for maintaining the standards the club was built on. "There have been times when I've said, 'What am I doing here?'," McCoist said. "But how could you regret becoming the manager of Rangers? I've got my dream job. It's not the dream situation [but] as long as I can look myself in the mirror, I'll be happy. I've made mistakes and I'll make more mistakes. As long as they're done in an attempt to do the right thing then I can live with that." A recent lunch with Graeme Souness and Walter Smith, his friends and former Rangers managers, will have brought plenty of reminders of different, more accommodating times. McCoist is resilient, though. While the club's future direction is being debated, his assessment is that his team needs reinforcements if it is to eventually challenge Celtic again. "If we're talking about winning the top league then we're miles away," he said. "I would hate that to be taken as a criticism of the team because it's not. But it would be very unfair for people to expect these free transfers who have come together to win [the] top flight. Some, if we got help with players coming in, could probably do it. But we would need investment." Herald
  21. I posted this on RM, I'd be interested in any thoughts about it on here too:- There has been a lot of debate about the job Ally is doing, most of it understandably (this being a discussion forum) based on subjective opinions about the 'type' of football we are playing. Most of these debates seem to be argued by using extreme absolutes with helpful terms like 'shite', 'clueless', 'going nowhere', 'useless', etc, etc. Using subjective terms like those certainly makes for fiery and occasionally interesting discussion but I feel that the three major points that get lost in all this is the fact that we have clearly improved from the dross served up last year, that we are currently meeting objective expectations on the pitch and whether our manager will be the answer long term. The last point remains to be seen and can only really be argued in the subjective, so I thought it would be interesting to look at the objective side to the first two points. We are currently averaging 3 goals a game and have only conceded 8 whilst winning 20 games out of 21 in the league. We've played some good stuff in spells this season whilst scoring hatfuls of goals, we've also played poorly at times and struggled to break teams down whilst still winning the vast majority of them - I think it's safe to say that at the moment he and his squad of journeymen and free transfers are meeting any objective expectations you would wish to ask of them in the League. As far as the cups go we have had one major disappointment in the League Cup after crashing out at the first hurdle. There are more encouraging signs in the other two cups however - we are in the final of the Ramsdens Cup and have a very winnable tie in the 5th Round of the Scottish Cup. There has been a lot of debate about the players brought in. I think they way transfers are viewed are pretty archaic, people seem to look at them in terms buying players to bolster a squad. They should, in my opinion, be looked at in terms of buying wins. Especially when you consider the importance of 3 straight promotions whilst operating under a transfer embargo (I used to term 'buying' wins for conversational ease). We can all have opinions on how we look as a team in obtaining those but, again, these are just opinions. I don't think anyone can dispute that Bell, Mohsni, Law and Daly are the spine of our team. All of whom were recruited in the summer and the stats for the games they have appeared in are pretty impressive. There has been a lot of claims (baseless) that players have 'regressed' under the current Manager and coaching team this season but, again, the stats don't really reflect this. Bell has kept numerous clean sheets in 15 appearances for the club this season, our impressive defensive record bears that out. Mohsni, as part of that defensive line up, has also played a major role in that record whilst scoring 8 goals and making 5 assists from Central defence - very impressive. Nicky Law has had numerous man of the match awards whilst weighing in with 9 goals and 5 assists from the centre of midfield. Jon Daly has contributed 18 goals and 8 assists whilst continuing to be the focal point of our attack. Two signings which receive the most ire on this board are those of Foster and Smith. Both have been derided as 'needless' and a 'waste of a wage'. The stats for those two are a lot less impressive but suggest that both have played their part this season. Foster has played 12 games and weighed in with 2 assists - of those 12 games we have won all 12. Smith has made 6 appearances and, once again, we have won all 6 games. Both were signed as back up and a combined total of 18 games by Janurary isn't too bad. For what it's worth, I don't think the performances are good enough, especially for what I'm paying for a season ticket and getting to games. That said, I find the facts impossible to argue against and until someone can show me a measurable and objective target which this team is failing to achieve this season then I will stick with the view that we are currently meeting expectations. McCoist has shown little so far to suggest he is a world beating manager, but he hasn't shown that he is a totally clueless fool either.
  22. YOU can’t blame Ally McCoist for not wanting to do the sums. Too many of the numbers might add up to ten if the Rangers manager puts his mind to counting the cost of the position the Ibrox club finds itself in. Last week, chief executive Graham Wallace admitted that it would be a five-year mission to make the current Rangers competitive in the top flight. Which suggests there is little chance of the club challenging for a Premiership title much before Celtic should surely be homing in on a record ten-in-a-row. Moreover, Wallace stated that Rangers would need to scale the heights by living within their means. McCoist interpreted this as a top-flight Rangers operating with a £3 million playing budget while Celtic worked with ten times this figure. This illustrates the monumental concern for Rangers supporters and McCoist. If the Ibrox club and Celtic both live within their means, then the near £30m Celtic can generate from the Champions League puts them out of sight of any domestic challengers. It is a vicious circle. Rangers need Champions League money to mount a challenge to Celtic in sustainable fashion. But they can’t obtain that income because this very Champions League money puts Celtic on a different level to them. “The worry is Celtic are off and running with the Champions League money,” McCoist accepted. “That’s obviously a big concern. It would be wrong for me not to look at Celtic’s finances and not appreciate the gulf between the two, but what we need to do is concentrate on our own club at the minute. Celtic aren’t an issue for us at the moment. They’ve handled things well and fair play to them, but until we’re back competing against them then that’s when we’ll have to assess the situation. At this moment in time we can’t concern ourselves with Celtic. I don’t mean that in a rude way but they’re in a different place from us at the moment.” How on earth Rangers get to that place before Celtic achieve an unparalleled decade of domination in the top flight is what gives followers of the Ibrox club sleepless nights. “I understand 100 per cent where the fans are coming from,” said McCoist. “We’ve lost £50m-worth of players. We could argue about valuations but that’s what we’ve lost and had to replace them with free transfers. It’s not rocket science. You’ve got no divine right at the best of times to challenge for the top league, so when you look at the facts and figures you shouldn’t be challenging all of a sudden. But that’s not to say we can’t bring in some more youngsters and if that’s what it takes to move forward then that’s what we’ll do.” To plan to win a Premiership title with a crop of youngsters would be cock-eyed optimism, cautions McCoist. “You’ve got to get a blend. There may be exceptions but other than Manchester United I can’t think of too many teams that have had seven or eight youngsters come through and gone on to be a top-class European team. We’ve never, as long as I can remember, had seven or eight youngsters in the team who have come through Murray Park. You’ve got to get a balance. I think we’ve done fine in recent years when you look at the likes of [Alan] Hutton, [Allan] McGregor and [Charlie] Adam, [Chris] Burke and so on. I don’t think you’ll get too many cases like that Manchester United team. That said, it’s really important we get as many through as we possibly can.” And hold on to them. When the old Rangers was liquidated, the likes of McGregor declined to have his contract transferred over to the new company then formed. McCoist has had plenty to say about the fact that the keeper and other high-profile players “headed to the hills”, as he put it at the recent agm. But he was more conciliatory when asked what McCoist the player would have done in 1992, had Rangers gone bust. “I don’t know what I would have done,” McCoist said. “It’s the easiest thing for me to say that I’m a Rangers man but I don’t know. I’m not going to look back and start criticising people. I wouldn’t want to move back into hypothetical 1992 situations.” How McCoist must wish there was a Rangers currently enjoying the situation the Ibrox club did in 1992, though. http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/numbers-don-t-add-up-for-rangers-boss-ally-mccoist-1-3249510
  23. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/449976/Fringe-Rangers-players-face-an-Ibrox-exit
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