der Berliner 3,239 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 lets just take the hit and start in div 3 again. Welcome to the new league structure, in place for about how many years now? We'd only start in Div 3, or rather League 2 now, if the club (sic!) folds and a new club (sic!) enters the Scottish professional game. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,409 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) FORMER Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston has urged the SFA to investigate Mike Ashley's control of the Ibrox club. Wednesday 07/01/2015 The Sports Direct tycoon has seized power at the Glasgow giants - despite being prevented from increasing his stake to 29.9 per cent by the governing body last month. The Newcastle United supremo, who only owns an 8.92 shareholding, has loaned the stricken SPFL Championship club £3 million to keep them afloat. But Johnston, who reported the 2011 takeover of Rangers by Craig Whyte to the government, admitted he was concerned about Ashley's involvement. Asked if he thought the SFA should look into the situation, he said: "I really do. I have some ongoing concerns about the governance of the club. "We found out several months ago that Charles Green sold the rights to the naming of Ibrox stadium to Mike Ashley for a pound a year and a half ago. "For that not to be made public, for stakeholders not to be aware of it, was really concerning to me. "Even more concerning was the fact we found out about it officially when he gave it back to them. "Also, how he and Rangers board at the time could have formed another subsidiary and become joint partners for official merchandise and retail without it being a bigger deal to my mind is a little suspect. "Yeah, I do have concerns about what Mike's role is here, what tentacles he has got crawling around Ibrox and what control he is exerting. "You are concerned when someone thumbs their nose at the SFA and says: 'I'm putting in a chief executive and I'm putting in a chief financial officer and I've got people on the board who are essentially representing my equity on a wink'. "I think it is still a little mystical that he continues to control the destiny of the club. "There is not enough transparency from that standpoint. I would like an awful lot more of it. "Mike Ashley will be watching what has been going on quietly and carefully as he always does without saying anything. But he will have his own agenda." Hopes are high among Rangers supporters that "The Three Bears" consortium and Dave King can gain control at Ibrox after buying up significant stakes in their boyhood heroes last week. But Johnston, who was responsible for introducing King to David Murray before he invested £20 million of his personal wealth in Rangers back in 2000, questioned whether the South Africa-based businessman would want to run the club. He said: "I haven't talked to Dave about his company buying the stock. "But when he was looking at being a potential buyer of the club during my era, and he certainly had interest in it, he didn't want to be out there on his own, up front, responsible for funding all the ambitions of Rangers fans. "I think Dave would have a certain amount of trepidation about being the only guy there. "He was never going to be comfortable with that. Whether he has changed his mind now the tax case is settled I don't know, but I suspect not. Dave plays his cards pretty close to his chest." Evening Times Edited January 7, 2015 by ian1964 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,409 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Fed-up fans could boycott Rangers forever, warns former chairman Alastair Johnston FORMER Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston fears fans could be lost FOREVER if the Ibrox club continues to struggle. Wednesday 07/01/2015 Boyhood Gers supporter Johnston has been saddened him to see his beloved heroes drop down to the bottom tier of the Scottish game and struggle financially. Crowds at Ibrox have fallen below 20,000 during the 2014/15 campaign due to anger at the way the Light Blues are being run. And Johnston, the United States-based vice-chairman of renowned sports management company IMG, feels they might not come back in future. He said: "I have got to say that I have got some real concerns about it. There is no question that the value of the Rangers brand has really skidded downhill significantly in the last three or four years. "Everything that today's generation knows about Rangers is about turmoil - not about being Scotland's most successful club, the number of championships and forays into Europe over the years. The brand value of Rangers has certainly taken a big hit. "Sports fans today are not the same as sports fans 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. They have got a lot of other alternatives in terms of how they spend money, how they spend their time, how they expend their emotions and their energy. "I am concerned that there are a lot of Rangers fans who are not just boycotting season tickets and official merchandise and are not watching it on TV they are actually may have gone away. And a lot of them may not come back." Evening Times Edited January 7, 2015 by ian1964 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhunter 0 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Ridiculous idea. Not affordable this time round as we're discovering. What would make next time different? yes because the club has been run properly during that time. not that we can even contemplate another year in div1 let alone demotion to the bottom tier again. Edited January 7, 2015 by jhunter 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,239 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 What about AJ coming back then? It would be interesting to know whether he has contacted Sarver or vice versa 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,195 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Investors and board members who weren't in it for their own ends. And there is absolutely no guarantee that either investor pool or Board would change. Russian Roulette. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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