Donald Muir The Saviour Within.

[wabashcannonball 0]

from RM reiterating what we always knew here. Serious question....what exactly was Smith up to and why, was he spittin the dummy because Muir was advising against giving him to much money to waste, or was he firing bullets for another takeover faction, whatever it was Smith owes Donald Muir an apology at the very least and the supporters an insight into his allegations.

 

It's the evening of Saturday the 13th of February 2010. Placards are being readied; banners are being kept under lock and key, their contents a matter of whisper. Flurries of internet activity, text messages and phone calls being exchanged on an hourly basis, the preparations are nearing completion.

 

A section of the Rangers support was ready to protest.

 

The night before the day when lovers the world over are preparing to reach their arms around their significant others and remind themselves of the affection and love they have in their shared bond. In the world of Rangers, it was the eve of one of the most important games in the 2009/10 season.

 

The midweek before, we had endured a stuffy draw with Motherwell leaving the supporters frustrated at not being able to capitalise on the hapless and deteriorating performances of Tony Mowbray's Celtic. Come Saturday however, Celtic drew with Aberdeen in an epic eight goal encounter leaving Rangers with the impetus to beat Hibs on Sunday and surge the club to a ten point lead over our greatest rivals and potentially onward toward a second successive league title.

 

Purely on the football pitch, Valentine's Day was to be a pivotal moment in the season; however, this was also being echoed off the pitch amongst supporters and the tone was certainly not of free love blowing through the Govan air.

 

Ever since the turn of the year there had been speculation brewing from many different quarters about the financial circumstance that Rangers was perceived to be in - swimming against a tide of debt, facing a future stripped to a skeleton. Forty days to find a buyer or face an existence on par with St Mirren was the whisper that became the 'news'.

 

Troublesome noises were reverberating from a Scottish media with a taste of blood in their mouths; threads and articles were being scrawled with haste from commercially run forums acting as judge, jury and executioner, cynically you could say to profit from advertising hits; 'fan chiefs' were popping up on the radio to offer their views on the turmoil yet, the default position adopted by almost all Rangers fans was one of bewilderment and a genuine thirst to just be told the truth.

 

Rangers were being portrayed by both friend and foe as a pauper on the street corner, crippled by financial pressures being ramped up by Lloyds Bank, waiting for its remaining possessions to be stripped almost personally by the devil incarnate; the so called "enemy within", Donald Muir.

 

Donald Muir was appointed to the Rangers board without much fanfare in October 2009 and introduced as having "more than 25 years' experience of strategy implementation and business transformation activity internationally in a variety of industry sectors". He has a bulletproof reputation in the city as a turnaround specialist and therefore he undoubtedly had the confidence of the bank to make a positive impact on the club.

 

He was brought in by Sir David Murray who at the time was subject to mounting rumours of a badly recession-hit MIH; however we were told publicly that he was not appointed by the bank and does not get paid by them. But of course that doesn't stop conjecture and speculation - after all, never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

 

I digress; let's get back to the narrative. So there we stood in the few days running towards the weekend of Valentines day; staring into the void of uncertainty and muddied waters - with rumour of financial meltdown aided and abetted Lloyds with Muir cast as the treacherous puppet master.

 

Pressures were being ramped up by media sources across the country through a number of mediums. Some of the Rangers support decided to get proactive. Tired of waiting for answers, a group of fans decided to get out there and make things happen for themselves and by proxy, for everyone else.

 

A protest was hastily arranged.

 

Despite reported investment, public relations at Rangers has been poor for a long time, there's no doubt about it. In many respects, the Rangers' Board deserved the Protest that was hashed together first over the internet and then by a thrown together steering committee with bears from different walks.

 

Had there been a bit more involvement of the support, a bit more openness, a bit more clarity from the club, there would have been no need for the support to seek answers through these pound the street means, as these, to me at least, have always whiffed of the unwashed.

 

The spreading wings of the protest could have been clipped with ease however, nipped at the bud. Our incumbent Chairman could have done the type of televised interview that our former Chairman was sometimes so adept at when it came to the crunch and he decided to pull his head above the parapet. But that didn't come. Johnston is the strong silent type and is almost always straight down the middle. Even a dampening official press release would have put some minds at rest. But that didn't come either.

 

So the supporters decided that they had no other option but to take to the streets. However, somewhere along the line the plans for the protest became distorted, a machine gun style quest for answers from everyone, someone, became more focussed and Muir became the target once again for many. One of the Rangers forums going as far as to invoke a filter making the phrase "enemy within" automatically appear whenever his name was typed - their eggs were placed firmly in their basket on this issue.

 

Message boards were awash with arguments about the motivation of the protest. Some arguments carried old baggage, yet most inquisitive minds just wanted clarity about what exactly the protest was aimed at, never mind what was going on at the club. Petty swiping became prevalent; with different 'camps' emerging with people who were for a protest and some that felt it was unnecessary.

 

One the eve of the protest these camps were at a standstill, the protest was to carry on regardless, as was their prerogative and the people who thought it unnecessary got on with preparing to head to Ibrox to support the team as they did week in week out.

 

However, it was at this precise juncture that two articles appeared on this website. One entitled "Rangers Protests ââ?¬â?? Donald Muir, the Saviour Within?" and another given the title "State of the Rangers - This is the truth, the whole truth, & nothing but the truth".

 

In all honesty, the protest went largely un-noticed, all the bluster soon was yesterdays news; a damp squib with some predictable and pointless banners alongside some genuine and impassioned requests for clarity.

 

One thing that did happen was that the authors of both of the aforementioned articles were immediately given treatment by fellow Rangers supporters that Muir had became accustomed to ââ?¬â?? their characters being sniped at from faceless internet assassins whose identities, allegiances and motivations were easily unmasked from behind their monikers.

 

The "State of the Rangers" article contained the assertions of one of the staff members of this site and the information obtained was completely contradictory to the narrative that had been pushed by the media and by some factions of the dissenting Rangers support.

 

In summary, this article pointed to the following bullet points of information:

 

 

â�¢ Rangers will not be downsized next season and the bank doesn't run Rangers. There is a business plan agreed and the bank will be serviced with a repayment of �£1 million per year towards reducing the debt

 

� The budget for player's salaries will be the same next season as it is this season.

 

� Contract offers have been made to Boyd, Novo & Broadfoot and, if they wanted to, they could sign them tomorrow.

 

� If Rangers win the league and therefore qualify for the Champions League there will be a budget for the manager to strengthen the squad, but at the moment he cannot buy players until he sells to keep in line with the business plan.

 

 

If we take a cursory look at the statements made in the press recently by Alastair Johnston, Martin Bain and Walter Smith since the end of this season - every one of these four key assertions has came to fruition. In fact, it reads much like a summary of the news that has came from the club in recent weeks.

 

The million pound repayment was not news to some at the writing of the article as it had been outlined in the end of year accounts a matter of months before. The bank were, and still are, satisfied with this agreement; the doubts that this was not the case and that the bank were going to call in all the debt at once was only ever a rumour - hearsay designed to cause mischief and to worry our support when the facts of the matter were there for everyone to see.

 

What of the budget for next season? Well an exact figure has not been outlined, presumably as there is no such thing as a fixed budget for Smith to work from. It's all relative - spend more on wages and new contracts, have less for transfer fee's and visa versa - common sense really. But in terms of a ballpark figure, �£5 million seems to be the universally agreed banding that Bain and Johnston confirmed which is based on a percentage of the guaranteed Champions League monies. As predicted. For clarity;

 

"We have agreed with Lloyds that we can spend some of the Champions League income and we also hope to maintain wage levels as they currently stand and reinvest any transfer proceeds that we might have." Martin Bain (26/05/10)

[wabashcannonball 0]

PART 2

 

The other article published on the 13th of February, "The saviour within?", covered much of the ground that is covered in the early parts of this article, but put simply, it stated that Donald Muir was the man who was perhaps better equipped than anyone else to bring Rangers back from the brink.

 

If Walter was working wonders on the pitch, Muir was the man to work wonders off it – and he has succeeded.

 

Has this article been vindicated like the "State of the Rangers" article? Absolutely. This is perhaps a little bit more intangible and difficult to 'prove' than the other article as there are no cold hard published facts relating Muir to certain 'victories'. Admittedly it still takes a little conjecture to shine the spotlight rightly onto Donald Muir - but every attempt should be made – it's the least the man deserves after the character assassination that was directed at him to suit others own ends.

 

After all, before Muir where were we? To paraphrase a much used analogy, the club was sailing 'rudderless'. We'd been up for sale for what seemed like an age, no closer to finding a buyer. We hadn't signed a player for two seasons. The club was saddled with mounting debts and a sugar daddy owner who'd lost the will to fight for the club – at least front of house.

 

Presently, we now stand on the eve of another momentous pivot point in the history of Rangers Football Club. Through all of the political posturing in the corridors of power in Ibrox over the last few months it now seems that Andrew Ellis has pushed himself to the front of the queue and is ready to make a move for the club, with an LSE announcement being made that talks were at an advanced stage.

 

We know very little about Andrew Ellis, his intentions for the club or his financial backing, other than the fact that he wants Murray to stay as an honorary president and wanted Smith to be kept on as manager – as he has (thanks to negotiations with a certain 'enemy within').

 

The club is certainly a much, much better prospect for Ellis and his team than it was before Donald Muir was part of the Rangers board. He, alongside Martin Bain, Alastair Johnston and the rest of the board have wrangled much of the uncertainty, speculation and troubled times away from the club. This is not to say that everything is now rosy in the garden, we are still faced with tough times and many finger nails will be bitten to the nub before the season even starts.

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I'll concede that, but if there was ever a better example of how media and agenda driven Chinese Whispers can get it spectacularly wrong then the story of Rangers in season 2009/2010 is the archetype.

 

It was whipped to fever pitch that weekend in February and the sniping at the authors of these articles and Muir felt just shows how much it hurts people with vested interests and agendas know they are backing the only wrong team in town and believing the wrong whispers. Of course, the immediate rebuttal which would be the go-to argument for the anti-Muir brigade will be that the 'pressure' they asserted will have somehow had a butterfly effect on the present outcome. For me, that has as much strength as a straw man fallacy.

 

Internet discussion on topics is to be expected. A disagreement on opinion is to be expected; in fact, on RangersMedia it is actively encouraged. Yet I'm sure that the authors of these articles are aware of that – I mean, one of them opened with the assertion that he'd need to fire on his tin hat before proceeding.

 

However, a man like Donald Muir, lifelong fan of the club, simply did not deserve what he was faced with by some sections of the support. Will he be vindicated for his role? Will he be awarded apology or even a nod of appreciation? Will he be looked upon as the man that was pivotal in the reinvigoration of Rangers Football Club as it faced one of the most difficult times in its history? Not if we let it be brushed under the carpet alongside Graham Duffy.

 

I for one would like to applaud Muir for his steely determination and broad shoulders and I will always thank him for being one of the fundamental factors in bringing the club I love to my core back from the brink.

 

Perhaps one day in years to come, in a spirit of peace, love and harmony, we can invite Mr Muir back to be our chief executive after all. And we'll all live happily ever after.

[Frankie 8,146]

While I certainly don't think Muir is the hero suggested by the article, much of the content is reasonable and it just goes to show people shouldn't back horses before the race has even begun...

 

I just hope the author hasn't done same...

[Frankie 8,146]

I'd also like to add though that much of the people who organised the protests did so from a neutral position when it comes to favoured forums and the like. I myself was happy to assist this and do think the small (and certainly imperfect) efforts will have placed pressure on the club. The work of one man who stood up for his opinion at the Lloyds AGM also helped keep the issue public.

 

What people should be concentrating on now is to ensure there is a balanced focus on debate while attempting to organise the support into a group of people who can discuss important issues and find an objective outcome. I'm not so sure articles saying 'I told you so' are overly helpful in that regard. Especially when they may be as premature as some of the complaints in the above article.

 

PS: I understand that some of the criticisms aimed at the authors of the original articles was beyond shameful so I also don't blame RM for taking a chance to show that up for the nonsense it was.

[bmck 117]

The writers of the article are, arguably, looking more right just now; but it's not like the veil's been lifted and we're now party to all the facts and walking in the clear light of day we can see they're right. As all this unfolded, it was clear both FF and RM had an agenda, backers, and it's not like it just-so-happened that two sites that hate each other backed opposing horses. I appreciated their article at the time, just like I broadly backed sensible protest, because any sensible person could see it wasn't an either/or. Protest was justified, even if it was mis-directed, because everyone with an interest in the situation was keeping us in the dark - Donald Muir, even if he turns out to be a genius in other ways, was complicit in this silence. Either by saying nothing, or not telling who-ever was responsible to get off their arse and make clear that he wasn't an enemy of the club, which seemed plausible given Walter Smith's comments etc. Similarly, those who slated RM for a well written article taking up the opposing stance really just showed their own insecurity in their cause. This article, though, again, broadly fair like the first article, is riddled with just as much GIRUY to FF as the first. For everyone moment I read it, though I think it's written well and makes good points, I feel sullied that I'm dragged into a pointless self-serving petty little online drama in which I have absolutely zero interest.

Edited June 10, 2010 by bmck

[wabashcannonball 0]

I really don't see what the issue was, as there wasn't one. Muir was and is an employee of Murray not the bank, why people. Smith included spread malicious nonsense to the contrary is the real question.

[Bluedell 5,329]

I really don't see what the issue was, as there wasn't one. Muir was and is an employee of Murray not the bank, why people. Smith included spread malicious nonsense to the contrary is the real question.

 

 

But who told Murray to employ him?

[wabashcannonball 0]

But who told Murray to employ him?

 

Nobody tells Murray anything, haven't you noticed, that is unless you may think "they" have pumped in an extra �£150 mill for the "privelege".

[Bluedell 5,329]

Nobody tells Murray anything,

 

That's not my understanding.

[boss 0]

But who told Murray to employ him?

 

Go on then, tell us?