Washing our dirty linen in public

[Guest JCS]

Ally McCoist, pleaded at the weekend for stability and an end to the two years of uncertainty that the club and the supporters have stoically endured in circumstances that would have tried the patience of a saint never mind a football manager.

 

"What the club actually needs is to be totally cleansed,� he said, and I suspect that there are few (if any) of us who would disagree with his heartfelt plea.

 

But I donâ??t believe Ally will get his wish any time soon because the stage play that is Rangers Football Club is set to run, and run and run. Weâ??re now two years on from Craig Whyteâ??s criminal convolutions, and yet there appears to be no end to our woes. Indeed, if we keep on this way, we might even threaten Agatha Christieâ??s claim to the longest running stage show of the modern era with her murder mystery, The Mousetrap.

 

We seem to lurch from one crisis to another on a daily basis, while the media vultures circle awaiting yet another feast of scandalous gossip, juicy revelation, political intrigue and boardroom infighting, certain in the knowledge that the mandarins at Ibrox and the wicked wizard of Grant Castle will give them all the â??theatreâ?? they need.

 

Quite honestly, we have fueled much of this media frenzy ourselves over the past two years, and it seems that we have failed to learn the most important lessons of all â?? not to wash our dirty linen in public and, to SHUT UP when the occasion merits! Instead, we continue to feed our detractors a daily diet of infighting, rivalry, internal division, dissent and dispute whilst inflicting ever more damage on the club we love and lending credence to the wilder claims of a normally hostile and belligerent media.

 

The fact is, weâ??re giving them everything they want, and more, and it often seems as though we take a masochistic delight in the selfâ??inflicted wounds we subject ourselves too - itâ??s almost as though we have a death wish!

 

If itâ??s not the ubiquitous Rangers â??insiderâ?? leaking information to the anti-Rangers media, our Board does an excellent job providing the press and broadcast media with all the sensationalism they crave. It would seem that we canâ??t even have a confidential conference call without the media being immediately aware of it, and the discussions published in detail even before the manager and fans are even aware of them or the potential problems they are likely to bring.

 

I had hoped (in spite of my significant reservations) that the appointment of James Traynor as Rangersâ?? Director of Communications would immediately bring some professionalism â?? some order - to our amateurish, confused and chaotic press and public relations yet, Traynor seems to have disappeared into the Ibrox ether, along with the Communications Strategy he promised several months ago. Our press and public relations appear to be in as much disarray now as they were before he was appointed in December last year.

 

Some months ago James Traynor made the point â?? quite rightly â?? that we cannot (and should not) respond to every article critical of Rangers, and that we must not dignify the many rabid anti-Rangers internet bloggers with a response; but I must admit I had not expected that we would ignore major assaults on our club and fail to respond to the significant controversies that have engulfed Scottish football in recent months. The fact is that our response to those who consistently denigrate our club and call our history and future into question has been totally ineffectual and woefully inadequate.

 

Our failure to challenge and confront our detractors is more than just a simple failure of our press and media strategy (if, indeed, we actually have one), it is negligence of monumental proportions. It would seem that our desire to cling to the outmoded and ineffectual strategy of the â??dignified silenceâ?? far outweighs the legitimate demand from the fans that the club challenge our mainstream detractors and confront our obvious enemies. Indeed, it is an indictment of the club that they rely so heavily on supporters such as Chris Graham to deal with the very high profile critics who take to the air waves regularly to attack our club. In fact I can't recall an occasion recently when the club has produced an 'official' spokesperson to appear on any of the BBC and STV debates to defend our position, heritage and history, or rebutt the inaccuracies and lies perpetuated by serial Rangers haters such as Graham Spiers.

 

No I donâ??t think we should challenge every Tom, Dick and Harry with an anti-Rangers axe to grind, but letâ??s confront those that we can all readily identify as the serial offenders. You know them; I know them and James Traynor knows them.

 

Yet again this week, we have witnessed the club fail to respond robustly to scurrilous articles in the print and broadcast media about our alleged â??influenceâ?? in the debacle that was the SPLâ??s Reconstruction vote last Monday. Nor, when speculation was mounting about the future of our Chief Executive, Charles Green, did we make any meaningful effort to counter the slurs, inferences and insinuations of journalists who have gained their notoriety by attacking all things Charles Green and Rangers. Why did we make no effort to combat the negative publicity around the Craig Whyte allegations, when the many positive contributions Charles Green has made since he, and his consortium, bought the club last June far outweigh the dishonesty and dissembling of a proven liar?

 

On almost every occasion we were â??on the back footâ??; reactive rather than proactive; weak, vacillating and irresolute.

 

There is no doubt that Charles Green was stupid in many of the things he said and done as our Chief Executive, and many of his statements were, undoubtedly, ill-advised, inappropriate and naïve. But that is no excuse for the insipid and spineless manner in which our club failed to acknowledge his massive contribution since last June or, more importantly, the inescapable fact that without him we may not have had a club at all.

 

Yes, his involvement with Craig Whyte is embarrassing and may yet come back to haunt us, but did he deserve the pitiful statement from Rangers that characterised his resignation announcement? Where were the stories about him having snatched Rangers from the brink of oblivion? Where were the positive stories about his commitment, motivation and enthusiasm on behalf of our club? Where were the stories about his robust and forthright defence of our club when we were under attack from all sides? Where were the stories about the incredibly successful share floatation and the financial stability of our club?

 

Contrast that PR failure with Walter Smithâ??s recent tribute to Neil Lennon and Celtic. They have, â??saved Scottish football this seasonâ? he said. â??Celtic has had a hell of a burden placed on them. Itâ??s not easy for the manager to motivate his players when they know theyâ??re the best team in the league â?? and they are, by a mile. In many ways, Celtic has saved Scottish football this season by having a decent run in Europe.â?

 

Perhaps, youâ??re right Walter (personally I don't think so), but why give such a ringing endorsement to a manager and a club that is openly hostile to our club and the values we espouse; a club that is frequently vitriolic in its criticism of us and vindictive in all of its actions toward us. Why not better harness your energies by telling the world how Celtic led the charge to have us consigned to the third tier of Scottish football whilst cynically exploiting our commercial worth for their own advantage? Why not highlight their leading role in trying to have our league titles stripped and our cup triumphs wiped out.

 

It seems that we are more concerned with placating our enemies than punishing them - willing to praise them when condemnation and excoriation would be the more appropriate response.

 

Charles Green is gone â?? sadly, in my humble opinion - and now the press are about to have a â??field dayâ?? with stories of internecine strife in the Rangers boardroom. Stories of factions, splits and fractures - stories damagingly provided by so-called â??Rangers insidersâ?? who clearly have no regard for the Club or the growing concern of the fans. The temporary appointment of Craig Mather as our CEO should be just that â?? interim and temporary. We must advertise this post as widely as possible, and conduct a comprehensive and transparent recruitment and selection process. There is no justification for an â??in houseâ?? appointment when there is experience and talent in abundance out there. We must ensure that our appointee is free of any association (historical or otherwise) with those that have brought our club to its knees. We need a strong and powerful advocate; someone with proven business acumen, someone innovative and articulate who will not embarrass our club any further.

 

This latest boardroom 'wrangle' will further damage our club, and drag us once again close the abyss, if it is not resolved quickly. We are clearly in the midst of a fight for control of Rangers Football Club, and I trust that the right people will emerge as victors â?? people who have the club at heart rather than their own self aggrandisement. But if we can't have unity in the boardroom, surely we can, at least, control the wagging tongues that seem so eager to feed the vultures of the press.

 

Where is James Traynor when you need him? Where is the communications strategy we were promised? When will we stop washing our dirty linen in public!