The Rangers AGM - The More People Talk, the Less They Say

[Frankie 8,136]

It seems every time I travel through to Ibrox this season, the weather is dreadful. Heavy rain, low cloud and an atmosphere of foreboding seem the norm no matter the time of year. Add in the less than positive mood of the Rangers support then we could change the club colours to grey, bring in John Major as manager and sell boiled rice at the kiosks and it would probably reflect the general feeling at the club well enough.

 

Yet, conversely, the chat online has been a bit more interesting of late: potential new owners interviewed by in-the-know journalists; fan groups releasing statements about ownership schemes; strong arguments between bears who share the same goals and objectives; and general excitement about a new era sans Sir David Murray.

 

Unfortunately all the (largely positive and interesting) debate surrounding the ownership of the club was turned on its head for the time being with yesterday's damp squib of an AGM. With new chairman Alistair Johnston in charge, the format was changed from recent years with an in-depth statement from him and Martin Bain (available in full from PLUS Markets) pre-empting much of the more difficult questions from the 3000 strong shareholder crowd.

 

Amid farcical scenes early in the meeting, the token (but important) gesture of the majority present voting against the re-election of Donald Muir was as interesting as it got. Sure, the huge proxy shareholding of Sir David Murray meant any such vote was always going to be futile but Rangers, MIH and Lloyds bank (delete as applicable for Muir's real employer) will have taken on board the opinions of these active supporters. This shows even widespread media coverage surrounding Muir's appointment didn't sway the opinions of many bears giving an increased realisation that even David Murray can't spin as well as he could do in the past. Alistair Johnston's comments added to that rather bluntly at times.

 

Moving onto the new chairman's speech, Johnston spoke rather well and held the attention of the crowd despite the 20mins he spoke for. An undoubtedly clever man, his awkward appearance in front of the media cameras a few months back was forgotten about here in this confident performance. Most interesting were his comments that he'd lead a Rangers Board that will become increasingly independent of the Murray Group - qualifying this by discontinuing all reimbursements to Murray Group for management services and refusing to take on four directors instead of two (Muir and McGill recently replacing SDM and Wilson) as representatives from MIH. It will be interesting to see how much further the board can go in this respect as SDM (or Lloyds depending on your opinion) still owns >91% of Rangers FC.

 

The chairman also made regular references to a business plan that he had reluctantly agreed with Lloyds in recent months. Obviously, every Rangers fan is aware of the financial restrictions placed upon us, so the likelihood of no future transfers and the importance of winning the SPL was nothing new. The fact he did go until to express 'scepticism' and 'caution' for any new owner in terms of not only raising the initial capital to buy the club but, more importantly, being able to prove they can retain a working finance to maintain the business moving forward was a stark reminder to those who think buying then running Rangers is simple. I wouldn't go as far as some to say he has outright dismissed the aspect of supporter ownership (wholly or in part) but he quite rightly brought everyone back into the real world by way of showing the difficulties therein.

 

In summary, Johnson concluded rather blandly that the club's commitment to the fans would remain a priority and touched on youth and scouting as two specific ways in which we could improve our operations.

 

Martin Bain then took to the stage and was also given the same courtesy by the fans for his slightly shorter but more empirical speech. Concentrating on the individual issues that would inevitably have cropped up during open questions, Bain was clever to address these beforehand and also maintained an eloquent realism while again not really saying anything we didn't know. Despite the drop in season ticket sales it was comforting to know our percentage capacity in the UK remains something to be proud of. All the more reason then for he and his chairman not dismiss our opinions lightly in future months one would hope. By concentrating on the Dundee Utd ticket fiasco and JJB merchandising improvements Bain gave the impression the club did share our opinion on such matters though. Further comment on the importance of youth football and the mention of a new structure in domestic and European football were contributions we'd also heard before. No concrete plans were outlined on how were were addressing all the above which was somewhat disappointing. Nonetheless most major talking points were covered empirically before he opened up the meeting to the shareholders for questions.

 

Pleasingly the time given for such questions was agreeable enough when compared to recent years. Perhaps it was the cold, cramped nature of the Bill Struth Stand or perhaps it was because the preceding speeches were delivered confidently but the quality of questions were by and large disappointing. The Jumbotron screens' condition, the discipline of players on international duty, and kick-off times dictated by TV monies didn't really add anything to the event and those that were a bit more interesting such as the contract status of players (including Boyd) and further media representation complaints were easily answered by Bain who was well briefed for these expected queries. Meanwhile Donald Muir again denied he was employed by the bank and/or that he was preparing the club for administration.

 

Thus, two hours after it started, the always ill-at-ease and unimpressive John McLelland brought the meeting to a close. As everyone bustled their way to the exit (and the incessant rain) the media sat in wait to try and catch shareholders off-guard with their own questions. But the truth was nothing exciting really happened. Sure, the stadium re-naming rebuttal; the no-contract status of the management team; and the guarded nature of the discussion with regard to the ownership of the club kept people awake but all-in-all the debate isn't really all that further forward.

 

Thus, the status-quo remains. We know the club is in financial difficulty. We know the current board appear to be in conflict with each other. We know Lloyds/MIH retain a key involvement in the running of the club. We know all the board lack the innovation required for obvious improvement. We know the ongoing financial underpinning of the club is dependent on our success. We know that club are wary of increased supporter involvement. We know the club is for sale. We know there are a few interested buyers. We know they lack the model or the backing to capture the imagination of the support at large.

 

All the above was information we had at our disposal before yesterday's meeting - hence the title of this equally morose article on it. As such, I urge everyone involved to take a breather and stand back for the moment until such time where we do have more precise information on the club's ownership future. In the short-term the most important thing is that the team remain successful on the pitch so it is vital we continue to support them as vocally as we can. Winning the SPL is imperative no matter who owns the club.

 

That is something we can all agree on. Let's build for the future on that positive note.

 

[plgsarmy 111]

Frankie,

 

I agree with a lot of that but I didn't think the Chairman's speech was a particularly confident one. He was hesitant many times, said the wrong word and had to correct himself. Martin Bain's was much slicker.

[rbr 1,247]

Frankie,

 

I agree with a lot of that but I didn't think the Chairman's speech was a particularly confident one. He was hesitant many times, said the wrong word and had to correct himself. Martin Bain's was much slicker.

 

I dont particularily trust polished orators , Tony Blair anyone :)

 

It's more about what they say or rather dont say than the way it is put across , seriously you only need look back at Murray , he was great at AGM but shit at delivering on his promises

[plgsarmy 111]

I dont particularily trust polished orators , Tony Blair anyone :)

 

 

Or SDM? :spl: Oops, looks like you edited your post after I posted.

[Frankie 8,136]

Frankie,

 

I agree with a lot of that but I didn't think the Chairman's speech was a particularly confident one. He was hesitant many times, said the wrong word and had to correct himself. Martin Bain's was much slicker.

 

Fair enough. I'd imagine Bain does have more experience of public speaking and I spent more time typing replies to this forum on my mobile than paying close attention to their delivery...

 

I guess I'm more interested in not so much the delivery of the speech but the content and Johnston seemed confident in what he was saying and seemed genuine in his beliefs.

 

I don't actually see too much for the Trust/Assembly to be downbeat about today though as some are suggesting. The club doubting the support is old news and Johnston did form part of SDM's board so will probably share Murray's existing cynicism. However, if I were in a fan group involved in discussions with whatever buyer there may be, I'd be re-evaluating my approach to maximise the impact of anything they do have to offer in the coming weeks.

 

No more tid-bits in the press, no more part-interviews/feeding of information to journalists and no more 'in-the-know' posts on forums. Until such time the sound-bites match the reality, silence is more professional and attractive in this bear's humble opinion.

[Stefanovitch 0]

We know there are a few interested buyers

 

Do we? I am aware of interest (or is it just talk) from Graham Duffy but that's it. All this talk of Dave King, Douglas Park, Graeme Souness is just that - talk. Unless someone can prove otherwise

[Frankie 8,136]

Do we? I am aware of interest (or is it just talk) from Graham Duffy but that's it. All this talk of Dave King, Douglas Park, Graeme Souness is just that - talk. Unless someone can prove otherwise

 

Duffy is the only one that has broken cover but he did say he had others interested and the club have suggested this is so also - either as part of the consortium or otherwise.

[maineflyer 0]

Duffy is the only one that has broken cover but he did say he had others interested and the club have suggested this is so also - either as part of the consortium or otherwise.

 

Taking everything into account, I'd find it very difficult to believe a word of what Duffy has so far said. As an example of TOSIT, he seems to lack a hell of a lot of substance.

[Frankie 8,136]

Taking everything into account, I'd find it very difficult to believe a word of what Duffy has so far said. As an example of TOSIT, he seems to lack a hell of a lot of substance.

 

I don't know enough about his plans to comment either way. One thing is for sure, I bet he wished he'd kept his counsel as I'm not sure what his media presence has created other than uncertainty.

[maineflyer 0]

I don't know enough about his plans to comment either way. One thing is for sure, I bet he wished he'd kept his counsel as I'm not sure what his media presence has created other than uncertainty.

 

Things is though Frankie, a more astute and prepared individual would never have got himself in such a revealing spotlight. That he did and then seemed keen to engage is a game of "repel boarders" only diluted his credibility. No doubt he's a man of some ability in his own game but as athe man to resurrect Rangers he came up short in my opinion.