k jackson asks some pertinent questions.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...angers-1858851

 

F Brian Stockbridge and his CEO Craig Mather are to be trusted by Rangers supporters there are a few questions they must be made to answer - like whether they really have the club's best interests at heart.

 

Who do you trust in battle for Rangers?

 

If Brian Stockbridge and his CEO Craig Mather are to be trusted by Rangers supporters there are a few questions they must be made to answer - like whether they really have the club's best interests at heart.

Stockbridge and Mather Stockbridge and Mather

SNS Group/Gary Hutchison

 

OK, so let me check Iâ??ve got this thing right.

 

Brian Stockbridge is a man to be trusted. A real â??stand-up guyâ? to use one of Craig Whyteâ??s old favourites.

 

A man in whom Rangers fans, still traumatised and confused by the ransacking of their clubâ??s morality, can finally place their faith.

 

Yeah, thatâ??s about the size of it. Stockbridge and his CEO Craig Mather just arenâ??t like all the other guys who have barged in through the front doors of this club and ravaged it mercilessly for two solid years. They are here to help.

 

Thatâ??s certainly the tone of the message blaring out from inside Ibrox and washing over the rank and file of the Rangers support, like one of those rattly loudspeakers in North Korea with which the glorious leader conditions his masses.

 

Thatâ??s not to say that Stockbridge and Mather cannot still emerge from the carnage created by their cohorts as credible, well-meaning leaders. Maybe they will.

 

The Rangers support is now more of a guard dog than a doting pet. Right now their club needs them to be Doberman Pinschers, not poodles.

 

They have to be alert and (to use the words of another former head of the big house) they must remain vigilant. They have to work out for themselves who in all of this mess really deserves to be trusted rather than adopt the old nodding dog approach which has served their club so badly.

 

They could start by examining what they are being fed and also asking themselves the reason why they are being fed it.

 

OK, so letâ??s go back to the start. Stockbridge and Mather are now the men at the helm of this continuing catastrophe but it feels very much as if they have been bundled there by the very people who have just been oxtered off the premises amidst so much controversy, backstabbing and deception.

 

Over the weekend this pair were deliberately pushed out front and positioned in the very centre of this unrelenting storm. â??Trust usâ? they screamed with their every word.

 

Stockbridge was even prepared to dig into his office drawer and produce to our sister paper, the Sunday Mail, those mythical title deeds.

 

How handy that they just happened to be sitting there in the first place. What a stroke of luck.

 

However, it may have been of more interest and relevance had Stockbridge also been able to hand over details of exactly where the floating charge which Craig Whyte once held over these assets is currently placed. And over what.

 

Perhaps he would also like to explain how his old accomplices, Charles Green and Imran Ahmad, managed to persuade a man such as Whyte to release that charge in the first place because these issues are truly fundamental to the future of this ailing institution and require a great deal more than a staged photo opportunity to clear up.

 

Stockbridge has a lot more questions to answer before he can expect to win the trust of these supporters because his sudden emergence as a leader and a man of honour doesnâ??t automatically pass a smell test. Surely even Stockbridge can see why.

 

Think about what these fans are being asked to swallow. Itâ??s a bit like they woke up in the dead of night to find three intruders in their own home. Two of them have now scarpered over the back fence, with pockets rammed full of Rangersâ?? money. The third is still standing there in the front room.

 

But this third man has suddenly been overcome by a sense of righteousness and good.

 

And now he wants to help put the house back in order? â??There, there. Go back to bed and Iâ??ll have this dreadful mess straightened out by the morning. TRUST ME!â?

 

These fans are being asked to have complete faith in a financial director who has already admitted to signing off one huge severance cheque to Green and who has not ruled out passing over another to Ahmad. Even though both men are currently the subject of an internal club probe.

 

Are these the actions of a man who has Rangersâ?? best interests at heart?

 

Also, why was Stockbridge initially resisting this independent enquiry in the first place and demanding it be confined only to the extent of the relationship between Green and Whyte? Why was he against a far wider reaching probe into all of the clubâ??s business dealings?

 

This investigation and the lines of enquiry it follows, lies at the very heart of what is truly best for Rangers.

 

If it is robust, fearless and unconditional then it will lay bare the inner workings of this club over the past couple of years. Every sordid detail. It will allow Rangers to cleanse itself (to borrow another familiar phrase) in full public view.

 

The club can then be seen to be fixing itself as part of a determined effort to distance itself from the wrong doers and chancers who have done it such harm.

 

Surely, that can only be in the best interests of Rangers. So why then would anyone complain to the board that such a thorough probe would be an â??unnecessary waste of moneyâ??

 

And Stockbridge sees no problem with handing over obscene pay-offs to pals who could have been fired for free on charges of gross misconduct.

 

If thatâ??s not a waste of this clubâ??s dwindling resources then what is?

 

And why hand over the cash before this investigation has been concluded unless you have already prejudged its outcome. Which would make the whole thing a whitewash, right?

 

There is something else about this internal probe that Stockbridge must be made to answer. Is he looking for the truth to emerge in the clubâ??s best interests or would he rather fudge it to get it out of the way as quickly as possible? Can he handle the truth?

 

Because if he really does want a root and branch investigation to be carried out why is the club stalling on the appointment of a chairman for this commission?

 

It is my understanding a high-profile businessman of impeccable credentials has already agreed to take on that role and to dive head first into these murky waters in search of the truth.

 

In fact, he has been discussing the remits of his role for more than a week with chairman Malcolm Murray. But he is still waiting to be given the go-ahead by the rest of the board. Why is that?

 

Murray, after all, is a long-standing Rangers fan and also a stickler for good corporate governance. He knows the appointment of this individual is fundamental on both counts and yet still he does not push it through, at a time when Stockbridge wants the whole thing wrapped up within the next few days.

 

What is going on here? Is Murray not doing the right thing because he is fearful of what the consequences might be?

 

His character has been smeared in the past by people inside his own boardroom. Is there now something else hanging over his head that the Rangers fans should know about?

 

All in all, if the new leaders of Rangers really are men who can be trusted why are they still acting as if they have something to hide?

[Calgacus 8]

Jackson should have spoken to his legal dept about Floating Charges before he wrote this piece.

[rbr 1,247]

Possibly one of the worst shit stirring articles ever written about this whole mess , and there have been plenty , KJ is starting to appear as the records " useful idiot " by certain highly placed individuals within our club , oh that they tried as hard to save the club in our hour of need

[Zappa 0]

Don't know if I'm in a minority or not here, but I actually agree with most of Jackson's points and I'd like to hear answers to some of the questions he's asking.

 

I've had fellow Bears telling me Stockbridge is good at his job, so I shouldn't question him and how he's dealing with the club's finances. My response to that is: Is he really good at his job? Does he really have the club's best interests at heart? Why should I trust him?

 

I think Jackson's point about Stockbridge signing off on a severance pay-off for Green is an interesting point and I don't see why we shouldn't feel comfortable about asking serious questions as to what on earth is going on with that, especially when Green had already made a fortune from his short stay in Glasgow.

 

A massive pay-off for Green certainly isn't a prudent use of the club's money and for all intents and purposes it's taking a hefty chunk out of the remaining IPO cash when Green has already essentially made millions out of the flotation.

[craig 5,199]

Don't know if I'm in a minority or not here, but I actually agree with most of Jackson's points and I'd like to hear answers to some of the questions he's asking.

 

I've had fellow Bears telling me Stockbridge is good at his job, so I shouldn't question him and how he's dealing with the club's finances. My response to that is: Is he really good at his job? Does he really have the club's best interests at heart? Why should I trust him?

 

I think Jackson's point about Stockbridge signing off on a severance pay-off for Green is an interesting point and I don't see why we shouldn't feel comfortable about asking serious questions as to what on earth is going on with that, especially when Green had already made a fortune from his short stay in Glasgow.

 

A massive pay-off for Green certainly isn't a prudent use of the club's money and for all intents and purposes it's taking a hefty chunk out of the remaining IPO cash when Green has already essentially made millions out of the flotation.

 

Much of this depends on the finer details of Green's contract with the club, which none of us are privy to nor, in my opinion, should we be.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

all directors contracts are available on request to all shareholders.

 

i cant see how you can resign and be paid off.

 

i agree with almost everything jackson asks as well.

[rbr 1,247]

Don't know if I'm in a minority or not here, but I actually agree with most of Jackson's points and I'd like to hear answers to some of the questions he's asking.

 

I've had fellow Bears telling me Stockbridge is good at his job, so I shouldn't question him and how he's dealing with the club's finances. My response to that is: Is he really good at his job? Does he really have the club's best interests at heart? Why should I trust him?

 

I think Jackson's point about Stockbridge signing off on a severance pay-off for Green is an interesting point and I don't see why we shouldn't feel comfortable about asking serious questions as to what on earth is going on with that, especially when Green had already made a fortune from his short stay in Glasgow.

 

A massive pay-off for Green certainly isn't a prudent use of the club's money and for all intents and purposes it's taking a hefty chunk out of the remaining IPO cash when Green has already essentially made millions out of the flotation.

 

 

This isn't a hard hitting opinion piece by a journo who wants to get to the truth , this is a spoon fed story handed to a useful idiot to do the work of those who failed us in our hour of need , yet still some on here and other forums lap it up , you couldn't make this shit up .

[the gunslinger 3,366]

in what sense did they fail us? and who failed us?

[simplythebest 0]

all directors contracts are available on request to all shareholders.

 

i cant see how you can resign and be paid off.

 

i agree with almost everything jackson asks as well.

Constructive dismissal.

[rbr 1,247]

Seriously GS , where do you want me to start , the previous board who were so petrified of SDM ,that wouldnt go public with all their fears bar through continual leaks to the same journolists that now are being used again.

 

John Brown like what he did or not had the balls to stand in front of thousands at Ibrox and ask for action , rightly or wrongly , yet this bunch of cowards hide behind arseholes like Keith Jackson spoon feeding him shite to whip up the support after all the dirty work has been done.

 

CG might be as guilty as sin , he may not, hopefully the truth will come out , but he stood up for the support and the club , Walter would have accepted sanctions to keep us in the SPL , thats public record , hes now going to the SFA with Craig Mather god only knows what will happen then.

 

As for Walters bid , he put that in 30 minutes after we were done for , 30 fucking minutes .

 

Don't get me started on that other super hero Paul "gies a job please please " Murray and his bunch of true blue halfwits with their let us pay the money in 300 easy installments once we are back in Europe and with money that the fairies are going to leave us.

 

jesus wept