Jump to content

 

 

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'window'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • Main Forums
    • Rangers Chat
    • General Football Chat
    • Bluenose Lounge
    • Forum Support and Feedback

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Location


Interests


Occupation


Favourite Rangers Player


Twitter


Facebook


Skype

  1. The Rangers board and I issued separate public statements following our meeting last month. I made one correction to the RangersÂ’ statement but the Rangers board saw no cause to correct my statement. The board recommitted to issue the business review within the original 120 day deadline and, importantly, committed that the fans will have access to this review prior to advancing funds by way of season ticket renewals. Despite strong reservations from fan groups I asked the fans to give the board time to honour this commitment. Part of my motivation was that any public company board is bound to act in good faith and that breach of such a share price sensitive commitment would be an ethical, moral, and probably criminal breach. I followed up on this commitment with the board after the recent announcement on season ticket renewals. The Chairman has advised me that the board will now only issue the review at the end of the season ticket renewal period and it will consequently not be timeously made available to fans. Disturbingly, the Chairman has advised me that the true intention of the board had always been to delay issuing the review until funds had been largely collected. I apologise to all fans for wasting time by lending credibility to the board’s false representations. I was wrong to give them the benefit of the doubt. At least we now can no longer have any uncertainty about governance at the club. It is common cause that the club is not a going concern without access to the season ticket loan from the fans. It is also common cause that the season ticket money will only provide partial relief in advance of a more permanent recapitalisation. I have hitherto urged restraint in dealing with the board, however due to this extreme act of bad faith I believe that it is vital that fans now withhold season ticket money from this board and similarly refuse to support the club by way of the purchase of replica kit or any other retail product. An announcement will shortly be made providing details of a bank account that season ticket money can be paid into as an interim measure. The specific terms and conditions of this account will be made available to fans, including the basis on which funds will be advanced to the club and the basis on which funds will be returned to fans. As a minimum, the board must provide the club property as security against the season ticket money. I recognise that fans will have anxiety about “betraying” the club and the risk of loss of a cherished seat at Ibrox. However, the time has come when the trade-off is a potential loss of a seat against the loss of the club. That would be the real betrayal. This board has lost its right to be dealt with on a good faith basis. Richard Gough has agreed to join me as a custodian of the bank account that will be established and fan groups can nominate additional members.
  2. Friday, 11 April 2014 18:55 Club Statement Written by Rangers Football Club "The Board of Rangers Football Club notes with astonishment the statement issued this afternoon by Dave King. In his statement Mr King makes a number of untrue allegations against the Chairman and the Board of Rangers Football Club alleging bad faith and false representation. The Chairman and the Board refute all such allegations in the strongest terms and have referred Mr King’s statement to the Club’s legal advisors. Mr King clearly has elected to ignore the Board’s previous public statement following the Board’s meeting with him. In this statement, which was reviewed with him prior to issue, the Board stated that it will issue the results of the business review prior to the season ticket renewal window ending. This position remains unchanged and Mr King is well aware of this having sought personal confirmation on this matter from the Chairman as recently as yesterday. The business review period has not yet even ended, as Mr King is well aware, however he has elected to make yet another public statement to serve his own purposes. When the Board met Mr King a few weeks ago, he made it clear that he did not want to put another penny into the Club and would prefer to see the Club using other investors' money. The Board was therefore surprised, but gave him the benefit of the doubt when, a few days later, Mr King made media comments about a willingness to invest his money into the Club. This is an easy statement to make to the media but is contrary to what he told the whole Board. It is extremely disappointing that Mr King should consider it appropriate to issue this latest statement, clearly designed to unsettle and mislead Rangers fans, on the eve of an important Scottish Cup semi-final match. For someone who claims to have the interests of Rangers at heart and as an ex-director, King's untrue comments are nothing short of disgraceful." http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6741-club-statement
  3. No quotes, could have done it before, and is one of those thrown in the hat every now and then. Alas, he sure has the money to do it ... and is presumably not many people's favourite either. Daily Mirror
  4. this club have just been banned from the next two transfer windows
  5. I have taken off the headline, saying that our league win will be "hollow" as that may have distracted from what, for me, is an inarguable piece. ( http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl-lower-divisions/rangers-title-will-be-a-hollow-victory-1-3335530 ) by ALAN PATTULLO Published on the 11 March Rangers could be hours away from the League 1 title. The last but one objective in Rangers’ projected return to the top tier in successive seasons could be complete. Another mission accomplished if they win tomorrow night against Airdrieonians. It will be deservedly so. Rangers have won 25 of their 27 matches. They have drawn the two others. They have scored 84 goals, conceding only 14. They are doing what we all expected them to do. They are doing what they should be doing. But is the journey proving as gainful as hoped? Are Rangers making enough use of their journey back to the top flight? This question was first posed last season when a team of mostly experienced professionals – in several cases, internationals – made swift work of part-time opponents. Then, the same complaint was heard. Rangers are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They are failing to take a prize opportunity to blood young talent in the first team. More than one person has commented on the underwhelming atmosphere at Bayview earlier his month, when Rangers needed an injury-time penalty to secure three points against East Fife. It was a scuffed victory, set against a backdrop of yelps and shouts from the players that were heard from television screens across the land. It was as uninspiring as it was possible to be. Manager Ally McCoist admitted as much afterwards. He was happy enough with the result, just not the performance. It was far from what he had expected, he said. It was certainly far from what should be expected from what is still, at even casual glance, a team of Scottish Premiership-standard players. For those with the health of Scottish football at heart, it is a slightly deflating experience to study the Rangers teamsheet each week. Doing so will stir far more painful emotions for Rangers fans, since it provides plenty of pointers towards why the club are still hemorrhaging money. Well-paid – some would say vastly overpaid – seasoned professionals playing far below their level is not the only reason why the club are reduced to casting around for loans. However, it isn’t helping. Much was made of how Rangers might negotiate their way back up the leagues when it was confirmed that they would begin season 2012-13 in the old Third Division. While clearly traumatic, some expressed the hope that this would at least provide them with the opportunity to rebuild from the bottom up; to resuscitate the club’s youth development programme. Few can claim that Murray Park has been as successful on that front as was hoped. The most successful graduates are now playing elsewhere. Are there many coming through the ranks? Not on the evidence presented to date. Of the players used by McCoist on Saturday, most would not have seemed out of place in the Scottish Premiership. Indeed, several of them are not only Premiership players, but top end ones. Lee Wallace was one of Hearts’ best players before he made the switch to Ibrox, as was David Templeton. Jon Daly was regarded as a significant loss by Dundee United fans when he departed, while Richard Foster is the epitome of a dependable professional, though when he returned to the club he seemed far from essential to Rangers’ ambitions of winning the title. Cammy Bell, meanwhile, had earned international recognition with Kilmarnock. On the bench, of course, is substitute goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, with the younger Scott Gallacher condemned to play reserve team football following his return to Ibrox after a loan spell with Airdrieonians. Defenders Craig Halkett and Lucas Gasparotto, who qualifies for Canada, are two players whom many expected to have been employed by now, but neither has featured yet this season – not for Rangers at least. Fraser Aird and Robert Crawford, who replaced Aird during last Saturday’s match, are sources of some optimism, as, of course, is Lewis Macleod, the currently injured Scotland Under-21 internationlist. McCoist clearly does not believe others coming through at Murray Park are good enough. If he did, he would have fewer qualms about pitching them into the team, the way that Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has done at a higher level. It is unlikely that McCoist will be persuaded to do so next season either, in a league where teams need to know how to look after themselves, perhaps to an even greater extent than in the Premiership. So has Rangers’ window for youth development now passed? Probably. They have other battles to fight in any case. But when they do take their place in the top flight, probably in two seasons’ time, the relief may well be tempered by a niggling sense of what else might have been delivered over the course of their exile.
  6. ALLY McCOIST has reaffirmed his faith in his Rangers squad and clarified his comments to the Press last week after being unhappy with the way they were reported. The Ibrox manager spoke to the media on Friday to preview Saturday’s trip to East Fife and said he would like to strengthen his pool for next season’s likely Championship campaign. His consequent complaint is that was interpreted by some as him fearing his men wouldn’t win the title it goes for without further investment in the group first. McCoist has insisted that’s not what he meant at all and maintains it’s his job to strive for constant improvement whatever league Gers play in and however well they perform. There was a reaction to how the 51-year-old’s words were put across and he is disappointed as he feels he has been portrayed in some quarters as having a lack of trust in his current crop. McCoist will still look to recruit high-quality players if he is permitted to when the 2013/14 term draws to a close and the transfer window reopens. But he is adamant that doesn’t mean he doesn’t rate those currently at his disposal because he’d always seek to make his side as strong as it can possibly be. McCoist said: “I said if we got up to the Championship there were no guarantees we’d win it and I stand by that. There are no guarantees in anything. “But not for the first time, I thought the standard of journalism was very poor. I listened to the interview again and at no time did I say we have to spend cash. “I’m obviously quite guarded about saying things like that but various newspaper reports claimed we needed to spend vast amounts of money. “These people look to me to do my job and I would actually look to them to do their jobs too. All I want them to do is report what I’m actually saying. “What I said was I’d like to strengthen the squad for next season and the foreseeable future but it came across in a completely different manner. “What happened then was I had people reacting to a statement I never made. I’ve been in the game long enough to know what to expect but it’s a little bit disappointing at times. “We’re bound as coaches and managers to try to improve the quality of player in the team and the squad all the time, regardless of what level we’re at and how successful we are. “That’s our job. We’ve got to keep pressing buttons and asking questions in an attempt to do that and that will always be the case. “What has been written suggests I don’t have faith in my current squad and that’s not the case at all. If and when we get promotion, I’d like to strengthen and give the squad a hand.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6440-boss-clarifies-press-comments
  7. Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 31s #Rangers Dave King "Message to fans is..if we don't hold board to account then we will have a couple of unnecessarily difficult years ahead" Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 1m Dave King "I am absolutely confident that Craig Whyte won't have a future at #Rangers going forward" Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 1m Dave King "There are powers behind the throne at #Rangers not represented on board" would prefer him an other likeminded people involved Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 2m Dave King believes there is a "guiding hand behind" #Rangers that is not currently sitting on the board. But doesn't name names. Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 3m Dave King says "what is very important" is transparency must come first, before any future investment. Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 4m Dave King says trying to avert "another financial crisis" at #Rangers & that board is relying on fans' "fierce loyalty" to come up with cash Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 5m DaveKing says "it is obvious" #Rangers is "running out of money" & was happy go be a significant investor but board has since "done nothing" Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 9m Dave King says real aim to get "proper transparency from #Rangers & would like not to have to set up fund for season tickets. Martin Williams ‏@Martin1Williams 11m Dave King says will meet the #Rangers board and insists his statements about "financial crisis" of club was "nothing controversial"
  8. Rangers chief answers the big questions over controversial £1.5m loan IN an exclusive Q&A session with the Ibrox chief executive, Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks Wallace to explain what is really going on. RANGERS chief Graham Wallace was back in the firing line yesterday after confirming he has agreed £1.5million of loans to keep the club out of short-term financial distress. Fans reacted angrily as details emerged – with hedge fund outfit Laxey Partners set to rake in £150k for lending just £1m for less than six months. Here Record Sport’s chief sports writer Keith Jackson asks the Ibrox CEO to explain what is really going on. KJ: You do appreciate the fans will be hugely concerned you need to raise this £1.5million in the first place? They are repeatedly told there is no need for alarm but you must see why they would be so jittery. The need for this new money – just a year after raising £22m in IPO cash – doesn’t suggest the healthiest of financial positions, does it? GW: The money raised through the IPO has been spent in a variety of ways. But that’s in the past. I can’t respond in detail as to how those monies were used. What I can do is look at the business as we see it now and how we are going to move it forward. The need for a financial facility is no different for Rangers than for any normal business. We need time for people to see how the business is being operated and for people’s trust in Rangers as an organisation and trust in the credibility of those who are running it. KJ: But you are getting a hard time about this loan from elements of your own support. Many of them ask why Laxey and why the Easdales? Why were other shareholders not invited to loan the club their money? GW: The board looked at a long list of alternative sources of short-term funding. The club, through its adviser, thought this opportunity made the most sense. A third of the money is coming totally interest free. No costs, no interest and no cost to the club to service the facility. That’s the cheapest money you will ever get and if there is a long list of people wishing to support the club to that level then I’d like to talk to them. KJ: Haven’t you created a potential problem with other shareholders or would-be investors who might ask why they weren’t invited to make a similar loan? And I’m talking here specifically about Dave King. GW: The board has had a dialogue in recent weeks with Dave King. He has not been rebuffed by the board. He is not currently a shareholder. He has indicated he’d be an interested participant in a future equity raising at the appropriate point in time. Our shareholder base has also expressed willingness to invest in fresh equity. Dave King has not come to the club with an offer, other than an interest in participating in a future equity. KJ: Just to be clear, are you saying Dave King has not offered the club short-term funding? GW: He has not done that, no. Dave is not a shareholder and he has not made the club any offer of financial assistance. That’s not a criticism of Dave King. I have not met him but as a board we have had some dialogue to try to understand his intentions because there has been a lot of talk about his interest in investing. There has been no other proposal made by him at all. KJ: At the time of the agm, the board said there were a bunch of investors lining up to plough money into the club. So were they there at all if ultimately this money has had to come from the Easdales and Laxey? GW: The board did consider a range of alternatives from a mix of shareholders and other sources. It was an extensive process and the facility received the support and sign-off of the company’s NOMAD as an appropriate facility and one which was arrived at in the right way. KJ: How difficult would the financial situation have become without this investment? GW: Football is a very cyclical business, with big incomes generated early in the summer which progressively run down. So this is not a crisis move. It’s not a last-gasp policy. We have some fairly significant income streams that will arise in the summer. So this is just a short-term facility. We have no bank debt, no overdraft and a balance sheet which is probably the envy of a lot of football clubs but yet consistently everybody talks about us being in a crisis. KJ: If there’s no crisis then the financial situation will not impact on Ally McCoist’s budget then? GW: People laugh when we talk about putting in place a medium-term strategy but when you are signing a player on a long-term contract it’s a significant financial obligation. So we need a clear idea of what the financial outlook looks like. We are looking at this summer’s window and beyond, over the next 24 months. But it’s too premature to say right now what the outcome of that will be. KJ: Will his budget have to come down this summer or not? GW: Player costs are not surprisingly the biggest aspect of the business. We’ll look at what we need on the football side and what ongoing costs are. We’ll do it in a very considered way. There will be no knee-jerk reactions. Fans will expect us to take a medium to long-term view. KJ: The trust of these supporters is crucial to the club’s financial position. Do they trust you? GW: I have said the club needs to engage to a greater extent with the supporters and I mean it. But people require a period of time to form a view on what is being done. I don’t expect them to instantly accept what we say. All I ask is for a reasonable period of time to get the business refocused and to demonstrate that we are listening to them. We have to show that we are doing things for the right reasons – for the greater good of this club. KJ: You’re bang on there, given the behaviour of some individuals around this club in the last few years. You have to be seen to be acting in Rangers’ best interests. GW: That’s right and I can say from the time I have been here people are 100 per cent focused on doing the right thing for Rangers. It does take time to demonstrate that. We’ll be judged on our success and on our ability to do things in the right way. When you hear external comment about the club teetering on the verge of administration or whatever, some of it is quite irresponsible. There is no way this business was ever going to go into administration again because the fundamentals are too strong. Some of these stories will quite naturally have alarmed supporters given what they have come through. But hopefully, in time, the supporters will recognise that the board and myself are doing the right things for their club. KJ: But then they see Laxey picking up £150k for giving you a secured loan, doesn’t that smack of the previous regime and people with their noses in the trough? GW: I can understand why people might look at it this way. The other way to look at it is it’s no different from any other commercial organisation which would make loan capital available to a business. There is a level of return that they would expect for their money. The cost we’ve agreed with Laxey is deemed appropriate in the market. I don’t think there should be any concerns about the level of commerciality on that. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/graham-wallace-qa-rangers-chief-3181015
  9. 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
  10. LEE WALLACE knows Rangers are closing in on the League One title but he has urged his team-mates to retain their focus as they look to get over the finish line as quickly as possible and with a bit of style. As things stand if Ally McCoist’s players can win their next four league games and then beat second place Dunfermline on March 15 at Ibrox they will be crowned champions for the second year in a row. This, of course, is assuming the Pars win all their games through the same period. Having helped his side win their last nine games following the 1-1 draw against Stranraer on Boxing Day, Lee would love it if Rangers can extend this impressive run until the end of the season but he is aware how tough that will be. Tomorrow the Light Blues will welcome Stenhousemuir to Ibrox for the second time in 2013/14 and the Warriors, with Scott Booth now in charge of the club, will be out for revenge following the 8-0 defeat they suffered on September 28. Wallace was on target on that occasion, the left back sliding the ball under keeper Chris Smith with a low finish to make it 5-0, but he is expecting a 90-minute battle against the Warriors from Ochilview this weekend. Speaking at Murray Park this morning he said: “I think we certainly got our best result and probably one of our best performances against them in the 8-0 game earlier in the season. “It’s been hard to try and re-achieve that type of scoreline and get close to that type of performance but I think we’ve picked up recently. “Obviously in the recent game against Dunfermline we were more like ourselves but we know it’s going to be a tough game against Stenhousemuir. “They have some good individual players who can hurt us and if we don’t match them and more we will be in a bit of bother. But we’re looking forward to it and trying to keep this run going. “There have been times in here when we’ll talk about how far away the league title is but when we take to the training field or get ready for games on a Saturday we’ll always be focused on winning, we’ll never let complacency creep in. “We know there are difficult games and that’s just how it is always going to be. We have to stay focused, be professional and try to recapture a level of performance that excites fans and gets us all playing exciting football. “That’s obviously what we are trying to achieve and we can’t look too far ahead.” http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/6370-we-can%E2%80%99t-be-complacent
  11. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS By Billy Grimm Once upon a time in Fairytale Land there were Three Little Pigs who were fans of a football club. They were having a hard time with the Big Bad Wolf constantly at their door, huffing and puffing and threatening to blow the club away. This had happened once before and the pigs were fearful it could happen again. So they decided they had to build a stronger club but they could not agree on how to do it. So the First Little Pig decided the fans had to put their money together and buy the club. He held a meeting where he outlined the plans and asked everyone to put in money every month and eventually there would be a big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some fans agreed to do this. Some said they had no money so couldn’t. Some said it was a good idea. Some said it was crazy. A fight broke out with some fans accusing others of being closet supporters of the rival club. It all got very messy. The First Little Pig slid away out into the night, his dreams in tatters, his nightmares returning of the wolf at the door. The Second Little Pig heard of this debacle and snorted. He had a much simpler idea. He would phone The King of Fairytale Land and ask him to give them squillions and squillions of money to save their club. The very next day The King rode up on his white horse. He looked magnificent, his armour shining in the sunlight. He gave an impassioned speech. The assembled crowd of fans cheered and said The King had helped in the past with even more squillions so he would do it again. He made promises. He made heart-felt pledges. His oratory lifted the crowds to new heights of frenzy. Then he reared up on his white steed and headed off into the sunset. And where he and his horse had stood was his gift to the club. ‘What is that?’ asked one little boy. ‘That,’ replied the Second Little Pig ‘is a pile of shite’. So the Third Little Pig decided perhaps what was needed was not idealistic clap trap but some straight-talking, no-nonsense investors. He had heard of two brothers who were not renowned for their oratory or their bullshit but who got things done. He phoned and invited them to his little house. The very next day a big blue bus pulled up at his window. Two men got out. They were Big Brother and Very Big Brother. The Little Pig invited them in and they sat in his little chairs. With difficulty. ‘So,’ asked Little Pig ‘what can you do for the club?’ ‘Simples,’ replied Very Big Brother, ‘firstly you need to get rid of the people in the club who have been mismanaging and overspending.’ ‘And you could do that?’ asked Little Pig. ‘Aye,’ said Big Brother. ‘Next,’ said Very Big Brother, ‘you bring in people who are respected, who have a proven track record of good management and who you can trust to look at the books and begin to make plans. In particular you must have a good leader running the club, someone with integrity, someone who will balance the books by making cuts if need be and preferably someone who has run a football club before.’ ‘But would you be able to find someone like that?’ asked Little Pig. ‘Aye’ said Big Brother. ‘But what if the club is needing investment now to get things onto a strong footing?’ asked Little Pig. ‘We would be willing to put money into the club’ said Very Big Brother. ‘Your own money?’ asked Little Pig scarcely believing his ears. ‘Aye, no problem’ said Big Brother. They sat staring at The Third Little Pig. They were not very smiley and a little scary. ‘Is that it then?’ asked Very Big Brother. ‘Well I suppose so,’ said Little Pig. ‘Thank you’. ‘No problem,’ replied Big Brother. Little Pig showed them to the door and as they boarded their big blue bus he distinctly heard Very Big Brother say to Big Brother ‘so let’s go and find that fucking wolf.’ http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/blog-2/
  12. Gribz

    Hullo Hullo

    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
  13. Derek Johnstone: SO much has happened on and off the park since Rangers were put into administration by their former owner Craig Whyte two years ago this week. The Ibrox club have gone through three different chairmen and three different chief executives. A great deal of money has been brought into the club. Unfortunately, a great deal of money has gone out of it as well. Never mind the £22million or so that was raised in the IPO back at the end of 2012. There have been two tranches of season ticket money taken in that I believe were worth in the region of £18m. With all of the other revenue, from sponsorship deals and other commerical intitiatives, it is scandalous that the club is now running out of money. A lot of people have walked away with many times what they invested bulging out of their back pockets. They have plundered the club. I feel sorry for the latest chief executive, Graham Wallace. He is the man charged with sorting out the mess his predecessors made. But I am and always have been a glass half-full kind of person. And I do think Rangers have, at long last, got the right person in place to sort out the situation. For the first time in a long time I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Graham is a football man. He has experience of working at a major club, Manchester City, in the past. It is the first time in many years that somebody like that has been in a position of authority at Ibrox. Graham has done and said all the right things since being appointed back in November. He has asked for 120 days to identify and then address the issues affecting the club. He is currently working 24/7 to do that. If anybody can turn things around he can. The most important factor throughout what has, without doubt, been the most difficult two years in the history of the club has been the backing of the supporters. It is so vital that they remain firmly behind the club now and continue to buy season tickets in numbers and purchase club merchandise. I would hope the fans can see that in Graham Wallace they have the right man to take the club forward. He is speaking to a broad cross-section of the support and keeping them informed of what is happening at the club. In the past, they were kept at a distance and that was wrong. The paying customers can be certain their hard-earned will not - as has, alas, been the case in the past - go right out of the window with Graham at the helm. He knows what the club can and cannot afford to spend. He knows that there are going to have to be changes. And he will, in time, make them. I also think that Rangers needs fresh investment. From Glasgow, from London, from the Middle East, from wherever. But I am sure club officials are looking at that. I would certainly believe what he tells us and not others who delight in trying to run the club down. Despite the difficulties Rangers is facing, it is still a massive club, with a huge fan base, great facilities and enormous potential. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangerscomment/derek-johnstone-golden-graham-is-the-man-to-unearth-silver-and-bank-152040n.23426812
  14. Despite being a decade long user of usually anonymous internet messageboards, I still prefer going out, having a bite to eat and a good laugh. With that in mind, I present to you: The 2014 Gersnet End of Season Boozy Do Gersnet stalwart Brahim Hemdani can provide the destination, this natty Mediterranean chophouse on the sou'side: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186534-d1087980-Reviews-Malaga_Tapas-Glasgow_Scotland.html and if enough go, the owner is apparently willing to shut the doors to your ordinary, workaday customer in order to bow and scrape before us with the all deference due people in our position. The date is entirely flexible, so long as it is near the end of the season; whatever suits the most will win, I guess. Plainly this will be a poor night out if no-one goes, just a lonely, portly fellow (that's me, btw, not Brahim) sitting in a restaurant staring glumly out the window. Having been on a golf day out with RM and having met a good few posters from here, I can honestly say I haven't met anyone who isn't completely normal, so if you're a bit nervous about a night out with strangers I'd urge you to go for it. You can always leave!* * once you've paid
  15. 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
  16. I don't have the article but suspect you can get all the info you need from this page shown on facebook:
  17. .........and steer club into fan control 1 Feb 2014 07:56 PAUL GOODWIN believes the Light Blues legions could own the Ibrox club within 18 months following successful attempts by Hearts and Motherwell. SUPPORTERS DIRECT chief Paul Goodwin believes Rangers fans can assume control of their troubled club within 18 months. Goodwin, the head of SD in Scotland, has long championed the importance of community ownership within our national game. And he is convinced the Ibrox faithful can overthrow the current regime – providing they mobilise themselves into one powerful movement and start pulling in the same direction. At the moment there are four main fan organisations – The Rangers Supporters Trust, The Rangers Assembly, The Rangers Supporters Association and the Sons of Struth – with all groups battling for supremacy. But Goodwin, who helped oversee fan buy-outs at Stirling Albion, Clyde, Dunfermline and East Stirling has called for them to unite as one. Indeed, given the lack of trust in the current board, the lack of transparency, the current climate of financial uncertainty along Edmiston Drive and the plunging share price, he reckons this is an ideal opportunity to get the bandwagon rolling. Goodwin said: “I believe if the Rangers fans united, and that is the key, into one cohesive unit there is no reason why they can’t own the club within 18 months. “At the moment we have 8000 Hearts supporters paying £20 a month as they move towards fan ownership and if you have 20,000 Rangers fans doing the same you can go out and buy shares because it is a liquid market. “The simple maths say 20,000 fans paying £20 a month would give you £4.8million in a year. “It just needs the right type of people to pull that together and that is the hard part for Rangers. “I don’t have any doubt it can be done. SD have been working in conjunction with clubs right across Europe. “In Greece you have Olympiakos and Panathinaikos and there are plenty of clubs in Spain, Poland and France who are also going down this route. “Hearts are the biggest we know of in this country going down the route of fan ownership at the moment.” The Rangers share price has plummeted in recent months, from 70p to just 26p and for just over £4m, fans would be able to command a 25 per cent stake in the club. And Goodwin insists the Ibrox outfit’s supporters have nothing to lose pursuing the community ownership route having given their backing to the Craig Whyte and Charles Green regimes with catastrophic consequences. He said: “I believed that Rangers being placed into administration represented a significant window of opportunity to buy the club. “Of course, as we know, this didn’t happen for a variety of reasons; mostly because for many years the fans had been divided and ruled by previous owners of the club and had been left without a united voice, forced to pick sides in amongst political infighting. “Time has moved on and Rangers have unfortunately continued to be dogged by further challenges at the back end of the administration process. “It could have been so different if a credible fans’ bid had been used to galvanise the Ibrox faithful as we have seen at Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Portsmouth down in England and of course at Hearts. “Rangers supporters in the past have been used to following leaders whether it be Paul Murray, Craig Whyte or somebody else. “This is breaking the mould and now they don’t have to follow anybody. “What can the objection be? “It can give the fans the empowerment to pick exactly who they want to represent them. “We have four clubs in Scotland that are currently fan owned and we have another four waiting in the wings – Annan, Ayr, Motherwell and Hearts. It is the way forward because there is no other route.” Goodwin confirmed he has already spoken with supporters’ representatives from Rangers. He said: “I have been talking with them over the past 10 days and I will continue that dialogue to see whether there is something we can do. “There is a real opportunity here and I don’t think there is anything to lose. “We can advise and consult but it is ultimately up to them. “Some people have to emerge from the shadows and then we can give them all the support possible.” Goodwin was speaking at the launch of ‘The Colour of our Scarves’ initiative which has been organised by Supporters Direct to help highlight the issue of sectarianism. World renowned photographer Stuart Roy Clarke has been commissioned to produce a series of images captured at every senior ground in Scotland. The project has been funded by the Scottish government and Goodwin is hoping the sectarianism problem can be tackled through imagery rather than words. He said: “We wanted to try to demonstrate through Stuart’s amazing pictures that all fans are the same, apart from the scarves around their necks. “It is the same emotions that bind us all together and that was the reasons behind the project. “We are going round every single ground and also doing loads of workshops in schools and colleges. “It is becoming less of an issue but you need to keep working at it.” Clarke, who singled out Aberdeen as his favourite fans to photograph, has been amazed by the reaction to his pictures which will be on show at a touring exhibition around the country over the next 18 months. He said: “The response has been overwhelming. “While I like banter and edginess I don’t like hatred so hopefully this project can make a small difference to a big problem.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/supporters-direct-chief-calls-rangers-3100404
  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. http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/263136-ally-mccoist-id-have-bet-on-ibrox-not-being-picked-for-league-cup-final/
  20. KENNY MILLER has finally killed off any chance of a return to Rangers by insisting he wants to extend his deal with Vancouver Whitecaps. The former Old Firm and Scotland star is back in Canada preparing for the new MLS season after spending the winter keeping in shape at Rangers' Murray Park. He has been linked with a third spell at Ibrox, despite the League One club's financial problems, but he says he's tired of denying he wants to re-sign for Rangers. Miller said: "I've been in Vancouver 18 months and I don't think a month has gone by without those questions being thrown at me. "I don't know what more I can actually do. "If [Whitecaps] manager Carl Robinson wants to walk through and offer me a two-year deal right now, I'll sign it right here in front of you." Miller has six months left of his Vancouver contract and is free to talk to other clubs. But the 34-year-old, who quit international football last year, has made it clear he is desperate to win an extension to his current deal. He said: "It has been made clear to me what I have to do to earn an extension so that's what I'm going to do. "Part of the reason I retired from playing for Scotland was hopefully to concentrate fully on the Whitecaps and stay fit for as long as I can and give them everything I can. "Going back and forth with international duty was becoming tough. "And, like I said, I want to stay here and I would love to sign again." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/former-rangers-hitman-kenny-kos-ibrox-link-150930n.23357811
  21. ........to help out Rangers CEO Wallace. JON Daly today admitted he is keen to help Rangers go on a run in the William Hill Scottish Cup this season - to boost their bank balance. Daly won the national knockout cup competition back in 2010 when he helped former club Dundee United beat Ross County 3-0 in the Hampden final. And the 31-year-old striker would love to enjoy that sort of success with the Ibrox club during the 2013/14 campaign. The Irishman believes it would be a great way to repay Light Blues supporters for their backing in the last couple of seasons. And he also thinks that it would help the SPFL League One leaders, who are currently operating at a monthly loss, financially as well. Daly and his team-mates rejected the offer of a 15% pay cut for a year-and-a-half made by chief executive Graham Wallace last month. But there are set to be cutbacks at the Glasgow giants after Wallace has completed his 120-days restructuring project. And overcoming Dunfermline in the fifth round at Ibrox on Friday night and going all the way to the final at Parkhead in May would go a long to boosting the coffers at the club. Daly said: "It would be fantastic for the club from a financial point of view and also brilliant for the fans. "I wasn't here last year but the boys have told me they backed the club massively and I think that was shown with the season tickets sold. "So it would be great to get through and get to a final but the draw has to be kind and we have to get over this hurdle first." Daly admits he is relieved that Rangers have managed to hang on to their left-back Lee Wallace during the January transfer window. Sky Bet Championship club Nottingham Forest made two bids of just under £1million for the Scotland international last week. Despite the worrying financial situation at the Glasgow club, those offers were rejected after falling some way short of their valuation of the player. Wallace set up Daly for a goal in the 2-1 league victory over Brechin City at Ibrox on Saturday and the hit man is delighted he has not been sold. He said: "Of course we are delighted that Lee is still here. "The manager stressed that he wanted to keep the club together and thankfully, all the boys are still here and we've got a good squad." Meanwhile, internet reports that Rangers are poised to go into administration this month and chief executive Wallace has allegedly prepared a resignation statement have been rejected. Stories online had claimed Wallace had been locked in talks at the Ibrox club all day and was set to leave his position. However, the former Manchester City financial director and chief operating officer was at Hampden for meetings yesterday and later attended the Rangers Under-20 match. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/daly-is-banking-on-cup-success-to-help-out-rangers-ceo-wallace-150939n.23359868
  22. http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/02/why-rangers-loyal-lee-wallace-is-one-in-a-million-4287314/ Thoughts?
  23. Ignoring the usual sycophantic nonsense, I find the quote in bold crass in the extreme and I'm amazed both Easdale and his PR advisors found it appropriate.
  24. OK guys, while I don't expect much movement in or out at the Gers today, what's yer thoughts on who could/should come and go... I'm hopeful we'll retain Lee Wallace but think we should be looking to move on fringe players as well as ensuring game-time for any younger lads to aid with development. IN: Erm, none. OUT: Shiels (loan) Crawford (loan) Gasparotto (loan) Simonsen (released)
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.