The Rangers Saga â?? Groundhog Day

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Also plenty get cleared on that basis.

 

almost no one gets away with murder.

[Zappa 0]

It’s Sunday morning and I’ve just woken up with a strange familiar feeling. Thankfully it’s not February 2nd and Cher isn’t on the radio but as the usual thoughts start to form about events over the last few days, I definitely start to think it’s Groundhog Day. Why is that?

 

Most importantly, we don’t know who is running the club yet again. Is it still the recently departed ‘majority’ shareholder Charles Green? Is it his business partner Imran Ahmad and his selection of investors? Can it really be chairman Malcolm Murray and the rest of the board? And does Craig Mather have the experience and profile for the Chief Executive position? No-one seems to know. Add in Craig Whyte’s very public claim to the club’s assets then it suddenly feels like 2012 once more.

 

Next the team have just been beaten at home after another disjointed and inconsistent display. Yet again, we’re outfought in front of 35,000+ home fans by a so-called smaller team who seem just as (if not more) capable than us in many areas. They take better set-pieces, they work harder as a team and look every inch the better side for long periods. Granted, we may well have comfortably won the Third Division but there’s not much for supporters to lay their hat on when asked to see the positives of the season. A few individual players aside, the team have been poor and arguably only external circumstances have ensured criticism has remained fairly mild. How long will that patience last?

 

Moving onto the supporters, one good aspect of spring 2012 was that many fans united to raise money for the club, protest against illegal embargos and attempted to ask the right questions of the then linked buyers. Even if, at that time, many felt there was still little obvious strategy to deliver meaningful supporters representation on the board going forward. Fast forward to spring 2013 and the status quo persists: sure we still have the Working Group and (the largely defunct) RFFF meeting from time to time but there doesn’t seem much for the ordinary fan to get their teeth into. The Assembly have all but disappeared and the Trust continues to struggle to persuade bears they’re the independent answer – even if their BuyRangers vehicle was an impressive bit of work. Unfortunately though, as it stands, 38,000 season ticket holders and many more company shareholders are under-represented in a formal sense. That, in my opinion, is nothing short of a scandal.

 

With all the above in mind, the story really started to turn into a farce as I travelled back from the game yesterday evening. Paul Murray (a former director of the club and leading member of the Blue Knights) appeared on Radio Scotland. On the surface his performance was pretty good and, despite his many critics, the points he made were valid and well worth highlighting. He was right to demand any commission was wide-ranging and he was correct to suggest far too many people were being economical with the truth. Unfortunately, is Paul Murray really the right person to be talking about cleansing the club when he’s had such a primary (and arguably flawed) part over the last five years? I’ll leave that for others to decide but if Paul really wants to be CEO as he suggested last night then perhaps he should be more open about his influence on recent events? Was it really a coincidence that he mentioned he could only trust two people at the club?

 

Indeed, it’s that aspect of this saga that has the most familiarity. Opposing sides of the debate briefing against each other in the media, rumours about A v B behind the scenes and increasing talk of ownership bids as part of what effectively may be a coup d'état to secure the ownership of Rangers. Does this really mean we have a Jim McColl led bid to buy a majority shareholding in the club or, given the failures of the many who tried to buy last year, is this another inappropriate strategy in trying to increase influence in the boardroom for Rangers men?

 

Once again, the rank and file Rangers supporters can’t know for sure. We’re all told this and that is happening and the grape-vine is heavy with rumour and sources but, if we’re honest, there’s nothing to really believe in as fans. Add in the variety of other obvious problems above then not only is it indeed Groundhog Day but this vicious circle is a nightmare that we may not be awakening from any time soon.

 

Thus, as we approach another season book renewal period, we look to the future with hope rather than expectation. One year down the line from the ‘sale’ of the club, that’s nothing short of unacceptable. Anyone involved in the club (or wanting to be involved) would do well to note our frustration. In the meantime, I’m away back to sleep – wake me up when it’s all over!

 

Good read and a good summary of the situation Frankie.

 

I'd add though, that I'm actually feeling more positive about things now that Green has been ousted from the driving seat. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, but having the largest shareholder steering the ship was a major conflict of interest.

 

I'm not sure what to think about Paul Murray. I know he means well and has the club's best interests at heart, but I'm unconvinced that he's what the club needs in terms of the CEO position at the present time. Appointing him would immediately create a division amongst the fans because he disappointed a lot of people by ending up appearing to be more talk than action. I'm pretty sure that a fair number fans think he had his chance last year, couldn't get a deal over the line and that's that. All I'm really trying to say though, is that I think the club could be doing with a CEO who doesn't have any previous involvement (aka baggage) and can try to unite the fans again after the calamity of Green's short tenure.

[RANGERRAB 3,299]

Good read and a good summary of the situation Frankie.

 

I'd add though, that I'm actually feeling more positive about things now that Green has been ousted from the driving seat. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, but having the largest shareholder steering the ship was a major conflict of interest.

 

I'm not sure what to think about Paul Murray. I know he means well and has the club's best interests at heart, but I'm unconvinced that he's what the club needs in terms of the CEO position at the present time. Appointing him would immediately create a division amongst the fans because he disappointed a lot of people by ending up appearing to be more talk than action. I'm pretty sure that a fair number fans think he had his chance last year, couldn't get a deal over the line and that's that. All I'm really trying to say though, is that I think the club could be doing with a CEO who doesn't have any previous involvement (aka baggage) and can try to unite the fans again after the calamity of Green's short tenure.

 

Do you think we've hears the last of CG ? I don't. As someone pointed on RM you have to remember the investors at the share issue were his people more or less. Remember too both he & IA own around 13% shareholding. What's to stop him, IA & sufficient other shareholders forcing an EGM & replacing the Rangers board(including our invisible chairman) with themselves and whoever else they want on the board. They still do hold considerable power even after CG's departure on Friday.

I,for one, would welcome this. We cannot & must not have a 'return of the brown brogues' as Bill McMurdo put it so well today in his blog i.e. people who believe that as Rangers men' it's their right to be in control of Rangers regardless of their performances

[the gunslinger 3,366]

if they did that hardly a fan would renew their season books.

[RANGERRAB 3,299]

if they did that hardly a fan would renew their season books.

 

Can't see many renewing anyway after recent home defeats to Annan & now Peterhead. The product is dire and shows no signs of improvement. CG's biggest mistake was appointing WS to the board. It made getting rid of Ally extremely difficult if not impossible.

I just don't buy into anything that says our off-field difficulties are affecting what we see on the pitch. As Ally says the club needs cleansed. I agree. Let's start with the management & coaching staff

[the gunslinger 3,366]

cleansed means to clean up whats there.

 

i don't disagree but i do feel green and even mather would be totally impotent in getting rid of ally as they would not survie doing so. we better steel ourself for at least another year.

[RANGERRAB 3,299]

cleansed means to clean up whats there.

 

i don't disagree but i do feel green and even mather would be totally impotent in getting rid of ally as they would not survie doing so. we better steel ourself for at least another year.

I think they would survive. Just about every Rangers supporter I know wants a change of manager.

[Zappa 0]

Do you think we've hears the last of CG ? I don't. As someone pointed on RM you have to remember the investors at the share issue were his people more or less.

 

We don't know who all the major investors are, but I think it's a stretch to suggest that they're all more or less Green's people. Despite his patter about having a bunch of investors lined up chapping his door with £25m a piece to invest, the truth of the matter is probably more along the lines of the Zeus chaps lining up some of the investors and Cenkos bringing some institutional investors to the table.

 

There's no doubting the importance of that aspect of our situation though because even although Green promised to reveal exactly who was investing and who ultimately owned the club, he did no such thing and we still to this day don't know who all of the major shareholders are. Green has also been shown to have been untruthful about the identity of who's behind Blue Pitch Holdings, so there's more questions than answers.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

mm was also rumored to have brought in a lot of investment.

[Zappa 0]

Remember too both he & IA own around 13% shareholding. What's to stop him, IA & sufficient other shareholders forcing an EGM & replacing the Rangers board(including our invisible chairman) with themselves and whoever else they want on the board. They still do hold considerable power even after CG's departure on Friday. I,for one, would welcome this.

 

You would welcome Green, Ahmad & co coming in, sacking the board and Green being reinstated so that they continue with their plan for how to take as much money as possible out of our club and into their own pockets as possible? Why on earth would you welcome that? In fact, why would any Rangers fan welcome that?