D'Artagnan 173 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Myself and 26,000 other shareholders need to remain vigilant to ensure he [Whyte] remains committed to the club and honours what he said he would honour,” Johnston said. “He can’t just talk the talk, you need to walk the walk. (Alistair Johnston – May 2011) I utilised Johnson’s call for vigilance as the basis of an article for the inaugural launch of WATP magazine. Whilst thankfully WATP magazine has gone from strength to strength, Rangers fans ability to exercise vigilance with regard to our club has sadly not enjoyed similar growth. Today we as fans are left to speculate about the details of a commercial deal with Sports Direct, as successful legal action by the aforesaid Sports Direct, makes the exercise of vigilance virtually impossible. The Sports Direct Deal is in fact only a symptom of a far greater problem – that the exercise of true vigilance is absolutely impossible for fans if they are disconnected or disempowered from the processes, limited or restricted in the information they can access, or even when they can access the necessary information – they are effectively gagged from speaking out. Perhaps before allocating the Rangers support such an important and weighty responsibility, Mr Johnston may wish to consider how effectively he used his time at the club to ensure the Rangers support had the necessary tools to carry out the task he had bestowed upon them. This article is not about the current board, nor the previous one, nor the next one for that matter, whosoever that may be, but what it is most certainly is about however is putting in place for time immemorial both a structure and culture at our club which ensures that at any time our fans are capable of undertaking and exercising effective vigilance with regard to how our club is being run. This means total and complete transparency regarding every aspect of our club, it means sharing information in a readily accessible and understandable format for the fans, and perhaps the biggest challenge of all – ensuring any prospective business associates understand that this will be our club’s default position at all times. Without exception. We don’t want to hear about “practical difficulties”, “insurmountable odds” or “considerable difficulties” – the Rangers support have been subjected to this and more throughout the years and have still emerged triumphant. Give us results not excuses – it’s not only what we expect but what we deserve. Suffice to say if the succession of directors who have sat in the Rangers boardroom over the years had fulfilled their duty in such an exemplary fashion as the Rangers support – then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. We need to create a Covenant between club and support, carried on through generations of boardrooms, passed from father to son, a Covenant which enables every Rangers supporter to forensically examine every aspect of our club. On the 9th February 1941, Winston Churchill addressed President Roosevelt, utilising celebrated lines from Longfellow to maximum effect: What is the answer that I shall give, in your name, to this great man, the thrice-chosen head of a nation of a hundred and thirty millions? Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt: Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing, and, under Providence, all will be well. We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job. To the Rangers Board I say this – give us our Covenant and we will finish the job. You know we will not falter. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Well said........but = not so easy a thing to do when our support includes creatures that are more dangerous to our well being than the bitterest tims. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 The only way to get transparency is fan ownership of our club. You should support that as a first logical step. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyBlue 0 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) D'Art you write well as always and I wish all Gers fans were like you. Sadly they're not. I don't know you but we've crossed paths several times on forums. I admire your ethic the same as I admire the ethics of all good people who espouse goodness, honesty and are true to a noble cause. You're right of course but you've been right for a long time. Does it ever get you down this division amongst us? You constantly talk sense but is there no frustration within you that, whilst we are all Rangers fans, so many seem to have so much self-interest at heart that we seem incapable of being totally united and moving forward as one. It frustrates me. You've pretty much nailed your colours to the mast, I on the other hand, whilst agreeing with your sentiments find the fact we can't totally get behind some things as basic as you say, crazy...to say the least. I find I can take no side as unity is what I want. I'm sure your take on it it is to stand strong and continue fighting the good fight but sooner or later, we have to accept that the constant splintering of our support cannot continue. It simply cannot. Together we truly are a force to be reckoned with. Forget everything else....THIS is our biggest failing. So simple yet seemingly so hard to fix. Edited June 27, 2015 by LucyBlue 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnan 173 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) D'Art you write well as always and I wish all Gers fans were like you. Sadly they're not. I don't know you but we've crossed paths several times on forums. I admire your ethic the same as I admire the ethics of all good people who espouse goodness, honesty and are true to a noble cause. You're right of course but you've been right for a long time. Does it ever get you down this division amongst us? You constantly talk sense but is there no frustration within you that, whilst we are all Rangers fans, so many seem to have so much self-interest at heart that we seem incapable of being totally united and moving forward as one. It frustrates me. You've pretty much nailed your colours to the mast, I on the other hand, whilst agreeing with your sentiments find the fact we can't totally get behind some things as basic as you say, crazy...to say the least. I find I can take no side as unity is what I want. I'm sure your take on it it is to stand strong and continue fighting the good fight but sooner or later, we have to accept that the constant splintering of our support cannot continue. It simply cannot. Together we truly are a force to be reckoned with. Forget everything else....THIS is our biggest failing. So simple yet seemingly so hard to fix. Nope Lucy - it doesnt get me down. It's worse than that - it reduces me, at times to almost tears. Egos, agendas, vendettas etc - many of which are personal - are put before the good of the club. Strangely enough the only hope I hold out is sickness and despair. That feeling ALL of us had post February 2012, the sleepless nights, worry, stress, anger and defiance. There is not much I would ask us to re-visit from 2012 - perhaps we need to do this however to remember what is really important. Edited June 27, 2015 by D'Artagnan 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I see a unity behind this Board and the new Management team. There are those who criticise everything, but to my mind they are very few, but because of social media are given a bigger voice than they actually are or deserve. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnan 173 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 I see a unity behind this Board and the new Management team. There are those who criticise everything, but to my mind they are very few, but because of social media are given a bigger voice than they actually are or deserve. its not a question of unity CB but more one of transparency - what happens if there is seismic change in boardroom personnel ? We need a template for consistent transparency irrespective of the players in the boardroom. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyBlue 0 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) Ha D'Art you've got even scary ol' me a wee bit emotional. 'Cause you're right and it's so simple and I just want it fixed and it can be, really easily. Other clubs do it, why can't we? We've had more than enough warnings. They rally round, we bicker. I truly despair. I read your posts and think that guy knows the way but see hundreds of others swamp it claiming my supporters union or whatever is better than yours etc. Why are we like this? Being rational I know our big support will cause more divisions than some but haven't we had the wake up call? We bicker over boards and petty juvenile things all the time, doing so in the name of the one thing we all profess to love, our club. It just doesn't seem like it to me. I love Rangers. I admire what you have to say and agree. Just you keep fighting, ok? All this other nonsense breaks my heart. Edited June 27, 2015 by LucyBlue 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca72 440 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 its not a question of unity CB but more one of transparency - what happens if there is seismic change in boardroom personnel ? We need a template for consistent transparency irrespective of the players in the boardroom. D'Art, I endorse the sentiment of your Covenant but I don't think now is the time to request it. I don't know if this board has as yet earned the right to be villified as boards in the past certainly have. However, I agree with the idea of fan representation on the board as the best way to achieve transparency. Even then I don't think the fans will have the need to know of the nuts and bolts of every contract, but certainly of the existence of these contracts. As I see it, before the fans deserve their Covenant, they have to present themselves as a unified body. All of the different factions must come together and repair the fractures that exist. If they don't do this then any major fan representation is doomed to fail. I don't mean that the vehicles that the fans have available to them should be merged into one, choice is good eh?, but more that all the fan groups can agree on a philosophy that is acceptable and can represent strong fan support. At the moment there is too much fracture, resentment, mistrust, deceipt and even hatred between some fan groups and even individuals within fan groups. We as a support need to hit the reset button and start off with the idea that the only thing that is important is Rangers, and move on from there. This will not be easy as we are a broad church with many points of view requiring representations, but it must be done. Maybe we could use the RFFF as a test vehicle to see how close we could come to a many-sided organization which delivers transparency. Probably an organization with a representative from each fan group. This Rangers' support has the potential to project Rangers into a position of, as yet, unseen leadership and strength in the game. Maybe if we show the board that - 'if we have the tools, we can finish the job'. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 its not a question of unity CB but more one of transparency - what happens if there is seismic change in boardroom personnel ? We need a template for consistent transparency irrespective of the players in the boardroom. I agree D'Art and this is the time to push for it, after all that has happened if not now, what chance in the future. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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