A Duty For Generations

[Rousseau 9,508]

"I have always taken pride in being a Rangers supporter," wrote the Rangers Chairman. "It is something I inherited from my father who, in turn, inherited the legacy from my grandfather. This is what Rangers fans do. We pass on our pride and belief in Rangers to our children." The cynics might snigger at the "Club for Generations" slogan, crafted as it was to sell Season tickets. I myself let out a thinly disguised snort when reading King's tagline, but the principle I always held self-evident. One doesn't chose to become a Rangers fan: it's passed from father to son.

 

The 'club for generations' tagline was nothing more than a gimmick to encourage fans to buy season tickets. This year, more than before, season ticket sales is a key part in the strategy to get the club back to where it belongs. Some may criticise the way it has been done, but I doubt many would question its necessity. However, I cannot hide my disappointment in the comments surrounding the desire for a 'product' to buy. "I won't be back until..." comments have been common. I would never criticise someone for not buying a season ticket: Just because someone can't buy a season ticket doesn't mean they are not a fan, it doesn't mean they will stop 'supporting' the club, but these words have a brutal finality to them that I wasn't expecting. It is almost implied that these individuals will stop supporting the team because we are not winning, or not entertaining. I'm left incredulous. Since when did a Rangers fan require a reason to support their team?

 

Perhaps simply a change is required to kick-start season ticket sales, a hint that something different is coming. Perhaps the appointment of Mark Warburton as our 14th manager could be that something.

 

After an undistinguished playing career at Non-league level, Warburton was forced to go in search of another profession to make his living. He took one thing from his playing career: a dislike for the tough training regime of one Jock Wallace, saying "he was a Marine. We had runs on sand-dunes, running until we threw up. I learned a lot from that, never treating a player that way." He became a financial Trader, selling all manner of securities. It was a high-pressure job being a Trader, where he was regularly in control of 10-figure sums. Warburton still coached part-time, but eventually said to his wife that, with a comfortable life secured, he wanted to try to carve out a career in coaching. He gave himself 10 years; 10 years to achieve something in the game.

 

He funded a tour around Europe, watching coaching sessions at Sporting Lisbon, Ajax, Valencia, Barcelona and Willem II, in order to develop his coaching methodology. In 2005 he launched the NextGen series, a youth tournament with the aim of helping clubs replicate the Champions League experience for younger players. While Brentford manager, Warburton utilised this tournament by signing a number of promising players, including João Carlos Teixeira and Betinho (Sporting Lisbon), Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur) and Chuba Akpom, Nico Yennaris and Jon Toral (Arsenal). It requires a certain intelligence and business acumen to succeed in such a tough environment, and a degree of bravery to leave it behind; all attributes that will stand him in good stead for the Rangers job.

 

The Rangers tradition has been one of victory and success. We are so used to 'winning', or at least fighting for a title, that it becomes the norm. When something becomes the norm, it seems like it becomes the defining prerequisite. We get so used to winning that when it stops, we question the basis of our support. We have been fortunate not to have tasted a sustained period without success, and with winning expected, our thoughts would naturally move to the 'entertainment' aspect.

 

To me, one who watches football for the pure entertainment is a football purist. They dislike long-balls, negative tactics, time wasting, diving, fouling and other traits. They enjoy seeing the magical goals, high scoring games, passing along the ground, dribbling and technical skills. I would consider myself, in part, a purist. I can appreciate and enjoy the technical, tactical game as much as the next fan. But not when I watch Rangers. I'm there to see us do well. If that means playing out a monotonous, defensive game to avoid a defeat then so be it.

 

In Warburton we have a pragmatist; but a pragmatist that plays an offensive game, always looking to attack an opponents greatest weakness. The wide players can hug the touchline or drift into pockets whenever the need arises. He displayed a ruthlessness in taking charge at Brentford, choosing to sack a number of coaches in order to stamp his authority on the team. Success followed. When Brentford made the step up to the grueling schedule of the Championship he was under no illusions of what was required, saying "we've got a lot of young players who will find their feet, but when you start a new job and move up you have to adapt to your new environment quickly because no allowances will be given." He acknowledges that a team can only play the type of game consistent with the players they have. At Brentford many were attacking, so Warburton encouraged offensive play, where "their running, passing and movement [was] frankly sublime in patches." If they loose the ball, it's all about doing their jobs quickly to begin playing again. The strategy is based on pace, both in defense to win the ball back, and in attack, to move with pace and creativity.

 

Are we there to be entertained? Yes, but it's not the main aspect of our support. The entertainment is in seeing us do well, not in seeing the most expansive, creative football. We would all like to see fantastic football being played, but how often has it ever happened? We don't support a side because they entertain us, in the same way a fan doesn't support his side because they win most of the time. There are not many sides in world football that expect to win, never mind demand to win. Likewise, there are not many teams in world football that play the most beautiful, creative game. It almost belittles the fan if 'support' is dependent on success and entertainment.

 

We demand excellence, both in conduct and performance. Excellence can take many forms, and doesn't necessarily imply great entertainment or winning football games. "Our Club cannot, and must not, get to the point where we celebrate mediocrity," writes King, and it is certainly not something we should ever accept, but our support is not dependent on any prerequisite; we don't choose to support Rangers.

 

Warburton's finance background has fostered a more pragmatic, structured approach to his managerial outlook. Professionalism and attention to the smallest detail are key. From the outset he has in mind what his goals would be. In our case, he states that "this is not just about solidifying and steadying. This is about making significant progress in a designated period of time." Its about rebuilding the youth, using the youth, utilising the current squad, making the necessary changes and preparing the team to make the move forward. A big advocate of KPIs [Key Performance Indicators], Warburton always has an idea of the short, medium and long-term targets. This business-like approach has been missing for far too long. The old-boys network that pervades our club has been living on past glories. A lack of professionalism has been overlooked. We have gone from manager to manager, squad to squad, without building any long-term framework in order to build success. Warburton has the attributes to completely revamp and restructure our great club.

 

And then there's Sir David Of Weir, the paragon of professionalism, a man with the heart to drag us ever on-wards by sheer force of will. Weir was never the most entertaining player, slow and cumbersome as he was, but he read the game expertly; doing nothing superfluous in his game, and thumping the ball out of play without a seconds thought to regroup his team and go again. He took no nonsense, neither from teammates nor opponents. This is a man we can get behind.

 

When one looks closely at 'supporting' your club it is a strange emotion that bears only a tenuous relation to an admiration of skill or success. The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'support' as "Bear all or part of the weight of; hold up" -- all of which we have had to do again and again, the last few years especially. The dictionary also refers to "Be actively interested in and concerned for the success of (a particular sports team)". It's almost as if we have to endure the vicissitudes of our clubs fortune. This sums-up my experiences of being a Rangers supporter more accurately than being entertained.

 

'Supporting' a team is often a tense and dismal affair. The emotions are horribly one-sided. In Mark Warburton I see a future whereby the club can begin to rebuild. I won't say a 'bright' future, for every appointment carries a degree of risk. I am confident, however, that Warburton has the skills and attributes that we so badly need. It may take time, and it may be painful. I'm a relatively younger supporter, my Rangers memories only stretch back to the late 90's, but my overriding memories have not been of entertainment but of tension, nerves and relief of victory. The football has often been poor. And, to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's an incredibly powerful feeling being so intimately invested in the fortunes of a club. I'm not there to be entertained as such, and I'm not even there to see us win, although I do demand it. I see it as a duty; a duty passed on by my father, and something that needs to be passed on to future generations.

 

King has set a target of 45,000 season tickets. This is unrealistic, and he knows it himself. It's unrealistic because the average season ticket sales over the last 10/15 years--excluding the last few years where they hover below 35,000--have been around 43,000. It's a challenge to the fans. "Our Club stands at a crossroads and the next season is critical to our future." King has hinted at future plans--and he certainly needs to be more specific and long-term--but the current focus has always been the appointment of a new Manager and the first-team squad, and the target of Premiership football. There is a "need to rebuild the first team squad [and] we must stop merely paying lip service to youth development. Auchenhowie must become the envy of all and it is equally important that Rangers recruiting systems are also fully restored after years of neglect." This requires money; this requires the supporters to step up.

 

Our club is asking for financial assistance. Only an institutional investor would ask, 'What do I get in return?' I see it as a duty; a duty passed down through history. "We can only do this together. We must all invest in our Club’s future. This is the only way we will regain our pride, status, position and credibility. This is our Club, our time and we must make sure we succeed for the generations who have gone before and for those who will follow us."

[Tannochsidebear 2,322]

Good article Rousseau, one that wont be replicated in quality or detail by any of the hacks who write professionally for the papers tomorrow. As I dont know enough about Warburton or how he played or managed at Brentford, I will take your word for what you say above, and hope he brings such attributes to a much bigger club with less room for error. Brentford had something like 14 league losses last season and had a very successful season, finishing 5th. Second place will see him sacked at Rangers, and ANY loss will be met with devastating criticism.

 

Just a note about the ST sales ambition. At our peak we could only sell 43K ST as we had to keep the Broomie clear for invading hordes of green'n'grey coming to visit twice a season, which is about the best thing about not getting promoted this season as it means our stadium will not be polluted by such unwelcome types on league business for another year. So we could potentially sell 45K this year as all areas of the ground, bar the wee corner, will be available to ST holders. I would agree however that it is extremely unlikely, and if we get anywhere near 40K that must be seen as a huge success.

[Zappa 0]

Another fine article Rousseau, thanks again!

 

That's it just been published - http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/403-a-duty-for-generations

[Rangersitis 0]

Sorry to burst your bubble, Rousseau, but some things need to be viewed with a degree of scepticism. Who knows what version, if any, is the truth.

 

June 2015

 

I went to the club because my dad took me there when I was a six-year-old boy and he, in turn, went there because his dad took him as more or less a six-year-old boy.

 

March 2014

 

My father wasn’t at all keen on me becoming a Rangers supporter. He was a Glasgow policeman and because of that he resented the whole football scene in Glasgow.

 

‘He was actually very anti-football. When we were kids growing up he was very vocal on his dislike of the bigotry in football. The police in Glasgow at that time saw it as a basis for thuggery.

 

‘He saw what it did from a crime and disorder point of view in Glasgow. And as a family we were taught to reject the whole bigotry aspect surrounding football. That has stayed with me through the years.

 

‘My father took me to that first game reluctantly, but I clearly remember seeing Ritchie, Shearer and Caldow in the classic Scot Symon team. It would have been 1965 or so and I was 10.

[trublusince1982 243]

that was all good and well in the past but people have far more options now. Winning at the cost of entertainment will not cut it. With the glamour and excitement of England and the likes of Spain just a click away we have to aim far higher if we want to sustain a club of our historical size.

[Zappa 0]

Sorry to burst your bubble, Rousseau, but some things need to be viewed with a degree of scepticism. Who knows what version, if any, is the truth.

 

To be fair to DK, it's not exactly uncommon for folk in their 60's to have slight memory issues when it comes to recollections from 50 to 55 years ago when they were only a wee kid. Some older people have amazing memories, but not everyone does.

[Rousseau 9,508]

Sorry to burst your bubble, Rousseau, but some things need to be viewed with a degree of scepticism. Who knows what version, if any, is the truth.

 

Bubble burst. I don't see anything in your quote that contradicts his statement. His father may well have been nervous of taking a young boy into a hostile atmosphere. He ultimately took young Davie, surely? It's a nice story, which represents the tradition. The tradition is true even if the personal story is not.

[Rousseau 9,508]

that was all good and well in the past but people have far more options now. Winning at the cost of entertainment will not cut it. With the glamour and excitement of England and the likes of Spain just a click away we have to aim far higher if we want to sustain a club of our historical size.

 

Oh, I certainly want to be entertained, but I'm saying I'm still going watch my team even if I'm not. What is a supporter if he turns away in the dark days?

[Rousseau 9,508]

Good article Rousseau, one that wont be replicated in quality or detail by any of the hacks who write professionally for the papers tomorrow. As I dont know enough about Warburton or how he played or managed at Brentford, I will take your word for what you say above, and hope he brings such attributes to a much bigger club with less room for error. Brentford had something like 14 league losses last season and had a very successful season, finishing 5th. Second place will see him sacked at Rangers, and ANY loss will be met with devastating criticism.

 

Just a note about the ST sales ambition. At our peak we could only sell 43K ST as we had to keep the Broomie clear for invading hordes of green'n'grey coming to visit twice a season, which is about the best thing about not getting promoted this season as it means our stadium will not be polluted by such unwelcome types on league business for another year. So we could potentially sell 45K this year as all areas of the ground, bar the wee corner, will be available to ST holders. I would agree however that it is extremely unlikely, and if we get anywhere near 40K that must be seen as a huge success.

 

If he doesn't appreciate the scale of the task he certainly will when the games come around. His Trader background will stand him in good stead, in terms of dealing with the pressure, but it won't guarantee success.

[Rangersitis 0]

Well, he has some serious memory issues if he can't remember the answer and detail that he provided 15 months earlier!